The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Organisation (KALRO) has developed a high-level insemination technique that grants farmers an opportunity to achieve the cattle breed they desire to get.
KALRO Biotechnology Research Institute Director Dr. Martin Mwirigi has said the organisation is developing a mobile artificial insemination facility that will help KALRO carry out embryo transfer technology, enabling farmers to get the specific breed they want.
“There is an exhibition of new ways of improving our breeds. We are also having a mobile artificial insemination facility, which we are building up to be able to carry a technology called embryo transfer,” he said.
The Director explained that with such a technique in place, there will be no need to use the former method of semen transfer.
“We can be able to carry a fertilised egg which has grown and is called an embryo so that we can be able to put the specific breed you want,” he stated.
Dr. Mwirigi was speaking at the KALRO offices in Muguga during a three-day open-week exhibition that aims to sensitise farmers on the emerging farming technologies such as soil testing as well as how they can control pests and diseases without using chemicals.
The Director also revealed that KALRO has embarked on the commercialisation of underutilised fruits as part of a broader strategy to increase agricultural productivity and improve farmers’ incomes.
Dr. Mwirigi said the initiative is part of the government’s commitment to unlock the full potential of Kenya’s horticultural sector, which has been significantly underperforming due to a lack of innovation and market access for lesser-known fruit varieties.
“We have so many underutilised fruits and we never knew that they could become of commercial value,” he stated.
The Director called on farmers to ensure they use KALRO products, saying the products guarantee high-quality yields.
Dairy cattle production in Kenya is the second largest contributor to the country’s agricultural Gross Domestic Product. Livestock production as a whole contributes about 13.4 percent. (USD 3.1 billion) to agricultural value-added incomes.
By Wangari Ndirangu
