Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi revealed the government’s upcoming initiative to introduce a subsidized sexed-semen program aimed at enhancing livestock production.
The program, scheduled to roll out by the year-end, will provide livestock farmers access to sexed-semen at affordable rates.
During a graduation ceremony at the Ndomba Animal Health and Industry Training Institute in Kirinyaga County, CS Linturi emphasized the Kenya Kwanza administration’s commitment to improving the genetic diversity of the country’s livestock.
Linturi referred to this initiative as a special Christmas gift for local farmers.
“I want to announce that because we are keen on increasing productivity and changing the breeds of our animals, before the close of the year we will be rolling out a program to support our farmers by supplying sexed semen at very subsidised rates,” said Linturi.
The CS assured that a detailed announcement about the program’s launch location would be made a few days before Christmas, possibly on December 22.
Linturi expressed the government’s dedication to ensuring that farmers would no longer have to bear the burden of purchasing sexed semen at high prices.
“We committed that we will be able to get it from the market at a cost that is below Ksh.3,000, and that is what I am currently working on,” he added.
Notably, during the 8th Annual Dairy Farmers Field Day in June 2023, President William Ruto pledged to reduce the cost of sexed semen to Sh.1,500 by December.
He also mentioned that the government had allocated Sh.400 million for the production of 500,000 batches of artificial semen.
Currently, sexed semen is available in the market at prices ranging between Sh.5,000 and Sh.8,000.
The government’s initiative aims to make this crucial resource more accessible to livestock farmers, supporting their efforts to enhance productivity and improve animal breeds.
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