GOVERNMENT is targeting a national cattle herd of 11 million by 2030, up from the current herd of 5,6 million, a senior official has said.
Speaking after a tour of Montana Caswell Meats, deputy minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Davison Marapira said the government had come up with a cocktail of measures to help farmers to produce more cattle and improve breeds.
He said as part of the programme, the government will sell bulls to A1, A2 and commercial farmers to introduce new and better blood lines for cattle breeding. He said the government was also importing seamen from countries such as South Africa, Brazil, America and Australia among others, to expand its artificial insemination programmes.
“Currently we have 5,6 million cattle. It’s not enough for a country like Zimbabwe and we have to increase our breeding herd to close to one million so that at least we can have 11 million of cattle in the country,” Marapira said.
He said the government was also working closely with private players, such as Montana Caswell Meats, on the programme to increase the national cattle herd. “That is why we asked the minister of State for Mashonaland West to come here with us so that we interview our farmer, our producer of cattle who said they have a land issue.
“He is a pedigree breeder with almost 300 pedigrees, but that is not enough, we want more bulls, but they are only able to produce 100 bulls per years which is not enough,” he said. Rangarirai Mutetwa, Montana Caswell Meats assistant regional director, said the company’s abattoir had a slaughter capacity of 120 cattle per day, and plans were afoot to expand this.
Over US$1,1 million has been earmarked for the expansion programme, which will also include construction of a chicken abattoir. He said the company, whose operations are mainly in Mashonaland West, was also assisting other cattle farmers in the province to breed their animals through donation of bulls.
“We need an extra 400 hectares to increase our Doublero Brahman Stud herd in Nyabira. We need to produce more bulls and heifers for sale in the communal areas to increase their breeding capabilities and the genetics in the country,” said Mutetwa.—New Ziana