Small and medium-scale goat and sheep herders in 12 municipalities in the Northeastern Brazilian states of Pernambuco and Bahia will benefit from the installation of a mobile artificial insemination laboratory.
The project, involving federal investments amounting to US$ 63.3 thousand (163 thousand reais), will be made possible through a convenant between the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Xingó Institute of Scientific and Technological Development.
The term of commitment was signed yesterday by the Minister of Science and Technology, Eduardo Campos, at the headquarters of the Faculty of Applied and Social Sciences of Petrolina in the state of Pernambuco.
According to Campos, the incorporation of artificial insemination technology will result in increased productivity among the herds of small breeders.
“We must make available the new technologies that exist in the universities and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Enterprise (Embrapa) on behalf of better utilization of the products and by-products of sheep and goat raising, to add value to the productive chain and generate more income for the population that lives off this activity,” he observed.
The Minister explained that, besides the technique of artificial insemination, which will contribute to the process of genetic improvement in regional herds, breeders will be offered courses aimed at making better use of milk and hides.
Data from the Ministry of Science and Technology indicate that the Northeast possesses 90% of Brazil’s goat population, with over 12 million head, as well as 8.2 million sheep.
The municipalities benefitted by the implantation of the mobile insemination laboratory are: Petrolina, Lagoa Grande, Santa Maria da Boa Vista, Afrânio, Dormentes, and Orocó, in the state of Pernambuco, and Casa Nova, Remanso, Sento Sé, Sobradinho, Curuçá, and Juazeiro, in the state of Bahia.
Agência Brasil