Sh1 billion plan to cut price of semen

The government has set aside Sh1 billion to introduce a new Artificial Insemination technology to help bring down the cost of semen.

David Kios, the managing director of Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Centre said currently, it costs a farmer between Sh4,000 to Sh6,000 to get one straw of sexed semen.

He was speaking during a media briefing at the centre headquarters in Lower Kabete. 

“The price can go to a high of Sh10,000 and this is out of reach for many farmers. But with the establishment of a sexed technology in the country, we can be able to bring the the cost down to about Sh3,000,” Kios said.

The conventional method of AI costs Sh700 to Sh1,000 for one straw of semen.

The Sh1 billion will be used to establish the sexed artificial insemination technology which will ensure farmers have a higher chance of getting a heifer than a bull.

Geoffrey Kamau, the Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Centre board chairman, said the technology will be producing Artificial Insemination semen with 95-99 per cent female probability.

He explained that the current insemination available in the country has a 50 to 50 chance of producing male or female calves but the sexed semen will mean that out of 100 calves, 99 will be female and one will be male.

“This technology will enable them give high quality heifers to the dairy farmer which will go a long way in improving milk production,” he said.

Kios said they are also working on pig breeding programme to get first maturing breeds that can mature at five months as compared to the current breeds that take about eight months.

“We are also working on a dairy goat breeding programme in order to improve the country’s dairy goat population through AI,” he said, adding that the government has allocated Sh400 million to set up an AI goat station in Kirinyaga county.

“Forty per cent of the work has been done and we expect the station to be operational by 2020 and we can start producing high quality goat semen, this will the first in Africa. We will be engaging the youth so that they start producing goat AI which will create jobs for them as well as wealth through goat milk production,” said Kios.