Research station undertakes drought resistant animal breeding programme

THE MATOPOS Research station has started a massive indigenous drought resistant cattle and goat breeding programme to assist small holder farmers boost herds in some parts of the dry Matabeleland region.

According to a report by the station, tougher breeds of indigenous cattle and goats are handed over to communities for cross breeding with weaker breeds on a rotational basis.

The programme is also against a background of efforts by the government to rebuild the national herd which was seriously depleted by droughts.

Cattle regarded as indigenous to Zimbabwe include the Mshona and Nkone breeds.

The objective of the programme is to define a suitable breeding system for the improvement of exotic and indigenous cattle.

The results indicated the overall superiority of indigenous stock primarily due to their survival rate in spite of low growth rates.

Most rural communities especially in Matabeleland South province lost their entire herds to incessant droughts in the region.

Their cattle were not strong enough to ward off the effects of drought.

“A number of communal farmers continue to benefit this programme as the ingenious Tuli and Nguni breeds have sired some drought resistance breeds that also provide good meat and leather,” said the report.

The communities are also breeding Angora goats that are popular for their mohair and good milk quality for the nutritional purposes, as they are also resistant to drought.

Work at the research station was initiated in 1974. It assesses the productivity of a wide range of straight breed and cross breed cattle for fertility, survival, growth, feed intake and feed conversion under improved management conditions.

The animals’ area is raised on natural pastures with some supplementary food during the winter months.

The breeds that have been evaluated and researched on include the Afrikane Tuli. Nkome, Mashona, Brahman, Charolais, and Hereford.