RESEARCHERS TURN TO GENETICS TO UNLEASH TANZANIA’S DAIRY SECTOR POTENTIAL

Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Luhaga Mpina (third left), awards the best bull category winner to Mbozi, Mbeya resident, Abraham Mwalutende during the first Tanzania bulls and cow’s exhibition in Dodoma on Tuesday. Second left is International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Director General, Dr. Jimmy Smith and right is Livestock and Fisheries Deputy Minister, Abdallah Ulega.

Tanzanian researchers and overseas counterparts have tuned in genetics to identify and promote dairy superbreeds in an ambitious project aimed at reproducing traits of productive and resilient animals, a timely pace-setter in boosting milk production and turning the country into a net exporter.

The four-year project, which involved taking samples from 6,786 cattle from seven regions for genetic evaluation, morphed into a rare spectacle this week in the name of cattle expo in Dodoma - dubbed Cow and Bull Exhibition- at which the best breeds made up of twenty bulls and twenty heifers were paraded.

The scientists used a formular, called Genetically Estimated Breeding Values (GEBV), which measured how an animal’s bred type ( phenotype) combines with the environment ( general welfare of the animal) to produce the phenotype ( tangible performance of the animal, like milk production.)

“Most farmers are ignorant about how much of the desired genetic traits the animals they keep possess,” said Gilbert Msuta, a researcher with Tanzania Livestock Research Institute, adding that farmers will start getting information that will lead them to buy the best breeds which yield more milk.

The multi-partner project, African Dairy Genetic Gains (ADGG), is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is being implemented in Tanzania and Ethiopia. In Tanzania, it has so far rolled out onto seven regions, namely Tanga, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Iringa, Njombe, Mbeya and Songwe.

It is a pioneering project that has successfully implemented dairy cattle performance data capture, farmer education messaging, and used the performance, pedigree data together with genomic date to evaluate and identify superior crossbred bulls for artificial insemination n delivery and planned natural mating for the benefit of smallholder farmers in Africa.

Dr. Jimmy Smith, Director General of International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), trying to put the project and the exhibition “ in the right context” said typical challenges facing many a developing country could be translated into opportunities for Tanzania.

Said Dr. Smith : “Every developed country is concerned with how to feed the population by the time the population stabilizes in 2050. That challenge could be turned into an opportunity for Tanzania, Tanzania has the potential to not only feed its people but also to export to the SADC region”

TALIRI Director General Dr. Eligy Shirima noted that potential for contribution of the dairy cows in Tanzania was sizable. He added : “We shall continue to play our part in order to ensure that our research findings in the overall supply chain enhances the increase in the annual production of milk.”

The best heifer and the best bull were auctioned and handed over to TALIRI. The heifer, called Malonji and reared by Ndeti Ataula from Meru District Council, went for Tsh 6.2m at the fall of the harmer. On the other hand, the bull, named Kambako and brought up by Abraham Mwalutage of Mbozi District, exchanged hands for Tsh 5m.

According to Dr. Okeyo Mwai from Kenya, Principal Investigator at ADGG, the bull will able to produce 120,000 calves annually through artificial insemination by the end of next year. The heifer, he noted, will produce 6o cows every year through embryo implantation to other cows.

In his speech there ,livestock minister Luhaga Mpina said now that Tanzania have acquired the technical know-how to identify and produce best dairy hybrids, in the near future it is imperative that the country refrain from importing milk in order to utilize local capacity and sustain the nascent dairy sector.