S & A Farm to mate Malawian and Zambian cattle
Management at S&A Farm in Chikwawa district is to embark on cattle cross breeding exercise between Santa Getrudis breeds from Zambia and Malawi Zebu.
Managing Director for S&A Farm, Abida Mia says her farm has currently hired the veterinary team to do the tuberculosis (TB) screening and vaccination exercise on the cattle at the farm to avoid the spread of the disease between the two breeds.
“We have bought over five hundred Santa Getrudis bulls from Zambia for the program,” she says.
Mia says her farm thought of breeding the cattle in order to cut expenses which her company S&A Cold Storage, which produces meat, incurs in buying beef cattle from abroad.
After cross breeding Mia says the off spring bulls are expected to be distributed to local farmers in Chikwawa for them to cross breed them own their own.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Agriculture officials are commending S&A Farm for embarking on a TB screening and vaccination exercise saying will help reduce TB cases among animals in the country.
The Principal Animal Health and Livestock Development Officer in the Ministry Dr Edwin Nkhulungo says TB is a very dangerous disease to people which in most cases can also be transmitted from an animal to man.
A team of specialists in the Department of Veterinary led by Nkhulungo is busy in four farms of S&A Farm screening and vaccinating the cattle.
According to Nkhulungo those that will be tested positive will be isolated from the group and treated to avoid infecting others.
Nkhulungo also called up on Dairy farmers who produce milk to test their cattle to see if they are TB positive so that the disease is eliminated.
Nkhulungo bemoan the tendency of some farmers who run away from testing their cattle saying doing so would jeopardize other people’s lives.
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