Embryo transfer to lower costs of top quality cows

Dairy farmers in Kenya are set to benefit from the commercialisation of embryo transfer, a breeding technology being developed by the Agricultural Development Corporation.

The technology, which involves implanting a developed embryo into a surrogate cow, is expected to drastically reduce the costs of high quality dairy heifers.

The heifers currently cost between Sh100,000 and Sh150,000.

At Sh25,000 to Sh30,000, farmers will acquire developed embryos of quality breeds like Friesian, Asher, Jersey and Guernsey which can be implanted in any surrogate breed.

“In artificial insemination (AI) you have to inject the specific breed from which you have acquired the semen, but in embryonic implantation, you can use any breed as the surrogate,” said Dr Andrew Tuimur, head of the technical division at ADC.

This will allow farmers to use even poor quality breeds to produce high quality livestock.
The breeding technology is being developed at the ADC Namandala farm in Kitale.

The demand has been going up as more farmers seek to improve output to take advantage of the current high prices of milk in the country.

This has pushed quality breeds out of the reach of the thousands of small- scale dairy farmers who produce the bulk of Kenya’s dairy products.

According to Dr Tuimur, ADC is seeking government funding to the tune of Sh200 million to commercialise the embryo transfer project.

ADC has been developing the breeding programme from 1985 on a small-scale basis due to the high costs involved.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is also working on an embryo transfer technology.

Farmers who acquire the embryos will first need to prepare the surrogate animals for implantation.

Preparation involves the synchronisation of the surrogate cow’s hormonal cycles so that it can accept the new embryo.

“The calf will grow normally and the cow will nurse it like its own,” said Dr Tuimur.

ADC has also been working on a quarantine facility for semen and embryo extraction at the ADC Mutara ranch in Laikipia.

The corporation has been producing semen from high quality indigenous breeds such as Boran for the local market and has also been exporting to South Africa.

The corporation has been working with the directorate of veterinary services and the East African Semen and Embryo Transfer Association.

Semen export

Livestock breeders in the country had earlier this year raised concerns over increased export of semen which they said had caused a shortage.

The local breeders said the shortage had driven up prices and forced farmers to turn to imported semen which is much more expensive.

A deficit of more than 300,000 litres of semen at the Kenya Centre for Artificial insemination had driven up the cost in government laboratories from Sh180 to Sh500 per straw.