Ramatlabama — In the spirit of promoting local breeds, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi bought semen straws of Musi and Tswana breeds at the Ramatlabama Artificial Insemination and Training Centre on Monday.
He bought 100 straws of the Musi breed, which is a composite developed locally from different breeds. He also bought 50 straws of each of two pure Tswana breed semen.
"I like Musi breed because it grows fast while the Tswana breed can withstand drought and diseases," he said when briefing members of the media who covered his tour of Ramatlabama ranch.
President Masisi also appealed to members of the press to be patriotic in reporting on government initiatives aimed at empowering citizens, saying a symbiotic relationship between government and the media was central to the attainment of many goals.
"You have a key role to play [in encouraging] Batswana to develop interest in the activities of this centre because everything that is done here is undertaken with the intention to develop and grow the ordinary Motswana," he said.
He added that if fully utilised , services offered at the centre could help Batswana create jobs for themselves.
Dr Masisi further said the centre carried immense potential to drive the revolution of cattle breeding, as well as that of other livestock and animal species.
"Just imagine this: because we have such a dire threat to the population of the rhinoceros, how do you imagine if we are able to use reproductive technologies to enhance the number, enhance the quality. Imagine the pangolin, if we are able to assist in the reproduction of those, it could be a huge economy evolving out of these," he said.
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Growing and then harnessing the centre's research capability, would make Botswana one of the pioneers of reproductive technologies, he said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mr Slumber Tsogwane also bought semen straws of different breeds among them Bonsmara, Musi, Limousin and Brahman.
Cabinet ministers who were present also bought some semen, with some indicating that they would donate some of the straws to their constituents.
Minister of Agriculture Mr Fidelis Molao said government was in the process of coming up with stiffer penalties for livestock thieves.He said government was encouraging Batswana to ensure food security for the nation through, amongst other things livestock production, and it was only fair that farmers were protected from rustlers.
The minister said processes were underway to review legislation regarding bail as there was a nationwide outcry against granting it, given some suspects went on to repeat the same offence while on bail.
He said Botswana Police Service's 'Kgomokhumo operation' would in the near future be turned into a complete unit with enough personnel and other resources such as drones to ensure that farmers had peace of mind.
BOPA
