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Mohadi to launch Presidential Teak Grease Programme in Gwanda

by Staff reporter
19 Nov 2020 at 21:25hrs | Views
A TOTAL of one million households are set to benefit under the Presidential Tick Grease Programme aimed at capacitating 4 000 dip tanks across the country.

Under the same programme, the Government would also give 40 bulls to traditional leaders towards boosting the national herd. The interventions are part of a raft of measures being rolled out by the Second Republic to empower communities and build a solid foundation towards an upper middle-income economy by 2030.

The teak grease roll-out programme is part of the Presidential Livestock Inputs Scheme that is expected to help curb tick-borne diseases, particularly Theileriosis, popularly known as January Disease, which has killed over 300 000 cattle since 2017.

Vice President Kembo Mohadi will officially launch the programme tomorrow in Bengo Village of Gwanda in Matabeleland South. The province is the livestock hub of animal husbandry and the launch comes as the Government has planned to position the agriculture sector as a critical force to economic recovery.

"Vice President Kembo Mohadi will officially launch the Presidential Tick Grease programme in Bengo village in Gwanda in Mat South province tomorrow, Friday 20 November 2020," the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement, said yesterday.

Chief director in the Department of Veterinary Services, Dr Josphat Nyika, said the tick grease programme would promote intensive cattle dipping.

"In its endeavour to upscale livestock production and productivity, the ministry will be launching the Presidential tick grease application programme and handover of 40 bulls to traditional chiefs under the Presidential Livestock Input Programme at Bengo Dip-tank in Gwanda," he said.

"Under this programme, each household owning cattle will be provided with 1kg of tick grease, targeting 1 000 000 households and chiefs will receive one bull each. The two intervention programmes will empower communities by safeguarding their herds from tick-borne diseases and improving the quality of their herds."

The livestock growth plan is part of the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy, which seeks to achieve a US$8,2 billion agriculture economy by 2025. The livestock model is anchored on co-ordinated multi-stakeholder responses to livestock value chain challenges.

Source - chronicle
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