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The Federal Government will soon begin artificial insemination of cattle at its different research institutes and centres to aid multiplication of cows and increase milk production in the country.
Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, revealed this on Monday while speaking with youths at a `Leadership Clinic’ organised by the Guardians of the Nation International in Abuja.
He said the move will kick-start a programme known as `Milk River Project’ which the government was planning to launch soon.
According to him, the programme will involve the importation of semen from Brazil and several countries in Europe.
His words: “There is a new project that is coming. It is known as the Milk River Project.
“We are going to start doing multiplications of cows now at different centres.
“We bring the semen from Europe, Brazil, sort them out, the female and the male, inseminate the local cows, it produces calves and at 6 months, we wean them, sell them at a cheaper rate to youths.
“They put them at the back of their houses, just ten of them and you don’t need a job for your life.
“You keep the cows, collect about 25 litres of milk every morning, sell it to a mini processor nearby and earn a lot of money daily.’’
He lamented that Nigeria spends about $1.2 billion annually to buy low quality powdered milk “because our cows are so badly nourished and they do only one bottle of milk per day but cows in Israel and Europe do about 50 litres a day.”