Day FUNAAB paraded its specially-bred animals

The Institute of Food Security, Environmental Resources and Agricultural Research at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State showcases products of its research, SAMUEL AWOYINFA reports

A farmer from Saki, Oyo State, Mr. Ishola Mojeed, was startled on visually perceiving Kalahari red goat species at the precincts of the Institute of Food Security, Environmental Resources and Agricultural Research at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Mojeed, who could not refrain his surprise, muttered in Yoruba, “I have not visually perceived this kind of giant goat afore.”

The Oyo-born farmer’s concern is not malapropos. He had hitherto not optically discerned a goat, which could rival a calf in size.

Indeed, the Kalahari red goat species are of the South African inception. They are taller and more astronomically immense in size when compared with the conventional West African dwarf goats. Little wonder, Mojeed and many of his colleagues, who recently attended the Farmers’ Open Day organised by IFSERAR, expressed surprise on this special breed.

The Kalahari Red goat project is one of the IFSERAR’s research efforts and tribulations, and the institute showed its achievements last week in the university. Its management withal utilized the occasion to celebrate its pioneer Director, Prof. Olusegun Osinowo, as well as others who had accommodated the centre.

Speaking on the occasion, the Director of IFSERAR, Prof. Akin Omotayo, noted that the farm was not only to accommodate as a model to demonstrate all aspects of modern farming technologies but withal to offer a felicitous medium for the prosperous conduct of high quality field tribulations.

He verbally expressed that the tribulation on the Kalahari goat project had led to the engenderment of another goat species called the ‘Kalawad’. Kalawad is a crossbreed between the Kalahari and the conventional West African dwarf goats.

He verbalized, “The institute has recorded a ground breaking feat in the prosperous crossbred of the Kalahari red goats and the indigenous West African dwarf goats. We optate to introduce this specie to our local farmers.

“This specie has more meat and they additionally engender more milk. They are more astronomically immense and taller the local goats. Within 10 years, we optate the specie to be available everywhere across the country. It would boost the income of the farmers and amend their livelihood.”

According to the Project Manager, Kalahari goat project, Dr. Bamidele Oduguwa, from the initial 57 of them brought into the country in 2011, the number has incremented to more than 120.

For the ‘Kalawad’ stock, she withal explicated there are 30 at present in the farm.

The IFSERAR is not all about the Kalahari goat project. Through its partnerships with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture and the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme, among others, it has carried out research on other plant yields, such as maize, cassava, aquaculture and fisheries.

Omotayo verbally expressed, “We are working with the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme on two projects at present.

The first one is the adaptation and promotion of extra early maize varieties to mitigate the effects of climate vicissitude in the South-West. The second is ameliorating child nutrition in Nigeria, utilizing yellow-fleshed cassava/sorghum predicated complementary food.

On aquaculture and fisheries, he verbally expressed the institute aimed at engendering eight million fingerlings and about 100,000 brood stocks of such species as Tilapia, Carp and Heterotis.

Commending the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olusola Oyewole, for fortifying the institute, Omatayo verbalized the accomplishments would not have been possible without assistance from the VC’s office.

The VC, in his remarks, welcomed the collaboration between the institute and the farmers and urged them to ascertain the immensely colossal-scale engenderment of the Kalahari species in the country in the next five years.

He verbalized, “I appreciate the farmers for partnering with us. They are the ones taking what we do here to the outside world by highlighting them on their farms and bringing them to the market.

“The great work going on here is not because of the vice-chancellor, it is because of the commitment of the members of staff of IFSERAR.”