Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Clarence Rambharat, says his ministry, based on dialogue with and recommendations by the local livestock farmers and industry experts, plan to implement an embryo transfer programme to assist with the improvement of the local breeding stock.
He said so yesterday while celebrating Eid-Al-Adha with members of the Muslim community at the livestock farm of Shiraz Khan in Carlsen Field.
Rambharat added: “Government should reduce its involvement in terms of maintaining its own assets in livestock. What we should be doing is increasing our technical support, the number of veterinarians we have available to the sector and our research.”
The minister said there was a lot of work to be done in livestock industry. He said his visit to Carlsen Field was based on him wanting to see for himself the operations of local livestock farmers
“This is an operation that has a good future in the hands of private farmers, with young people involved, and that is the direction that we need to see,” the minister added.
Khan and other Muslim devotees also expressed appreciation for the minister’s visit yesterday.
Eid-Al-Adha is one of the holiest celebrations on the Islamic calendar. It is known as the Feast of Sacrifice.
Muslims celebrate this day as a reminder of the time in which Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son but was told by God to sacrifice an animal instead. The celebration symbolises Ibrahim’s devotion to Allah. Devotees start out the day with a morning prayer and then exchange gifts and food among family and friends.