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NMI to revive livestock artificial insemination
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Posted on Feb 20 2005
By MARCONI CALINDAS
REPORTER
To improve the meat quality of livestock, the CNMI should take a long and careful look at reviving its artificial insemination project, according to Northern Marianas College Cooperative Research, Extension and Education Service agricultural consultant Isidoro Cabrera.
He said the project would help solve the problem of “inbreeding” that leads to the drop in meat quality, meat production, and livestock being more prone to diseases.
NMC and the Department of Land and Natural Resources are reportedly mulling the resuscitation of the project.
Cabrera recalled that a similar initiative was conducted from 1996 to 1998 in cooperation with Agricultural Development in the American Pacific. The project, however, was discontinued due to problems in funding and semen quality.
Cabrera said the artificial insemination plan would be confined to goats, swine, and cattle. The semen will be imported from Iowa, containing semen from different breeds of livestock.
The semen in straw cost $7, which could contain 40 billion of sperm and only one sperm is needed to be successful in breeding, said CREES’ Dr. Allan Sabaldica, a licensed veterinarian like Cabrera.
The imported semen, preserved through a nitrogen tank, will be thawed and will still be tested to check the sperm’s motility, number, and quality, said Cabrera.
The number of straws to be ordered has yet to be determined, as NMC-CREES still has to consult with farmers about their demand, said Cabrera. He said that they used to order 100 straws per year, which is enough to last them a year.
Right now DLNR and NMC-CREES are seeking funding for the project. Cabrera added that due to fund problem, they would have to charge farmers for the cost of the semen to sustain the project.
