A farmer from Saki, Oyo State, Mr. Ishola Mojeed, was startled on seeing 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 hold back his surprise, muttered in Yoruba, “I have not seen this kind of giant goat before.”
The Oyo-born farmer’s concern is not out of place. He had hitherto not seen a goat, which could rival a calf in size.
Indeed, the Kalahari red goat species are of the South African origin. They are taller and bigger 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 trials, and the institute showed its achievements last week in the university. Its management also used the occasion to celebrate its pioneer Director, Prof. Olusegun Osinowo, as well as others who had served the centre.
Speaking on the occasion, the Director of IFSERAR, Prof. Akin Omotayo, noted that the farm was not only to serve as a model to demonstrate all aspects of modern farming technologies but also to offer a suitable medium for the successful conduct of high quality field trials.
He stated that the trial on the Kalahari goat project had led to the production of another goat species called the ‘Kalawad’. Kalawad is a crossbreed between the Kalahari and the conventional West African dwarf goats.
He said, “The institute has recorded a ground breaking feat in the successful crossbred of the Kalahari red goats and the indigenous West African dwarf goats. We want to introduce this specie to our local farmers.
“This specie has more meat and they also produce more milk. They are bigger and taller the local goats. Within 10 years, we want the specie to be available everywhere across the country. It would boost the income of the farmers and improve 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 increased to more than 120.
For the ‘Kalawad’ stock, she also explained 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 said, “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 change in the South-West. The second is improving child nutrition in Nigeria, using yellow-fleshed cassava/sorghum based complementary food.
On aquaculture and fisheries, he said the institute aimed at producing 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 supporting the institute, Omatayo said 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 ensure the large-scale production of the Kalahari species in the country in the next five years.
He said, “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.”
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