The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) recently sold 25 Boer goats to farmers countrywide to improve the local breeding stock under a public/private sector initiative.

According to the Government Information Agency (GINA) the goats were sold at NARI’s animal farm at its Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara location during the launching of a project that would see Boer breeding stocks being made available to other farmers every four months.

The stock was developed under a public/private sector initiative which started two years ago with the importation of about 25 Boer goats from Montana, USA primarily for breeding purposes.

At present there are about 350 Boer goats being reared in the intermediate savannahs by the private investors of Guyana Ranch with support from NARI.

A mature buck weighs between 240 and 300 pounds and a doe between 200 and 225 pounds. GINA said Boer goats were bred in South Africa in the 1990s, primarily for meat, from other varieties of goats.

The species has a high resistance to disease and adapts well to various climates and terrain.

Director at NARI Dr Oudho Homenauth said there has been great demand by farmers for improved breeding stocks, which the institute is committed to satisfying. NARI is working to double the current production of breeding stock at the end of 2007 and tripling the amount by 2008.

Sattaur Ghanie, a Crabwood Creek, Corentyne cattle farmer commended NARI for its efforts to improve the local stock as it is vital to the development of the local cattle industry.

Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture Dr Dindyal Permaul said the initiative is in keeping with the wider thrust of agricultural diversification the administration is promoting to ensure that the sector continues to thrive and develop. NARI is also developing other breeding stocks of goats and sheep and it is promoting the production of the ‘Black Belly’ sheep because of the breed’s ability to adapt to Guyana’s climate.

GINA said plans are in train to continue artificial insemination, to import other breeding stocks and embryos and to establish two animal breeding farms to promote development in the livestock sector this year. The livestock sector contributes an average of 2.2 per cent to the gross domestic product and it has been steadily expanding.