Breeders across the country will soon see an increase in cattle fertility following the wider use of a new protocol of bovine oestrus synchronisation, a process of targeting female mammals to come into heat within a short timeframe.

Dr Christine Kanyandekwe, Head of Animal Resources in Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), said on Tuesday that the method was ‘‘simple and effective.’’ She was speaking in Kigali at a workshop which attracted veterinary doctors and inseminators to discuss the use of the Progesterone Releasing Intra-vaginal Device (PRID Delta) for animal reproduction control.

"This new protocol is effective and technically simple as opposed to the existing one. We have already started to use it in some areas but we want all inseminators across the country to use PRID Delta to synchronise cows for artificial insemination,” she noted.

PRID Delta is a device made of a polyethylene spin, containing 1.55 grammes of natural progesterone and its design ensures a good contact with vaginal mucosa.

Dr Kanyandekwe said the new device was technically easier to use and more abundantly available than the current method which has been in use since 2006.

"We want insemination centres at the grassroots to get cows inseminated on a daily basis. We are preparing a national campaign on this protocol to train all inseminators and sensitise farmers,” she said.

Dr Kanyandekwe said RAB is partnering with Ceva Santé Animale, a France-based animal healthcare company which produces PRID Delta. She urged participants to win farmers’ credibility by offering easily affordable, effective and timely services.

She added that the 600 inseminators countrywide were very few but RAB to reach out to all farmers on time.

Guy Charbonnier, Ceva SA Technical Sales Manager for West and Central Africa, explained the efficacy of PRID Delta and said it has been successful in many African countries for the last ten years.

"Artificial insemination boosts animal fertility and production but there are many animals which do not show their oestrous cycle, hence stimulants are required. This method is new in Rwanda but has been in use since 2005,” he explained.

"PRID Delta has efficacy in controlled release of progesterone, oestrus synchronisation and fixed time insemination, in cycling and non cycling bovine females. I, therefore, assure Rwandan farmers on the efficacy of this method in boosting their cattle fertility and productivity”.

Gilbert Mungaruriye, an inseminator in Gashora Sector, Bugesera District, said he appreciated the efficacy of the new method.

"I was lucky to be among the first inseminators to use PRID Delta, and 28 out of 30 cows and heifers that I synchronised in May were successfully inseminated. The existing intra-ear method necessarily requires 15 cows to be synchronised at the same time, compelling a farmer to wait for others but the new intra-vaginal method is used with one cow and increases conception rate,” he said.

Eugene Shingiro, a vet from Nyabihu District, said some farmers still had wrong perceptions about artificial insemination but regular sensitisation was playing a vital role in changing their mindset.

Milking has increased significantly, from 190,000 tonnes of milk in 2009 to 600,000 tonnes in 2014, due to cattle genetic improvement by means of crossbreeding, according to Dr Kanyandekwe.

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