In line with his electoral promises to meaningfully empower youths and to contribute towards food security in Oyo Central Senatorial District, Senator Teslim Folarin has made another giant stride by organising a 2-day intensive training of pig farmers in Akinyele Local Government Area of the district.
The three-term senator nominated Akinyele LGA as part of the six locations in Southern Nigeria for the training of youths on artificial insemination for improved productivity of pigs. The 2-day training, which was held between Monday 29th to Tuesday 30th November 2021, took place at Kaybeetel Event Centre, Moniya Ibadan.
The Oyo Central lawmaker partnered with the Institute of Agricultural Research Training (IART) – Moor Plantation to deliver the training. The trainees who were selected across the council area were given artificial insemination kits, certificates and cash grants.
Senator Folarin remarked that he had organised two different trainings on agriculture in November. In his words, “In November alone, I have facilitated two unique empowerment trainings vis-a-vis 3-day training on provision and adoption of post-harvest techniques for young farmers in Oyo Federal Constituency of the district and the latest one is training of selected young farmers in Akinyele on how best they can practice and embrace Artificial Insemination (AI) in pigs. Soon, other council areas of the Senatorial District will be given similar opportunities”.
Folarin stated he was empowering his constituents with modern innovations in agriculture to help reduce unemployment rate and to contribute towards food security in Oyo State. He maintained that crude oil is already failing the country but agriculture is a major panacea.
The three-term senator while charging trainees to transfer knowledge acquired to other pig farmers, noted that the use of artificial insemination (AI) has been of enormous economic benefit for dairy farmers in many countries.
While explaining the process, a resource person from IAR&T, Dr. (Mrs) Olorungbohunmi Temilolo said that the Artificial Insemination involves “the synchronization of an animal to come on heat using estrogen and progesterone”. She said that known semen from proven boars is then introduced to cause fertilization in the synchronized sows.
“The semen produced for artificial insemination (AI) should be free of contagious organisms, be of high quality, have good storage properties, fertilizing capacity and be of high genetic value. The best approach to prevent the spreading of microorganisms via semen in the process of AI is to collect semen from boars free from specific diseases, for example pseudorabies virus or leptospirosis. Antibiotics are added to the semen to suppress proliferation of microorganisms or even reduce their number. Sperm production is influenced by many factors such as season, collection frequency, breed and age” she stressed during the training.
Participants gave Senator Folarin a deserved pat on the back for facilitating the training. According to Mr. Adeboje Michael, “acquiring this knowledge on artificial insemination is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.”
Mrs. Ogundiran Julianah said she would venture into pig farming instead of looking for paid employment. Mrs. Raji Monsurat noted that the training programme has again proven that Oyo Central Senatorial District has a capable, responsible and responsive representative in the red chamber.
