THE Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries in Monze has exceeded its target of vaccinating 10,000 cattle to over 13,000 against corridor disease due to overwhelming response from farmers.
According to a Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) Friday brief obtained by the Daily Mail on Monday, the animals vaccinated were calves ranging between two months and 1.5 years old.
“The Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries in Monze has completed phase one and has vaccinated about 13,016 cattle against corridor disease. This is way above the target of 10,000 animals which was planned,” ZNFU says.
Farmers are now being encouraged to start paying for the second phase, which is targeting 5,000 cattle.
Meanwhile, ZNFU says the price of maize bran, a major ingredient in livestock feed formulation, has increased to K30 per 30 kilogramme from K25 within three weeks.
The union says farmers have expressed dissatisfaction at the development, accusing millers of being insensitive.
The farmers added that the increase is unjustifiable because the price of maize has remained the same, while the current depreciation of the Kwacha against major currencies cannot be attributed to the adjustment.
“The farmers have, however, appealed to ZNFU to engage the stakeholders to resolve this problem, as a further increase is anticipated if the millers are not reminded of this unrealistic adjustment,” the union says.
ZNFU says a check around the province revealed that a bag of the commodity is fetching between K25 and K30 per 30kg bag, while Chimanga Changa in Ndola is selling a 30kg bag of maize bran at K24 and K25 as wholesale and retail, respectively