Scope of Artificial Insemination and its Application in Cattle: Farmers Perspectives
Abstract
The public sector is playing an important role in the growth and development of the dairy sector. It is working to improve dairy production by providing livestock extension services. Artificial insemination (AI) is the technique in which semen with living sperms is collected from the male and introduced into the female reproductive tract at the proper time with the help of instruments. Adopting artificial insemination would considerably reduce genital and non-genital diseases in the farm stock. With the changing time, livestock farmers need to be well aware about the latest innovations and strategies for successful livestock farming. The public sector plays a major role in the livestock sector improvements. The current study was conducted in the District of Hafizabad. Data were collected using a multistage sampling strategy. There were two tehsils such as Tehsil Hafizabad and Tehsil Pandi Bhatian. One of the two tehsils (Tehsil Hafizabad) was chosen conveniently in the first stage. The sample size consists of 118 AI users that was drawn through www.surveysystem.com. For the purpose of data collection, a well-developed interview schedule was designed. The collected information was analyzed by SPSS. It was found that the educated (83.1%) young generation utilized artificial insemination. Majority of the farmers (68.6%) adopted AI technology exclusively. However, around one-third employed both insemination techniques i.e. natural and artificial. Slightly more than half (55.1%) of the farmers mentioned that AI is a very important service for dairy development. All respondents reported that the government provides AI services in their area. It was found that artificial insemination is essential for dairy production (WS = 551, mean = 4.67), higher conception rate (WS = 366, mean = 3.62), genetic improvement (WS = 343, mean = 4.182) and sex semen (WS = 326, mean = 3.88). Study findings declared that fraud in semen quality (WS = 499, mean = 4.23), high cost of the semen (WS = 434, mean = 3.68) and dishonest technician (WS = 427, mean = 3.62) were the major issues associated with artificial insemination. It is concluded that farmers with higher education levels, higher incomes, and more years of experience observed less issues associated with artificial insemination. The artificial insemination method might be rather expensive. Therefore, the government needs to work toward lowering the rate of artificial insemination. Fraud was observed in semen quality, there should be appropriate monitoring to detect the linked difficulties causing a barrier to adopting artificial insemination technology.