Cattle breeders across Rwanda are being urged to use a new protocol of bovine oestrus synchronisation to improve cattle fertility
The new protocol for animal reproduction that the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) is propagating is called Progesterone Releasing Intra-vaginal Device (PRID Delta). It is a device made of a polyethylene spin containing 1.55 g of natural progesterone and its design ensures good contact with vaginal mucosa.
It is a process that targets female bovines to come into heat within a short timeframe.
“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,” said Dr Christine Kanyandekwe, head of animal resources at RAB.
She added that the new device was technically easier to use and more abundantly available than the currently popular method, which has been in use since 2006.
Dr Kanyandekwe said that RAB is partnering with Ceva Santé Animale (CSA), a France-based animal healthcare company which produces PRID Delta.
Guy Charbonnier, technical sales manager for West and Central Africa at CSA, explained the efficacy of PRID Delta and said that it has been successful in many African countries for the last ten years.
“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,” he added.
Gilbert Mungaruriye, an inseminator in Gashora Sector of 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 revealed.
