In order to assist Belize in developing the sheep industry, the International Cooperation Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) has been cooperating with the Government of Belize since 2015 on the Genetic Improvement in Sheep and Goat Project. This project mainly focuses on increasing the supply of high-quality breeding stocks in the National Sheep and Goat Breeding Center, and provides capacity building in feeding management and selection of small ruminants for the extension officers from the Ministry of Agriculture. Extension officer Andrew Mejia and Chairman of Cayo District sheep farmers’ association Daniel Juan made their first research visit to Taiwan this year. It is hoped that Taiwan’s experience will be beneficial to Belize in enhancing the overall professional knowledge of the value chain, such as breeding management and guiding farmers to organize and integrate the production and marketing channels.

TaiwanICDF cooperated with the Hengchun Branch of Livestock Research Institute, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan (LRI) and the Agricultural Technology Research Institute to plan this training course and tour. The course covered six different topics including techniques in sheep industry and support system, operation of sheep farmers’ association, sheep management system, registration of breeding stock, traceability system, and sales platform. Lectures were given by several units, such as Taiwan’s Goat Farmer Associations.

The participants also toured the Taiwan Animal Germplasm Center in Xinhua, Tainan City, the Hualien and Taitung Animal Propagation Stations, Jingchuan Company, Chianan Goat Milk Company, and the Changhua meat auction market, to learn about the practical operations of the sheep industry in Taiwan. Through observing semen collection and freezing techniques, processing of forage, analysis of feed, sheep breeding, and sheep farm management, it is hoped that the trainees will adopt the germplasm preservation and feeding process of the LRI as the standard for the National Breeding Center in Belize. The trainees also learned how mutton is graded based on the different parts and quality of the meat, the mechanisms of the trade platform, the standardized auction system, and the successful business model of a commercial sheep farm through their visits to the Jingchuan Company, Chianan Goat Milk Company and the Changhua meat auction market.

Ministry of Agriculture in Belize has expressed support and affirmation for the Genetic Improvement in Sheep and Goat Project since its implementation, and hopes that both sides can continue to collaborate and strengthen the productivity of the National Sheep and Goat Breeding Center and establish a sustainable breeding system, while encouraging more small farmers to participate in the small ruminant business to increase supply of mutton in the meat market and provide more choices for the public.

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• 更新日期: 2019/05/06
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