Herdsmen: Minister Seeks Grass Importation For Cows

BEVERLY HILLS, May 05, (THEWILL) – The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has pushed for the importation and cultivation of good and nutritious grass saying it will put a stop to the clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

Ogbeh said this on Thursday in Lagos in an interactive session with the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) adding that Nigerian cows ought to be among the best breed in the world but lacked the capacity to produce quality milk because they wandered about.

“The largest ranch in the world, dairy farm in the world is in Saudi Arabia; 135,000 cows in one farm, but they are the most comfortable cows on planet earth, they live in air-conditioned tents,” he said.

“They eat and they produce milk; they give 40 litres of milk per day. We do, sometimes, half a litre of the milk. That's why Saudi milk is all over the gulf.

“Where do they get their grass? They get their grass from the U.S.; import alfalfa grass from the U.S. and from Sudan.

“Our cows are wandering and the herdsmen are at war with farmers; a crisis we must bring to an end as quickly as possible. And the solution is: grow grass.

“I have said it before, but I came up against a barrage of assaults. ‘Is it grass now? Na grass you go import?’ They said.

“With all due apologies to the commentators, they do not know as much as I do about this business of cattle; I keep some.

“There is no way you can keep cows without good grass to feed them and the grass must have a minimum of 18 per cent protein, trace elements and amino acids, then the cow will give you good meat.”

Also in attendance were the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun; and the Minister of Environment, Hajia Aminat Mohammed.

Story by David Oputah