Dr. Ralston Bent, veterinary surgeon at Serge Island Farms, explains how to use the Asuntol pesticide for treatment of ticks on animals during a Farmer Field School training organised by the Jamaica Dairy Development Board (JDDB) for dairy farmers on January 26 at Hillside in St. Thomas. At 2nd right is Donald Elvey, chairman of the JDDB.
In an effort to reduce parasite infestation among animals, several dairy farmers in the Hillside community of St. Thomas were exposed to pesticide training and treatment of animals by the Jamaica Dairy Development Board on January 26.
The training, which involved instructions on how to apply tickicide and demonstrations using spraying and the pour on methodologies, was aimed at encouraging farmers to utilise good agricultural practices thus ensuring that the animals produce milk that is healthy.
Byron Lawrence, coordinator of the Dairy Sector Revitalisation Programme, said the training was important to the Dairy Board achieving its objective of improving milk production in Jamaica as the pest infestation, if left untreated, would affect the animals’ health. This, he said, would subsequently lead to a reduction in the animals’ capacity to produce milk, thereby impacting production at the national level.
He further explained that implementation of good agricultural practices by the dairy farmers was necessary in order to ensure that the milk that is produced satisfies the requisite quality standard for its intended use and also for the viable operation of their dairy enterprise in the future from an economic and environmental standpoint.
In addition to the Hillside farmers, the JDDB will also be conducting training for farmers in two other St. Thomas communities - Danvers Pen and Georgia, where it was observed that a number of the animals needed priority treatment for parasite infestation.
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