Ashgabat, August 28, 2019 – On August 27 -28, the European Union funded Project “Support to Further Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Turkmenistan (SARD III)” conducted a two-day workshop on proper feeding and nutrition of dairy cows at the Sport Hotel of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Mr. Ben Braakman, the SARD III Project short-term international animal nutrition specialist, and Mr. David Pepper, the SARD III project expert, presented international best practices in the areas of proper nutrition and scientific feeding of dairy cows. The target group of the seminar consisted of 28 veterinary and other farm specialists of the livestock enterprises – members of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan from all velayats of the country. All of the participants received Turkmenistan Calf and Heifer rearing handbooks, developed by the SARD III experts, at the end of the seminar.
During his visit to Turkmenistan, Mr. Braakman together with the SARD III Project’s experts, David Pepper and Farhat Orunov, worked with the livestock enterprises in Akhal, Lebap, and Mary velayats addressing the issues related to proper dairy cows feeding and feed management, in particular, on farmers’ dairy cattle nutritional requirements (and how to meet these) to increase dairy production.
“Good livestock feeding is a feed management process that requires knowing what quantity and quality of feeds will sustain a cow’s nutritional levels for efficient milk production. To increase the productivity, dairy cows must be fed with the right kinds and quantity of feed at the right time”, explained Mr. Braakman during the seminar to the participants.
At the end of the training session, the farmers expressed their appreciation for gaining the knowledge needed to help them meet the nutritional needs of their dairy cows, and thus increase their milk productivity as well as efficiency.
Funded by the European Union and supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan, the workshop complements previous SARD III-organized activities related to livestock sector development, and aims to support the Government of Turkmenistan in achieving national policy objectives for sustainable agriculture and rural development, as well as strengthening supporting institutions for the agro-food sector.
