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Officer-in-charge of the Greenland Station, John Vaughan??

The Ministry of Agriculture’s Greenland Livestock Research Station is taking further steps to ensure this island’s only indigenous livestock- the Barbados Black Belly Sheep – is secure for future generations of farmers.

This is according to Officer-in-charge of the Greenland Station, John Vaughan, who said his department was working to maintain a healthy, pure gene pool of the local animal.

"We have to try and see if we can collect some spermatozoa from our top quality rams to store and preserve it. In case of a natural or any disaster, we could be in trouble of losing our breed but if we have the spermatozoa stored and collected, then we could start back with those high quality animals and be able to build back our breed," Mr. Vaughan said.

Under the Black Belly Sheep Improvement Programme, the research station uses selective breeding to ensure Barbados has a steady supply of high quality sheep.

Through this process, animals with the best traits are bred with the aim of improving upon the characteristics which make the local breed so unique and to ensure future generations of animals maintain those positive qualities.

andre.skeete@barbados.gov.bb

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