agriculture

Mida wagers on goat husbandry

Rafael Quezada/la prensa

rumalda and alfonso núñez 1111602

Rumalda Núñez is helping to debunk the myth that raising goats can be harmful to pastureland. The 83-year-old resident of El Guabal, a rural community in the Coclé province, has helped her son, Alfonso, raise a herd of goats for milk production, an unusual practice in Panama until the government began investing in it within the last few years.

“Goat milk is very rich and has many benefits for the body,” said Rumalda, as she held a goat in her arms. “If you learn how to manage the land, natural vegetation can serve to feed the goat.”

The governmental program to boost goat milk and meat production, created by the Ministry of Agricultural Development (Mida), will be renewed next year with an investment of $109,000, said Mida regional director Agustín Tejeira. That money will be put toward the purchase of male and female goats imported from Mexico. These goats will be distributed to low-income families throughout all provinces with the hopes of offering them a protein source, as well as a source of income from milk and cheese production.

If the project continues to generate interest in raising goats in the Coclé region, Alfonso and Rumalda may have to instruct their neighbors how they expanded their flock from just a couple of goats when they started eight years ago.

Creating a module for small-scale goat breeding is not at all difficult, added Núñez, who said he put up simple fences and used the banks of rivers and streams on his property as natural barriers.