Coconut Water Aids Artificial Insemination of Pig

Using nutrient-rich coconut water to artificially inseminate female pigs could improve breeding and meat quality, a project carried out in Uganda has found, SciDev.Net reported on June 29.  Researchers conceived the community action project after realizing that most smallholder pig farmers keep poor breeds resulting in low growth rates, few piglets, and poor-quality pork with little lean meat and high fat content, the report said.  The project, which is an initiative of Uganda-based Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), started in 2017 and has engaged nearly 1,000 smallholders in Uganda.

“Artificial insemination facilitates the collection of boar semen from superior boars to improve the genotypes, and subsequently higher productivity is achieved,” said Elly Ndyomugyenyi, project lead researcher and senior lecturer at the department of animal production at Uganda’s Gulu University.  Farmers take fresh coconut water from five-month-old coconut. Extraction is done by opening the fruit with a sanitized blade, after which the water is poured into a clean beaker before it is transferred using a cotton cloth. 

The water is used to aid insertion and delivery of the semen into the female pig’s reproductive canal.  High concentration of sodium and potassium in green coconuts are factors which help in sperm motility and longevity, Ndyomugyenyi explained.  Joab Malanda, a pig production expert at the department of animal science at Egerton University, Kenya said that apart from aiding insemination process, coconut water helps increase the number of viable live spermatozoa cell and extend their life, allowing insemination at appropriate time.