The Oyo State Government has said the Federal Government proposal of cattle colony is strange to the state, adding that it would not allow “a form of cattle rearing that encourages the animals moving around and infringing on other people’s rights.”

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, Oyewole Oyewumi, who said this in Ibadan, added that the state recognised ranching as a form of rearing cattle.

He said, “As a policy of the Oyo State Governmenttoday, we encourage ranching over any other methods of cattle production and development.

“We have heard talks about grazing reserves and recently about what they call cattle colonies.“They sound very strange to us, especially in the issue of cattle colonies and I think the idea is being mooted by the Federal Government, so we await further explanations as to what cattle colony is.

“But the underlying thing for us as a state is that having our cattle in an enclosed area for control purposes is very critical tous.

“So, if the cattle colonies envisage a situation where the colony consists of an enclosure, no matter how large, where the movement of cattle are controlled, we may look atit; but if it has to be an open area where cattle will be allowed to just walk around in a free range, I don’t think the Oyo State Government will be able to accommodate that.

“That is our position and that is where we stand on the matter.”

Oyewumi said the state government had a bill before the House of Assembly which would regulate the activities of herdsmen.