Emmysteve: @fursh

Thank you very much for your contributions.

You're welcome

someone text me towrite how snails are kept! irrespective of the little charge on my phone, i will try to drop some lines here.
the question is not very clear to me o but let me answer it this way.
"how snails are kept"
does it mean
"husbandary"
"management practices"
processing and storage"
if it is husbandary, please, let that person extract it from my previous posts. management practices is also in those posts and if it is processing and storage?
ahahahahah(laughing), i dont know anything about that o!
snails are either consumed steam cooked, fried or roasted over open fire! thank you all!!!

Dr Isa thanks for your write up I will get in touch sir

I love when young minds talk about agriculture because that is an economy that would outlive lifespam

i got my own little experience when i was a corper with broilers(poultry). But i got hooked seelling them.

I worked in a farm where rabbits and guinea pig were reared in secondary.

One thing i observed is when you are into animal husbandary, seeing your animals grow from little ones to adult gives you another level of joy you cant explain. There is fulfillment in animal rearing when done in the right way away from unnnecessary short cuts.

Hope buying my rabbits next week to rear and probabbly adding grasscutter at the end of the year

brothers experience is the best teacher i tell you

Please I'm in Lagos,do you know where I can get colony of rabbit,grasscutter and pig.thnks

dannymax: Please I'm in Lagos,do you know where I can get colony of rabbit,grasscutter and pig.thnks

I have replied your mail sir

Hi pals pls I want to go into agriculture can u guys advise me on were t invest in my bugdet is 100k thanks pals am waitn for ur comments

kelvin50: Hi pals pls I want to go into agriculture can u guys advise me on were t invest in my bugdet is 100k thanks pals am waitn for ur comments

what do you have passion for most is it animal or crop so we know how to advice

@ doctor isa I prefer crops

kelvin50: @ doctor isa I prefer crops

i think you should go into cassava farming download the book below

http://animalfarminc.com/cassava.pdf

dannymax: Please I'm in Lagos,do you know where I can get colony of rabbit,grasscutter and pig.thnks

hy, saw ur post under mine
there was this young farmer i cheched out yesterday,
he got over hundreds of rabbits and grasscutter. I am not sure he is into pigs.

I tell you this guys farm is crazy.
Some rabbits breeds i saw are
new zealand white, califonia white, something Rex, flemish giant and one other giant i cant remenber. Would send you his number if you wanna chech him out.

Peace

kagari:
hy, saw ur post under mine
there was this young farmer i cheched out yesterday,
he got over hundreds of rabbits and grasscutter. I am not sure he is into pigs.

I tell you this guys farm is crazy.
Some rabbits breeds i saw are
new zealand white, califonia white, something Rex, flemish giant and one other giant i cant remenber. Would send you his number if you wanna chech him out.

Peace

Thank you sir

[quote au[email][/email][email][/email]uthor=doctor isa]@eddy spice Purchase or prepare cabbage seedlings for planting.
Hardened plants that can tolerate frosts may be
planted as early as other cool-season plants, and
the time of year to plant the seedlings is dependent
upon where you live. Spring plants should produce
before the heat of the summer and can be planted 4
weeks before the last frost. Fall cabbage is best to be
in the ground 6 to 8 weeks before the first frost. You
should also try to plant the seedlings on a cloudy or
overcast day to minimize the shock of transplanting.
2
Mix nitrogen fertilizer and compost with the soil with
a garden fork . Cabbage requires three key items in
the soil for growth: nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium. The soil pH should be between 6.5 to 6.8
for optimum growth and to discourage certain
diseases.
3
Wear garden gloves, and space the plants 12 to 24
inches (30 .5 to 61 cm) apart in a row, depending
upon the variety and size of the cabbage head you
desire. The narrower the rows, the smaller the heads.
It is best to grow cabbage in full sun, but the plants
can deal with partial sun. Plant in the ground at a
depth level that is level with the first set of leaves.
4
Water the seedlings regularly with a watering can or
garden hose, applying 1 to 1 .5 inches (2.5 to 3.8 cm)
every week unless it rains. When the weather is
warm, plants may need extra water. Ensure that
weeds don't take over your plants by mulching the
area. Mulch also keeps the soil temperature cool.
5
Use a sharp knife to harvest the cabbage when the
heads are firm and the iiiziysyii8iyixtetnterior is dense . Avoidiyiiid
waiting until the heads are overripe as they will split.
Excess moisture will also cause the heads to split.
You can leave the rest of the cabbage pipyi''uuup)u7yyiy(yiiyiūgiuiyyyiiyiyiiiiioilant and
harvest a later batch of cabbage sprouts, which will
be 2 to 4 inches (5.1 to 10.2 cm) in diameter.
Cabbage heads can be placed in the refrigerator for
up to 2 weeks if covered loosely with a plastic bag.[/quote]

Dr, thanks for the info, pls can you assist me on how to get bottle for packing juice like soyamilk.

@kelvin50. When you want to invest in crop production, please there are many things involved. Let me just outline them fast. The ones I can remember now ni o.
Your location is the prime director of what to do because it has both climatic and soil conditions that must be known so that we can know the crops that are best suited for that area.
Size of your farm
What scale do you want to practice I.e small scale or large scale?
How long do you want your investment incubation period to be? I.e how many months do you want to have your ROI?
Fo you want to run the business on short term or long term?
Are you mobile?
Are you rugged and dogged? ( I said this because the snake I saw walk pass my farm yesterday has a terifying size and I still went there this morning)
You need both mind and physical strenght to enjoy crop production!
Please, don't get me wrong o. I am trying to make people undastand what I have read for more than 6 years in a simple and straight forward way.
I like to always prepare peoples mind before hand so that they won't bow to field challenges because am a field not paper agriculturist.
For you to make money in crop production, sir, you need to have a plan for irrigation. No matter how little it may be. That is where you will beat local farmers.
You can ask any question
I will be pleased to answer it in a simple language and help you for free. Just post your question opely so that many people can benefit from it.

@oluplanet. I like you Ogami! But this is wuruwuru to the answer oooo! The Agronomy of crops is more than this ooo!
Let me give some points here
Let's pick a crop. Let's pick a common crop! But as a graduate farmer, you should plant a rather uncommon or scarce crops or crops with limited supply.
Let's pick maize for instance. I picked maize because many of us will be familier with its agronomy. Now let's go!
First of all, we need a soil test to know d nutrient content of the soil as at that moment. This will give us hint into our fertilizer recommendations(I.e d soil nutrient condition tell us what nutrient is deficient in the soil and in what proportion is it needed. And what fertilizer is needed for it. Is it slow nutrient releaser or fast nutrient replenisher. This is what I mean)
Once we get this, then we have gained already even before doing any planting
Pre planting operations:
Bush clearing, ridges making, aquisition of planting materials
Planting operations:
Planting, transport of planting materials and labourers+feeding , weeding(labourers or herbiside spray) and insecticide spraying(chemical +labour+ sprayer rent)
Second weeding, fertilizer application where neccessary, insecticide spraying.
Post planting operations:
Harvesting( labourers), transporting, drying and shelling or direct sales in produce market (oja oko) this is a. Draft template of rain fed maize production.

@ the man dat siad he has 100k for crop production. Do you think your 100k can finance all these expenses and can you cope with the stress in it? Mind you this business is very lucrative o. If YES, then I pledge my absolute support to make sure you make it in that business of your choice.
The Unbeatable!

@Dr. Isa, The unbeatable and other great farmers in the house, please how much is a bag/kilo of corn in the market?

@kelvin50, if you have land, 100k should be enough for the production of maize.

Let me teach you a simple technique, let assume you're cultivating 2 acres of land. 60k should be enough for clearing and the seeds you will need, buy any good anti- weed chemical and have it spray on your farm, this would surely prevent your crops from being covered by unwanted weeds for the period of planting - harvest. The life circle of maize is range between 2- 4months maximum.

Actually,I'm currently into plantain and moringa farming but would surely invested in maize if the prize per bag is reasonable.

doctor isa:

I have replied your mail sir

Thank you sir,I got it.GOD bless u sir

kagari:
hy, saw ur post under mine
there was this young farmer i cheched out yesterday,
he got over hundreds of rabbits and grasscutter. I am not sure he is into pigs.

I tell you this guys farm is crazy.
Some rabbits breeds i saw are
new zealand white, califonia white, something Rex, flemish giant and one other giant i cant remenber. Would send you his number if you wanna chech him out.

Peace

Pls I'm still expecting the number u said u'll send.thank u sir

For sure doctor isa nd oda xperienced contributor are a balm on d youths both employed or unemployed who fear agriculture due to d risk involved,I must say welldone 2 u all.
My contribution is regarding soil test cos am a 500level soil science and land management student from FUNAAB willing to assist prospective farmer cos prevention is less xpensive dan cure *my 2 cents* adematinfo@gmail.com

@ "the man that wants to know if 100k will be enough to go into maize production"

I saw this "ROUGH" estimate on maize cultivation on a thread here on nairaland. I can't reccomend it outrightly because , for me its not detailed enough. There are still lots of expenses hidden.

Rough estimate of maize cultivation
Stage 1
Land lease 5,000/ha
First ploughing -8,000
2nd ploughing - 8,000
Hybrid seeds/ha - 8,000

Stage 2
Planting - 3,000
First weeding - 9,000
Fertilizer- 5,500
Fertilizer application - 4,000

Stage 3
2nd weeding - 3,000
GNLD 8,000
Application - 4, 0000
Insecticide - 6,000
Application- 4,000

Grand total : 78,500

3 tonnes can be harvested on 1ha
And 1 tonnes : 60,000
: 3¤60,000 : 180,000.
180,000-78,500 =101,500


This is a draft! I will give details explanations on each stages soonest and why I think 100k will not be enough if we really need to be practically oriented. I rest my case!
Still yours,
The UNBEATABLE.

The life circle of maize is range between 2- 4months maximum.


Harvesting of maize starts 53 days after planting. Thank you all.

Ty God for TB yimua new day! Let me give a detailed explanation on this maize cultivation issue so that we all can see that 100k may/ may not be enough. In farming generally, many factors affect production. In fact, many factors affect all the stages of agricultural production. Some can be controlled while some can't. As I explain further, we all will undastand better.

Stage 1:
Land lease: 5,000/ha
The location(state, local govt, town/village where your farm is situated)
Is a prima factor in your budgetting.
Some villages accomodate visitors and some prey on them both finacially and physically.r
Some people are not happy even when you are doing good things on their land. They prefer to leave it fallow than allow useful activities on it.y friend, run from people and places like this. In villages where the men are lazy, always playing games in the morning. Run from farming in these communities because even if you buy land there, you will face persecution once you are making it there.some years back when i wanted to start maize production, i went to meet an elderly man and within 2 days I was given 1 acre of land free of charge to use for some time. I only appreciated the Baba later with somethings I had. Later, i was able to buy 2 acres of land not far from there for 25k. And i know of a man that bought 5ha of land for 75k (but this lands are farm lands and they are not by the road side)

All i am trying to say is that the location of your farm to a great extent determines the cost of runing the business. You will use the town people has labour. (Hmnn, laughing) i once hired a labourer and normally, you will feed them. One of them asked me to buy rice and beans while one asked for spagetti with His. You see what i am talking about. Some people are just after your money and not your Good. Dont buy a farmland because it is close to you but because of the hospitality of the villagers. Some people can go to the extent of putting charm on your farm. Dont buy land from village heads. Buy from families that are willing to sell adn make enough investigations before paying. Your lawyer will be a good choice here.
It is better to buy than to rent. An hectare of land should cost between 10k -50k averagely irrespective of state. Any amount from this will burden your budget you can even consider relocating to the farm later in life. This is what happens in developed countries and i must say here that the population of people staying in farm settlements and villages are more than those in the cities ( I stand to be corrected anyway) let me no over expand this stage.m

Ploughing:

The idea of ploughing is to upturn the soil thereby burying the plants on it. Ploughing can be done with hoe or tractor plough! When the burried weeds or crop stubbles/remains decay in the soil, they had more nutrients back to the soil. This( natural soil replenishment) is the best way of enriching the soil. All others will have immediate or long term effects whether we like it or not.
The cost of ploughing differs from location to location. I have ploughed sometime back in ogun state for 7k/ha and I have done thesame before for 6k in Ondo state. The dept of ploughing should not be more than 7cm if not the nutrient rich humus will be buried beyound the reach of the plant roots and that will cause problems later. Second ploughing should be done at least 2 weeks after the first ploughing. This will allow for proper decay of buried plants. This is can also be called "Green manuring".

Sourcing for planting materials is the next.if you want to produce for local consumption (I.e sell in produce market (village market)) you must buy seeds that are "PREFERRED" in that area so that your produce will gain "general acceptance" make enquires from farm input sellers before buying any seed please. Buy viable seeds( seeds that have high germinating potential and good vigor) please irrespective of the cost. If not, you will waste time and you know that time is money! Also you have to add the cost of transport to your costs.

Stage 2

Planting:

#3,000
Planting involves: transport of labourers and feeding dem. Farm labourers work form 7am-1pm pr 2pm to 6pm. Wages vary due to location. The price vary from 700 naira to 1500 naira depending on the work to be done and the technicalities involved. A normal labourer makes a hole and drops the seeds in it. Any deviation from this attracts more money. So, it now depends on your negotiating power. "SUPERVISION" should be strictly done by you if not, they will make a mess of you and it will take some days before you discover. One of my labourers then did drop 11 seeds in a hole just in a bid to finish up and collect his wages. They can be that bad. (Ota Aje)
Can 3,000 naira take care of all these now?

You need at least 2 or 3 labourers to plant 1ha of maize effectively. Better still, plant it yourself and your mind will be at rest.
FARM WORK IS LABOURIOS!!!


In this "draft estimate", there is no provision for. PEST CONTROL like birds and rodents. Wount you buy traps? Clanging bell and hang some of your used clothes on some stakes?
All your transport to farm must be accounted for.I mean you must record the transport fares with your extimates or expenditures too. Are they not?


First weeding:


The use of selective herbicide is better than the use of farm labour if we want to be "cost effective"
9,000 naira is budgetted for first weeding here. I think this is outrageous!

Fertilizer: if we do soil test, we will know if we need fertilizers or not and the quantity that is required.
Now, let me talk abit about use of fertilizers.
We practically have 3 types of fertilizers. Organic fertlizer
Inorganic fertilizer
Organomineral fertilizer

Organic fertilizers e.g poultry, piggery, cattle,rebbit, goat,sheep dungs. Any bio degradable substance that has the ability of replenishing the soil nutrients without toxins or soil poisoning can be called "organic fertilizer". Even human feaces, human urine is part of organic fertilizers! The problem with using this fertilizer is that we need it in large quantities because the nutrients embeded per each kilogram is less compared with other fertilizer types.


Inorgainc fertilizers:
These are mineral fertilizers or chemical fertilizers e.g npk, urea, murate of potash, ammonium sulphate and many others. They release the nutrients required in the soil faster than the organic fertilizers. They are expensive and are in limited supply especially in farm sattlements. It can also be abused (over application and improper application).
5,500 was alloted for this and I think that is the current market price.

Fertilizer application: 4,000


I don't know how this person wantt o use 4k to apply fertilizer o
My question is:
What method does he want to use ?
Does he want labourers?
What of fertilizer transport to farm?
Does he want to apply it granularly or in solution?
Does he want to run it through irrigation?

Let me also state here that we also havefoliar fertilizers" fertilizers that we apply to the foliage(leaves,branches) or let's say canopy of the crops! Can 4,000 handle this? That is left to you and your location.

Stage 3

Second weeding 9,000
GNLD- 8,000

Application 4,000
Insecticide 6,000
Application 4, 000

Let me comment on all these at thesame time because of my time. 9,000 is outrageous. And GNLD that I know is sold for 12k for 4litres. Now
Let me tell you how to use this "delicate" fertilizer. I call it delicate because of what only me see.( I stand to be corrected anyway)
1,000 litres of water is used to mix 1 litre of GNLD. That is what I know and how I used it then. The result is nice but I have a lot of "Nigerian questions" to ask GNLD if opportuned.
Insecticide is 1300 naira at the retailer's shop per 1 litre and you need only 1 litre/ha.so where does this 6,000 comes from! At this junction, I must advice everyone, please don't rely fully on what someone said or concot on the internet. Please. Be courteous enough to ask questions from anyone and everyone. Money is hard to comeby in Nigeria. I don't know of other countries sha. This person also charged 4, 000 naira for applying this same insecticide. May be the insecticide this person is taling anout is different from the ones I know sha. ( I stand to be corrected)

My fellow Nigerians, all I believe is this " A good name is better than ill wealth"
Thank you!
Barka de sala!!!

@unbeatable
thank u for taking time to analys the above post point by point, it goes to show that u know what u a talkin abt i av been.following most if not all agric related topics on NL most ops i believe are laptop farmer.pls i am really intrested in farming as a bussiness pls i wil like you to continue with your analysis how much from your own point of view will be okay to plant maize per acre/hectare because by next year i want to start maize cultivation.my e-mail is gbolahan.basheer@yahoo.com

@Unbeatable
I will jst say welldone for ur numerous contribution to dis thread. I am really interested in snail rearing and based in akure ondo state. From ur previous post I guess u re also in ondo state ill like to kno ur location so I can visit ur farm* and ve an idea of aw to build d snail house/cage. And ve d opportunity to meet u one on one I ve so many questions to ask. Thanks as I anticipate ur positiv reply.

YOUR CONTACTS would highly b appreciated.
ONE LOVE BRO.

@bawelat- My person, please try to punder on these questions of mine:
Why do you want to plant maize?
Why maize and not another crop?
Is maize the only crop your soil support?
Why 1ha? Is it because of funds? Or or that's the available land left or good for cultivation?
Are you planting maize only(mono cropping)? (Mixed cropping)? Or (mixed farming)?

Why am I asking this questions? This is because I don't want you to be "myopic" in your look!
Proper and good sight of visions make " sustainable agriculture" practiceable.
Sustainable agriculture is the growing of crops or rearing of animals at the highest gain now and not depriving the next generations of good proceeds too(I.e keeping the soil in the best shape possible). It means doing everything possible to maintain the soil. The soil is like the body of human beings and it can be sick too(soil acidity, soil poisoning, soil alkalinity) and many other soil problems I don't pray we have.
I AM AN ADVOCATE OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE!

@mike58
Snail rearing is one of the simplest agricultural ventures!
Snail housing is simple to construct! Let me explain several housing types and you can use anyone your fund can carry.
1- use baskets to cover them and feed them from there. (This is the type I am using now because this is my level) (smilling)!
2- use of wooden cage. You can use wooden poultry or rabbit cage but it must have its opening at the top! Yes, at the top. You can cover the base of the cage with tampolin or thick nylon or rags or something that can cover the base and support soil. Put humus rich soilin it( dark coloured soil found in refuce areas or where feaces(human, animal) is. If you can't get that, get any soil , mix with any feaces and moisten it(add water enough to wet it not run off o)
Put the soil in the cage and you can now introduce your snails. Mind you, start with any snail that you have aCcess to. Majority of snails grow to a considerable extent.

About my location, I currently have my production unit at Owo local govt. You know this is INTERNET o and you know that WE ARE ALL NIGERIANS! Don't get me wrong! Once I know you in person and as time goes on and I have seen (with my korokoro eyes) that you have started your farm, I can take you to my INCREASING farm!

About meeting me in person, I am often on the Road! Drop your phone number here and I will contact you once I am in Akure. I am "aBIT" always busy and I don't like disappointing people apart from always keeping to my words because my words is my "bank account"! I don't play with it.
I should be in Akure today sha but many factors can alter my movements.
08024051709 is my business line but I borrowed someone the phone this morning. Please post your number here. "I WILL CHECK IT "

My people, one day. The "OIL WELLS" may dry up, what will be left of us?
FARM and save your FAMILY from FAMINE

Now, about snail diseases, I will talk about them later. I lost about 5 of my snails 2 days ago( but I fried and eat them o) I can't loose twice!!! (Smilling)!
Ise loogun ise ( work is the antidote of poverty)
Owuro lojo ( morning is meant for working) am off to farm!