Considering the use of any asset on the farm, some factors come into mind.

First of course is the cost- how much resources is available to the farmer to acquire the asset. This goes a long way to determine the asset that the farmer acquires (affordability).

Also of importance is the durability of the asset, how long can this asset be put to a profitable use on the farm. An accounting measure of this is useful lifespan of the asset which ultimately determines the depreciation charged to the farm operations.

Of course the above discussion does not exclude consideration of the pupose of the asst, enviromental factors, etc.

So how does the decision to buy and operation of imported battery cages brings more benefit relative to the locally fabricated cages?

Let us reason together.

I'm about to commence operations on a layer-poultry farm (5,000-bird take-off). Owing to the nature of my job i can not afford to be there expt for weekends.

I'm aware this is a challenge, but every challenge is summountable.

What practical steps do you advise i take to succees as absentee farmer.

Please advise

Agric business is generally know to be profitable. People start one arm or the other of agriculture for several reasons- some for passio, others see it as a mainstream investment.

To both group of farmers, pilfering by farm personnel could kill passion/drain investment.

Please let's delibrate on measures to put in place to curb this menace.

Dear farmers,

I believe that though Nigeria churns out a great army of graduates from several tertiary institutions scattered all over the country, my little experience has shown that the required skill-set to combat hunger and make agriculture take its place of pride is very SCARCE.

Am I right or have not been patient enough?

I hope you guys know about papain. It is gotten when unripe pawpaw is soaked in water overnight. The white liquid extract is papian. In man, I know that it aid digestion and it it used to make tough meat tender. In chickens, I think it also aid digestion. Are my right?

Good day people. Like how much manure will a chicken produce in a day? Just want to estimate how much fertilizer I can get.

Hello everyone. During a glut, can eggs to frozen to preserve it for a very long time? And how economical do you think it is?

There are various movements against the use of battery cages for poultry. They prefer free range rearing. These groups are so powerful that they have influenced some consumers to start buying products from free range and organic farms. There are even laws in place that force producers to put on their products their rearing method - whether organic, free range etc. Now I’ll like to know your thoughts about this, are chickens in cages really being abused?

How do you beat the heat? Pls if possible I need cheap methods. I know about fans but that will be a huge cost to set up and running fans with generator is yet another thing.

Does anyone has a good recipe for homemade probiotics for chickens?

In areas like Awka where killing monkeys are prohibited, What methods can one use to keep them out of the farm?

You know there are sawdusts that are small like sand and those ones that are bigger. Which one should be used in chicken house?

Hello all, please what are the possible markets for catfish? Especially where I can sell in large quantity.

Is it possible to use chicken wire to build rabbit cage?

Does eating eggs increase cholesterol in the blood?

When breeding animals to improve the new generation, below are 2 things to avoid:
,
1. Don't mate a big male breed with a small female breed that have not given birth for the first time. If you do the female will have difficulty while giving birth because the foetus is too big for her size.
2. In order to retain the natural resistance of the native breed, a maximum of 75% foreign bloodline must be maintained.
Note: if you want to upgrade an animal, you use a foreign male breed and mate him with a local female breed, not the other way round.

I was thrilled when I discovered that there is a vaccine for coccidiosis, but I'm wondering how effective it is, regarding the fact that there would be severe consequencies if the vaccine fails. How safe is the vaccine is compare to the traditional way of dealing with coccidiosis?

Dear All,
the attached manual could be of help to catfish farmers and affter reading pls lets come back here to discuss the workability,of the hatching techniques used in the manual

Attached Files

  Clarias FAO Handbook.pdf (Size: 1,000.91 KB / Downloads: 37)

Aspirin can be given to birds to help them cope with sickness. Dosage is five 325 mg aspirin tablets in one gallon of water (or about 25 mg/lb body weight per day). Give it to them throughout the illness period.

High-performance agriculture is providing plants with the environment and the nutrition they need to allow them to express their inherent genetic potential. When you do this, you’re not altering a plant’s yield; you’re just allowing the plant to fully express its inherent yield potential. For example, tomato seed has the genetic capacity to produce 400 to 500 pounds of fruit per plant. But every time that plant is exposed to any level of stress throughout the growing season, that potential harvest is reduced.

When we give the plant nutritional supplements, the reality is that we are not increasing yields; we are simply preventing those yields from being lost. The source says that the foundation of plant’s health really boils down to two things:
Plant nutrition and soil biology

Satisfying these 2 requirements will result in healthy plants that are able to ward off insects and diseases. Yield will also increase dramatically and the plants would be able to survive a wider range of climactic changes. Plants need at least 64 different minerals and trace-minerals for optimal growth.

One of the most potent strategies that can be used to improve plant health is compost tea.

Quote:While there are a variety of ways to make compost tea, you typically use a volume of water, certain sugars for nutrients, minerals, along with certain bacteria or microbes. The mix is then aerated using a pump, as the beneficial organisms require oxygen to survive. The tea is typically grown over 24 to 48 hours, and then you apply it directly to the soil on a regular basis.

An ideal compost tea is composed of tens of thousands of different species of bacteria, along with fungi and protozoa that actually digest the bacteria. This type of tea compost can address both of the main components necessary for maximum plant performance, i.e. mineral nutrition and optimized soil.

The minerals are actually created through the microflora in the soil, as follows. The soil bacteria, fungi, Actinomycetes, and a variety of other soil microbes feed on these soluble sugars and amino acids. They also extract minerals from the soil mineral matrix and use them to build their own bodies. As that microbial population cycles and regenerates, the minerals that are contained in their bodies are then released and become available for absorption by the plant. Again, this is very similar to the way that fermented vegetables or probiotics improve your own digestive and overall health.

BioChar, which is charcoal used as a soil amendment, can be used to improve the soil structure and encourage the growth of beneficial microorganisms. Producing BioChar involves slowly burning biomass, such as wood and other plant materials. The slow burning produce charcoal that has an incredibly high surface area.

Quote:While many soluble NPK-type fertilizers produce rapid, noticeable plant response, they significantly suppress the soil microbial community because they’re essentially electrolytes, and when applied to the soil, they increase the electrical conductivity of that soil, which results in a burnout and a suppression of the soil microbial community. So, long-term, this simply promotes soil destruction and decreases your ability to grow healthy plants.