FG to create 3.5m jobs through agriculture by 2015 - Jonathan

The Federal Government through President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday at an international conference on palm oil production reiterated its commitment to create 3.5 million jobs through the agricultural value chains of production, processing and marketing by 2015.

He expressed government’s determination to add 20 million metric tonnes of food to the domestic supply by 2015. “We have identified oil palm as one of the important commodities and key drivers to promote the value chain initiative. “We have also intensified efforts to provide enabling environment.”
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How to Establish Chicken Farm Business

With so many people eating and having chicken for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you don't need to be a college graduate to figure out that there is a huge demand for chickens.

Demand is huge but the supply can barely keep up. Fortunes are made by huge chicken farms. This chicken business article will help get a piece of the pie.

Learn about chicken

Eating chicken and raising chicken are not the same for your information. So if you are thinking that it’s as
easy as eating a drumstick, I think this business venture is not for you. First of all chickens will eat abou

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Pig Farm Business

Pigs can be raised in controlled or free environment, as a small- or large-scale business. But in whatever size, a prospective farmer would need inputs as to how to raise pigs efficiently and in a more productive manner. Read from this guide and learn the basics on choosing piglets, proper nutrition, and ideal housing.

Raising pigs can be pursued as a small-scale operation as source of family meat and supplement income or it can be made into a large-scale operation.

Pigs may be raised in highly controlled environments (hog lots) indoor, in open spaces or barns as breeding sows or grown and sold for slaughter to butcher shops. Here are the aspects of pig raising that a
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Starting A Maize Farm Business

Maize farming may be a simple business to start but behind it are requirements needed to gain success. Knowing the fact that maize is commonly used in different area especially as a food supply to a lot of countries.

It actually takes a lot of years to gain experience in maize farming or any kind of crop you want to farm.

It actually need at least 3 years of experience to be successful and if you do not have enough experience you can start by applying as an apprentice in a farm and learn some skills of a farmer.

Managing a maize farm is not that easy, it takes a lot of effort and some risk especially if you do not have money to start maize farming. You can ask financial assistance from your local bank. But before doing so, you need to be familiarized with the kind of job you need to face everyday in maintaining a farm.
After you have acquired skills, you may now start searching for your financial resources. You may need to
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Wealth In Snail Farming Business

Did you know that snails are the most prolific livestock animal producing more than 150 eggs at a time in one clutch? It’s also the livestock that requires less stress in breeding them. You can buy a baby snail for less than N30 and make more than N200 as profit on such snail when it reaches table size.

The prolific aspect is that you can decide to breed 4 snails and before a year runs out you will have more than a thousand snails in your snail farm.

So let me take you into the commercial and medicinal/ nutritional value of snails.

Introduction to Snail Farming

Snails are derived from the wild life environment and are used as food, feed or source of revenue in given parts of the world. Usually unknown to animal production specialists and often officially ignored also by the livestock services of their home areas even though their meat may be appreciated and command a higher

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Making Money from a Dairy Farm Business

Anyone who knows the money-making aspects of cows and has a love for taking care of them can find an enjoyable and lucrative business in starting a dairy farm. You don’t know what to prepare for this venture?

Starting a dairy farm business won’t be a problem. Just go through this article and you will find the answers you‘ll need start up.

If you like to rear animals such as cows and recognize their money-making capabilities, then you can start a dairy farm business. You can make off milking cows and selling them off to big dairy companies, or sell them off as your own products if you can afford the processing equipment.

Types of Cattle to Use

The type of cattle to use for this kind of business is cow. Cows are the core of your dairy farm business. They are the animals that provides the milk that you‘ll be selling off for money, and they are also responsible

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Feed Formulation For Poultry

Rations are mostly formulated for poultry. Before its formulation, the following should be borne in mind, 

• The purpose of keeping the animal e.g egg laying or for table.
• The age of the animal.
• The cost of ration ingredients.

The major ingredient s in an ideal ration be it chick marsh, growers marsh or layers marsh are as follows:

Yellow maize: provides vitamin A and carbohydrate.

White maize: provides carbohydrate.

Rice bran: provides carbohydrate and acts as midlings.

Wheat offals: provide carbohydrate and act as midlings.

Guinea corn: provides carbohydrate

Palm kernel cake: provides lipids, vitamin, proteins

Coconut cake: provides lipids, vitamins, proteins.

Bean meal:  provides proteins, carbohydrate, lipids.

Groundnut cake: provides protein, lipids, vitamins.

Pigeon pea: provides protein, lipids, vitamins.

Bone meal: Provides minerals like calcium and phosphorus.

Oyster shell and grot: Minerals like calcium and phosphorus.

Blood meal: Provides protein, minerals like iron and copper.

Cotton seed meal: Provides protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and lipids.

Linseed meal: Provides protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and lipids.

Fish meal: Provides proteins, lipids and vitamins.

Common salt or salt lick: Provides mineral salts like sodium, iodine, chlorine and so many others.

Rations

A ration is the particular quantity of food an animal is given per day.

Types of Rations

Balanced Ration: This is a ration which consists of the essential food substance in the right proportion e.g

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How to Build a Fish Pond

Building a fish is more than just filling your dug with water as well as fish. You must know the different steps in building a proper fish pond to be able to earn money from it in the future. There are few things that you need to consider before starting to build a fish pond. Now, there are different types of ponds, some of the examples are:

• Plastic fish pond OR otherwise known as mobile fish pond

• Wooden fish pond.
• Concrete fish pond 
•  River/Stream fish pond: This is practiced by constructing a barrier to control the population and movement of the fishes in a particular area of a natural river or stream.
• Earthen pond: This kind of fish pond is said to be the most preferred type by some farmers because of the presence of some micro-organisms which aid the breeding of the fishes. It is also known as the oldest form of fish pond in Nigeria. It is dug to an extent beneath the surface of the earth to allow the action of capillary water in the soil to take place, just like in the case of a well water system but must not become too deep must also have in enough space. This system should be shallow, preferably in a location close to a natural form of water like river or stream. Now let’s get started!

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Rabbit Management

Are you planning to start a business raising rabbits for commercial use? Then, the step by step guide in this article will help you to establish a good and profitable rabbit farm management. It will also help you learn the basics of starting a rabbit farm right out of your backyard.

Housing of Rabbits

The type of house used for rabbit keeping will depend on the scale of production. The main objective is to provide adequate protection for the animals against harsh weather conditions such as rain, sun and heat. 

• Rabbits are usually kept in hutches (small boxes). 
•  Each hutch should have the following dimensions- 90cm long x 60cm wide x45cm high. In large rabbitries, the hutches are arranged in rows on wooden or metal stands of three feet (3ft) above the ground with passage between rows for the attendant 
• The hutches can be arranged in single, double or triple tiers. 
• Hutches can be of wood or metal surrounded by wire netting. This makes it to last to last longer. 
• For medium or large scale rabbitry, old poultry house or a similar one can be used. But sometimes, hutches are placed in poultry deep litter-house or in a well ventilated building. 
• The roof of the hutches should be placed in disinfectant bowls in order to keep off pest attack e.g termites. 
• The males are usually kept separate from the females.

Feeding Rabbit

•  They are simple stomach herbivores. 

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