YOU CAN START YOUR SMALL POULTRY WITH CASSAVA PEELS, SLUDGE AND LEFTOVERS AS FEEDSTOCK

Omolara Thomas

Cassava peels, sludge, and leftovers can be used as feedstock for your poultry, but they should be processed properly to ensure safety and nutritional value. Peels can be dried and ground into a meal, while sludge and leftovers might need treatment to remove toxins. Supplementing with other feed sources may be necessary to ensure a balanced diet for the poultry. Consulting with a veterinarian or poultry nutritionist is advisable for specific recommendations.

HOW TO INCORPORATE CASSAVA INTO POULTRY FEED TO REDUCE COST:

Incorporating cassava into poultry feed can be a cost-effective strategy. Cassava can replace a portion of the traditional feed ingredients like corn or wheat. However, it's important to note that cassava contains cyanogenic glucosides, which can be toxic if not properly processed. Here's a basic guide:

1. Processing: Cassava should be processed to remove cyanide compounds. This typically involves peeling, chipping, soaking, and drying. Ensuring thorough processing is essential to eliminate toxins.

2. Balancing:  Cassava can replace up to 10-20% of traditional grains in poultry feed formulations. Balance the rest of the ingredients to maintain nutritional requirements. Consult with a poultry nutritionist to formulate a balanced diet.

3. Energy Source:  Cassava is high in carbohydrates and can serve as an energy source in poultry diets. Adjust the amount based on the energy requirements of your birds and the energy content of other feed ingredients.

4. Protein Supplementation:  Cassava is low in protein, so additional protein sources may be needed to meet the birds' requirements. Consider adding soybean meal, fish meal, or other protein-rich ingredients.

5. Gradual Introduction:  Introduce cassava gradually into the feed to allow birds to adjust and monitor their performance and health.

6. Quality Control:  Regularly test the quality of cassava and the feed to ensure it meets nutritional requirements and is free from contaminants.

By following these steps, you can effectively incorporate cassava into poultry feed to reduce costs while maintaining the health and performance of your birds.

Physical properties of cassava-based diets are important factors limiting feed intake. Thus cassava-based diets should be fed to poultry in pellet forms or after the addition of fat or molasses to eliminate dust and improve texture.

 

CHEAPER FEED SOURCES FOR YOUR SMALL CHICKEN FARM

 

Omolara Thomas (Ibadan)

Poultry feed are the highest cost input and the biggest constraint to poultry development in Nigeria. Nigeria does not grow enough maize to meet poultry production expectations, but the small scale farmer can be creative in providing innovative feed sources for his farm.

There are several innovative and cost-effective ways to make poultry feeds:

 

Use Local Ingredients: Utilize locally available grains, legumes, and by-products like rice bran, wheat bran, maize, and soybean meal.

 

Substitute Ingredients: Replace expensive ingredients with more affordable alternatives. For example, you can use cassava meal, sweet potato vines, or sunflower seed meal as substitutes.

 

Mealworm Farming: Consider raising mealworms as a protein source. Mealworms are rich in protein and can be grown using organic waste materials like vegetable scraps or grain hulls. You can also grow large quantities of earthworms by the riverside. These are milled and dried or fed fresh. Worm feeds can raise egg production by as much as 30%.

 

Black Soldier Fly Larvae: Black soldier fly larvae are another excellent source of protein and can be cultivated using organic waste. They can be fed to poultry either fresh or dried.

 

Fermentation: Fermenting grains can increase their digestibility and nutrient availability for poultry. This process also helps in reducing feed costs.

 

Vertical Integration: If feasible, consider vertically integrating your operations by growing some of the feed ingredients yourself. For example, if you have space, grow corn or other grains.

 

Community Co-ops: Collaborate with other local poultry farmers to purchase feed ingredients in bulk, reducing costs through economies of scale.

 

Alternative Protein Sources: Look into unconventional protein sources like duckweed, algae, or insect meal.

 

Supplement with Kitchen Scraps: Utilize kitchen scraps like vegetable trimmings, fruit peels, and leftover grains to supplement the birds' diet.

 

Precision Feeding: Implement precision feeding techniques to ensure that the birds receive the right amount of nutrients without excess waste. This can involve formulating feed rations based on the specific nutritional needs of the birds at different stages of growth.

 

 

BIG GAINS AWAIT PALM OIL TRADERS

Kene Romina

End of February signals buying season for palm oil, waiting for the price highs of October through to December.

 Some of the largest oil palm plantations in Nigeria are located in Edo State. The state is home to the two largest oil palm plantations in Nigeria namely Okomu Oil Palm Plantation and Presco Oil Palm Plantations and they both produce the best grade and most sought after palm oil in Nigeria.

 Flourmills Nigeria, Dufil and Saro Africa are all planting thousands of hectares of oil palm plantations in Edo State.

Forecasts in the price of staples suggests unprecedented gains for traders buying palm oil for storage until end of year. These traders stand to reap gains of 75% at end of year when 25 litre kegs are expected to rise above N40,000.

Palm oil is selling now for between N18 – N25 per 25 litres keg of the non-technical grade and buyers are expecting a boom season beginning from October. Traders who store oil for the boom season are looking out for gains of over 75% by October through December.

Last year’s performances were impressive. In March 2023, the 25 litre keg were selling at N12000, but by October last year same 25 litre kegs were selling at N25000 in Lagos.

This year’s performance are projected to be far higher with the food products inflation rising at galloping rates across the country. Palm oil refined as Palm Olein is the dominant vegetable cooking oil in the Nigerian markets.

 

palm oil prices for week ending february 24:

Benin City:   N18,000.

Enugu:.         N16,000.

PH:                N22,000.

Lagos:.          N24,000.

NIGERIA NEEDS TO OVERCOME ITS WEAKNESSES TO END FOOD INFLATION

Basil Okoh. There's no shortage of food in Nigeria. But there’s a daily rise in the price of food products. The galloping inflation in food prices is mixed into a 51% unemployment rate and an unstable government to produce a sour blend of hunger and unrest in the land. 

Hands are flailing, tension is taut and tempers are reaching boiling point. Government is not showing informed knowledge and action in its responses to the raging hunger in the land. In fact, government lies to the people about grain reserves in silos spread across the country. There are no grains in any silos across Nigeria. 

 Insecurity and rising food prices in Nigeria require a multifaceted approach. At no cost to government, we propose the following fail-safe solutions. The truth however is that there are no magic propositions to alleviate hunger in the short term. Solutions require planning for the long term and faithfully implementing these plans. The Bola Tinubu government has not made any move towards solutions even on the level of policy and budgeting: 

1. Regain security control from bandits and marauders of the vast arable Savannah and the Sahel of Nigeria. Farming communities have lost control of their farmlands to bandits and no farming activities or investments can go on until these lands are regained and returned to the farmers. 

 2. Increase Agricultural Productivity: Invest in agricultural infrastructure, provide farmers with access to modern farming techniques, quality seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation systems to boost crop yields and reduce post-harvest losses. These are time worn propositions. The problem begins with the fact that there are no extension services across the breath of the country, from federal to states and local governments. So there are no institutional structures to faithfully supervise and implement government support and investments in agriculture. By experience, government investments in agriculture becomes fertile ground to corruptly enrich officials and contractors. The World Bank structured River Basins Development saga remains abiding examples of government failure in interventions in direct agricultural investments. 

 3. Diversify the Economy: Nigeria heavily relies on oil revenue, diversifying the economy will reduce its vulnerability to fluctuations in oil prices and create more employment opportunities in other sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, and services. The problem is that through excessive borrowings with pledges to pay with crude oil, Nigeria is paid forward for oil still under the ground. For the next decade, 50% of the crude to be produced and sold by Nigeria has been paid for and the money embezzled through opaque projects. 

 4. Support Smallholder Farmers: Provide financial assistance, training, and access to markets for smallholder farmers to improve their productivity and income. Again without a structured and effective extension system in place, the real Nigerian farmers cannot be identified, registered, planned for and supported. 

5. Promote Food Security Policies: Implement policies that promote food security such as strategic grain reserves, subsidies for staple foods, and price stabilization mechanisms to cushion the impact of price fluctuations on consumers. The ravaging insecurity in the middle belt, the real food basket of Nigeria, has rendered farming a death wish undertaking. The farmers have all left the farms and the unorganized youth migrated to the South to become farm hands and urban drifters. 

6. Invest in Infrastructure: Improve transportation networks, storage facilities, and market infrastructure to reduce food wastage and ensure efficient distribution of food products across the country. Nobody has had nobler intentions than the Nigeria government. But these intentions when translated into projects, have had their funds embezzled and the projects abandoned. Abandoned agricultural projects dot the skyline of Nigeria. 

7. Address Unemployment: Implement job creation programs, vocational training, and entrepreneurship support to reduce unemployment rates and alleviate poverty. 

8. Social Safety Nets: Establish and strengthen social safety nets such as food assistance programs, cash transfers, and school feeding programs to support vulnerable populations during times of economic hardship. 9. Combat Corruption: Address corruption in the food supply chain to ensure that resources are allocated efficiently and reach those in need without leakage or diversion. 

To urgently address the rising price of food products in Nigeria, the government can implement measures such as subsidizing agricultural inputs, investing in infrastructure to improve transportation and storage facilities, promoting sustainable farming practices, regulating market activities to prevent hoarding and price manipulation, and supporting smallholder farmers through access to credit and technical assistance. 

Additionally, initiatives to diversify the economy and reduce dependency on imported food items can also help stabilize prices in the long term. By implementing these measures, Nigeria can mitigate food insecurity, stabilize food prices, and promote economic development and social stability.