Post by Ismail AbdulAzeez on Mar 29, 2013 14:29:34 GMT 1
Another name for grass-cutter is cane rat probably derived from sugar cane hence grass-cutter or cane rat loves sugar cane very much as one of its best food. Grass-cutter farming as a business in Nigeria imply production of grass-cutters for profit, not just some profit but as much profit as possible by all categories of farmers in Nigeria viz; small-scale farmers medium-scale and large-scale or commercial farmers.
Grass-cutter farming as a business should require a good farm business management which must involve using farmerfs limited resources like money and other farm inputs to get highest profit. It required good planning long term planning of the use of those resources and short-term planning or day-to-day management of those resources to achieve maximum output or yield from cane rat business resulting to huge profit. The farmer should have time to work out his ideas with the exports or those farmers who already have experience in grass-cutter farming, preferably writing them down and estimating the costs and returns of production for each plan. It is very necessary for the farmers to always contact the etension workers nearest to them in their localities for technical advice cane rat production. The farmers must keep good farm records and prepare farm plans. These are some of the basic principles of farming as a business venture.
Profit simply means total value of production minus total costs involved in the production. Farmers should move into grass-cutter farming, not just to produce meat for food but to farming for cash to be able to pay for other necessities of life viz; housing, clothing, school fees and so on. Farming that changed over the years. In the past farmers farm only to produce food for feeding the family only with at times little for sale. Standard of living has changes over the years, society now need more cash now. Thus there is pressure to use the farms to generate more money to finance many projects, hence farming is more of business than merely source of food for family consumption.
Cane rat belong to the class of animals called mammals as they feed their young ones with milk from the milk glands commonly known as udder with teats. They are terrestrial animals that can be found in Africa especially south of sahara deserts including West Africa countries, Nigeria inclusive. They are pests of crops like sugar cane, maize, rice etc. they are adaptable to forest areas, farmlands, rural and urban environment in Nigeria. They have been successfully domesticated. It is not a foreign animal in Nigeria nor Igboland. In Igbo it is called Nchih. Male cane rats are much larger than females. The head of males are larger than that of females. The distance between the anus and genitals called ano-genital distances is longer in males than in females.
Some of the economic importance of cane rate production in Nigeria include:
1. Meat production, which is a sort of delicacy usually cherished in Nigeria and other countries in West Africa and beyond.
2. They do not compete with man for food as other animals like pig and poultry. Their feeds are easy to get, to name but few grasses, sugar cane, forages, Agro By-products like spent grains left over after extraction for pap (Akumu), wheat brans or chaff from brewery, paw-paw yam peels and other kitchen left-over. They enjoy maize stalks and leaves, telfaris occidentalis (ugu) stalks and so on. Supplementary feed can be given to them like palm kernel cake, spent grains, rice bran, cubes of sugar and salt licks can be given occasionally.
3. Production cost is low. Since they can be successfully raised mostly on grasses supplemented occasionally with products of agricultural processing.
4. Droppings are rich in plant nutrients.
5. They can breed about three times in two years.
6. Cane rat farming as a business in Nigeria can offer employment for many people. Our youths searching for white-collor jobs can start with it hence it is a very good blue-collor job with huge business opportunities or pontentials.
7. They are important pests of crops like sugarcane, rice, maize, yam, cassava etc. they love sugar cane so much including cubes of sugar.
It is necessary to mention about the history of cane rat domesticated in West Africa. In 1980 the Republic of Benin created a station for breeding of grass-cutters within the framework of the Benin-German project of Grass-cutter culture in collaboration with German Agency for Technical Assistance. The objectives of the station include to develop techniques to ensure success of breeding of cane rat intended for production of meat and to popularize the domestication of the animal. The station tried to develop preliminary conditions necessary for the domestication as regard selection, hygiene, control of breeding and general husbandry practices.
In Ghana, the Animal Research Institute Achimota in 1992 generated and published Scientific support needed to transform the breeding grass cutter industry into a viable business venture especially for small holder farmers. The institute has come out with production recommendation for feeds and feeding based on indigenous knowledge, reproduction management eg. Sex determination causes of mortality nad other health management. Research has also improved knowledge on growth and behavior in captivity, that is in housing then in their house cathed cane rat hutch while being domesticated. Grass cutters are now massively kept in rural areas and semi-urban centres in Benin Republic, Ghana and Togo just as we do with sheep and goats in Nigeria. This is because of the efforts of the two research stations at Benin Republic and Ghana respectively.
In Nigeria there are few grass cutter farmers. There is need for greater awareness on the production. The extension workers, the ADPs, Ministries of Agriculture at federal, state level and local government department of Agriculture and other Agricultural Agencies in Nigeria should work hand-in-hand with the various media houses to create more awareness on cane rat farming as a business in Nigeria. The Nigeria government should provide financial support in form of agric credit or loans for grass cutter farming and other logistics support and facilities. It pays the farmers and our people more to teach them how to raise can rat as a business than engaging them in merely hunting for cane rat in business and forests for supplying grass cutter meat popularly called nchih in Igbo language. It is time for cane rat domestication as a business in Nigeria.
Source: orientnewspaper.com/grass-cutter-farming-in-nigeria/
Learn more about grasscutter farming in Nigeria @ THE THY SNAIL & GRASSCUTTER FARMS grasscutterfarming.tripod.com
Grass-cutter farming as a business should require a good farm business management which must involve using farmerfs limited resources like money and other farm inputs to get highest profit. It required good planning long term planning of the use of those resources and short-term planning or day-to-day management of those resources to achieve maximum output or yield from cane rat business resulting to huge profit. The farmer should have time to work out his ideas with the exports or those farmers who already have experience in grass-cutter farming, preferably writing them down and estimating the costs and returns of production for each plan. It is very necessary for the farmers to always contact the etension workers nearest to them in their localities for technical advice cane rat production. The farmers must keep good farm records and prepare farm plans. These are some of the basic principles of farming as a business venture.
Profit simply means total value of production minus total costs involved in the production. Farmers should move into grass-cutter farming, not just to produce meat for food but to farming for cash to be able to pay for other necessities of life viz; housing, clothing, school fees and so on. Farming that changed over the years. In the past farmers farm only to produce food for feeding the family only with at times little for sale. Standard of living has changes over the years, society now need more cash now. Thus there is pressure to use the farms to generate more money to finance many projects, hence farming is more of business than merely source of food for family consumption.
Cane rat belong to the class of animals called mammals as they feed their young ones with milk from the milk glands commonly known as udder with teats. They are terrestrial animals that can be found in Africa especially south of sahara deserts including West Africa countries, Nigeria inclusive. They are pests of crops like sugar cane, maize, rice etc. they are adaptable to forest areas, farmlands, rural and urban environment in Nigeria. They have been successfully domesticated. It is not a foreign animal in Nigeria nor Igboland. In Igbo it is called Nchih. Male cane rats are much larger than females. The head of males are larger than that of females. The distance between the anus and genitals called ano-genital distances is longer in males than in females.
Some of the economic importance of cane rate production in Nigeria include:
1. Meat production, which is a sort of delicacy usually cherished in Nigeria and other countries in West Africa and beyond.
2. They do not compete with man for food as other animals like pig and poultry. Their feeds are easy to get, to name but few grasses, sugar cane, forages, Agro By-products like spent grains left over after extraction for pap (Akumu), wheat brans or chaff from brewery, paw-paw yam peels and other kitchen left-over. They enjoy maize stalks and leaves, telfaris occidentalis (ugu) stalks and so on. Supplementary feed can be given to them like palm kernel cake, spent grains, rice bran, cubes of sugar and salt licks can be given occasionally.
3. Production cost is low. Since they can be successfully raised mostly on grasses supplemented occasionally with products of agricultural processing.
4. Droppings are rich in plant nutrients.
5. They can breed about three times in two years.
6. Cane rat farming as a business in Nigeria can offer employment for many people. Our youths searching for white-collor jobs can start with it hence it is a very good blue-collor job with huge business opportunities or pontentials.
7. They are important pests of crops like sugarcane, rice, maize, yam, cassava etc. they love sugar cane so much including cubes of sugar.
It is necessary to mention about the history of cane rat domesticated in West Africa. In 1980 the Republic of Benin created a station for breeding of grass-cutters within the framework of the Benin-German project of Grass-cutter culture in collaboration with German Agency for Technical Assistance. The objectives of the station include to develop techniques to ensure success of breeding of cane rat intended for production of meat and to popularize the domestication of the animal. The station tried to develop preliminary conditions necessary for the domestication as regard selection, hygiene, control of breeding and general husbandry practices.
In Ghana, the Animal Research Institute Achimota in 1992 generated and published Scientific support needed to transform the breeding grass cutter industry into a viable business venture especially for small holder farmers. The institute has come out with production recommendation for feeds and feeding based on indigenous knowledge, reproduction management eg. Sex determination causes of mortality nad other health management. Research has also improved knowledge on growth and behavior in captivity, that is in housing then in their house cathed cane rat hutch while being domesticated. Grass cutters are now massively kept in rural areas and semi-urban centres in Benin Republic, Ghana and Togo just as we do with sheep and goats in Nigeria. This is because of the efforts of the two research stations at Benin Republic and Ghana respectively.
In Nigeria there are few grass cutter farmers. There is need for greater awareness on the production. The extension workers, the ADPs, Ministries of Agriculture at federal, state level and local government department of Agriculture and other Agricultural Agencies in Nigeria should work hand-in-hand with the various media houses to create more awareness on cane rat farming as a business in Nigeria. The Nigeria government should provide financial support in form of agric credit or loans for grass cutter farming and other logistics support and facilities. It pays the farmers and our people more to teach them how to raise can rat as a business than engaging them in merely hunting for cane rat in business and forests for supplying grass cutter meat popularly called nchih in Igbo language. It is time for cane rat domestication as a business in Nigeria.
Source: orientnewspaper.com/grass-cutter-farming-in-nigeria/
Learn more about grasscutter farming in Nigeria @ THE THY SNAIL & GRASSCUTTER FARMS grasscutterfarming.tripod.com
