Wednesday 27 March 2019

Organic Agriculture Could Reduce the Spread of Food Pathogens

Retrieved on https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org 




Independent, nonprofit journalism
for a livable planet   published by Future Earth




Organic agriculture could reduce the spread of food pathogens

Organic farms are home to a greater diversity of soil microbes and insects, that could fight off the threat of deadly food-borne pathogens, a new study shows.
Writing in the Journal of Applied Ecologya team of international researchers explain that the spread of pathogens, such as fecal E.colibacteria, on farmland, has caused thousands of deaths and millions of illnesses globally. That’s driven farmers to remove natural habitat like hedgerows and ponds from their land, because they’re thought to attract wild and domesticated animals which cause the problem by fouling nearby crops with their pathogenic feces. While this more simplified vision of farmland may threaten biodiversity and reduce crucial ecosystem services like pollination, it’s nevertheless seen as an essential move for food safety.
Yet, the new study actually reveals the opposite, showing that as wild habitat disappears, so too do microbes and insects–like the ever-industrious dung beetle–which can actually helpto eradicate pathogens from the soil.
To make this discovery, the researchers surveyed 70 commercial broccoli fields–a crop susceptible to food-borne pathogens because it’s grown close to the ground–in the western United States. They compared conventional farms, and organic farms–where wild features were kept intact and pesticide-use minimised. By scattering pig feces across these plots to attract feces-feeding dung beetles, they found that organic plots supported greater numbers of these insects. On those farms, dung beetles cleaned up about 90% of feces in a matter of days, much more quickly than on conventional farms where there were fewer beetles to be found.
The researchers also sampled the soil across these farms and found that organic plots had more organic matter in the soil. This supported a higher diversity of soil microbes when compared to conventional farms–with possible benefits for controlling foodborne pathogens.
The researchers also carried out laboratory experiments to test whether soil bacteria and dung beetles were actually reducing the level of harmfulE.coli bacteria, not just removing the waste. These showed that both the beetles and the soil bacteria did in fact suppress the amounts of pathogenic E.coli bacteria in the tested samples. Soil microbes tend to compete with each other–which explains why a greater diversity of bacteria would help to suppress the level of E.coli there. No one knows for sure why dung beetles also have this effect, but separate research suggests that it’s possible their bodies contain anti-microbial properties that wipe out the bacteria in the feces, as they process it.
This doesn’t necessarily mean pure organic agriculture is the solution: rather, the findings suggest that farms that contain natural habitat and more biodiversity will likely have enriched soil and more insects. In turn, this natural clean-up crew could put up a powerful front against food-borne pathogens. On the other hand, conventional farms that eradicate natural habitats may actually be more susceptible to a pathogenic outbreak.
The study draws a strong link between farmland biodiversity, and our health. So perhaps, when we think over the benefits of preserving natural habitat on farms, we should go beyond pollinators, the researchers suggest: “Improved food safety may be an important, and perhaps underappreciated, ecosystem service that is enhanced by on-farm biodiversity.”
Source: Jones et. al. “Organic farming promotes biotic resistance to foodborne human pathogens.” Journal of Applied Ecology. 2019.
Image: Bernard DuPont via Wikimedia Commons

Saturday 14 April 2018

Natural Pest Repellants - Control Pest with Plants



16 COMPANION AND PEST REPELLANT PLANTS YOU CAN PLANT ON YOUR FARM
🚫🐛🐞🦗🐜🦎🐲🐀🚫

Often times, farmers face huge problem as a result of pest invasion. Pests are dangerous; they are great threats to the success of any farm business.
Chemical pesticides have been the usual way to control pests on farms; however, its effect on human's health has waged a huge campaign against its use.

Most of these pesticides are poisonous in nature, this is what exactly eradicates pest. But, at times, these pesticides do have residual effects on human as a result of the contamination of the crops during its application.


There are some measures that can be implemented to control pests on farm, without the use of chemicals; some are:

• Proper land preparation: If you adopt a conventional tillage system, where the soil is heavily pulverized to expose pests and their habitat to desiccation, you will experience a pest free situation on your farm.

• Timely cultivation: This involves studying the reproductive cycle of the prevailing pest, such that, planting is done when the pests are less populated. Also, pests are more active during the dry season, thus, planting during the rainy season is another way to boycott pest.


However, taking preventive measure is better than controlling. As you plant your crop, there are some plants you can as well plant simultaneously; these plants are called companion and pest repellant plants.


They help to reduce pest population and also serve some beneficial purposes like proper utilization of space and enhance crop safety through the provision of habitat for beneficial plants, the companion plants.

These plants can be harvested and consumed too. If you are looking for plants that repel flies; or plants that repel aphids; or plants that repel bugs; you can plant any of the following plantso alongside your crops and get them protected. Instead of spending more on chemical pesticides, that is detrimental and expensive, you can just invest in edible pest repellant plant. These plants are:


Radish

If you plant cabbage and cucumber, radish will repel cabbage maggot and cucumber beetles; it will enhance the quality and quantity of your crop. You can as well consume the radish because it is an edible root vegetable.

Garlic

Garlic is a known spice but can as well be grown as a pest repellant plant. Garlic repels root maggot, bean beetle, cabbage looper and even rabbit. Garlic is a very useful plant.

Lettuce

Lettuce is a good companion and pest repellant plant for carrot. It repels carrot flies.
Both can be harvested as they are edible vegetables.

Mexican Marigold

This ornamental plant can be used as a pest repellant; it repels insect and bush rabbits.

Onion

This is another spice plant that can be used as a pest repellant. It repels bush rabbits and cabbage hooper.

Oregano

This plant is a very effective pest repellant plant, it repels many pests.

Peppermint

This plant is another effective pest repellant; it repels aphids, cabbage looper, flea beetles, squash bugs, and white flies. These pests are major threats to crop production.

Rosemary flower
Botanically, Rosmarinus officinalis.
This flower repels cabbage looper, carrot fly, slug, snail and the Mexican bean beetle.

Spear mint

This plant is a broad spectrum pest repellant plant; it repels fleas, moths, ants, beetle, rodents, aphids, squash bugs, and cabbage looper.

Amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus)

This plant is a native of tropical America, this plant repels cutworms.

Thyme

Thyme is another broad spectrum pest repellant plant; it repels major pests in crop production. It repels pests like: cabbage looper, cabbage maggot, corn earworm, white flies, and tomato hornworms.

Tobacco

This is an annual herbaceous plant. This crop repels carrot flies and flea beetles.

Venus flytrap

This is a carnivorous plant from subtropical wetland on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina. This plant is very good at controlling insect pest. It preys on all insects within its environment.

Citronella grass or lemon grass

This grass originates from the tropical Asia; it is from the family of Poaceae, it is unpalatable, thus, cannot be eaten.  This grass repels insects and even cats.

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a flowering shrub, from the family Myrtaceae; it is widely cultivated in the tropical and temperate world, including the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East, China, and the Indian. This plant repels aphids, cabbage loopers and Colorado potato beetle.

Crown imperial

It is a flowering plant from the lily family; it is a native of diverse countries, ranging from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan This plant repels vertebrate pests like bush rabbit, mice, moles, and ground squirrel.


You can plant more than one of these plants on your farm, depending on the prevailing pests.

This is a natural way of controlling pests. With this preventive measure, you can produce a quality and organic crop form your farm.

Source: SUMICON GLOBAL 

Characteristics of Different Cassava Varieties - Manihot spp



CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT CASSAVA VARIETIES.

Cassava, Manihot spp, is one of the widely consumed crops in the world. Cassava has several byproducts that have been a major food for common man; aside from its consumed products, it is also a good source of industrial products like ethanol and starch. Cassava is widely cultivated in the tropics and has been a very lucrative investment. Over the years, farmers have been faced with huge problems like low yield and attack from pests and diseases; this made farming discouraging and seemed unprofitable.
However, as a result of the quest to increase productivity and yield of a cassava crop, several modifications have been made to ensure the cassava crop yields optimally. Several varieties of cassava have been developed with productive and stunning characteristics that will make farmers have a good farming experience. These characteristics range from resistance to some particular diseases, hastened maturity, quality tuber and others you would read in this article.
The indigenous cassava has been observed to contain some flaws; these flaws have been improved by various research institutes across the world, like IITA. They have been working effortless to ensure farmers have good farming experience through the provision of improved planting materials. There are several improved varieties of different crops in the system today and they have been very great in terms of performance and yield. In this article, you would read about different cassava varieties and their individual characteristics.

These varieties are:
- TMS 92/0326
- TMS 96/1414
- TMS 96/0023
- TMS 92/0057
- TMS 92/0067


TMS 92/0326:
This is an improved variety of cassava developed by IITA, Nigeria. It has a reddish green petiole and flowers at a height below one meter. It has a long and large tuber with an average length of 75cm and a girth of about 30cm; it is whitish in color when freshly peeled but turns cream when stored. This cassava variety has been bred in such a way that it is highly resistant to major cassava diseases like: Cassava mosaic disease and Cassava bacterial blight; but moderately resistant to cassava anthracnose disease. It has a gestation period of 12 months.
Also, it is tolerant to pests like: cassava green mites and African root and tuber scale. This variety is comparatively high yielding as about 20-30 tons can be harvested from one hectare of cassava farmland, provided all agronomic
practices are carried out as required and the planting conditions are favorable.


TMS 96/1414:
This is another variety of cassava developed by IITA, Ibadan. It has a red petiole and the color of the tuber is white when freshly peeled but turns cream when stored. It flowers at a height below one meter; the tuber is relatively large with an average length of 60cm and a girth of 20cm. it is highly resistant to cassava mosaic disease but moderately resistant to cassava bacterial blight and cassava anthracnose disease. It is susceptible to African root and tuber scale and cassava green mites.
It has the potential to yield about 22-32 ton per hectare when all agronomic practices are carried out as required and the planting conditions are favorable. It also has a gestation period of 12 months.


TMS 96/0023:
This is another variety of cassava developed by IITA, Ibadan. This variety is hardier; it has a reddish green petiole and a white tuber when freshly peeled but turns cream when stored. It also flowers at a height below one meter. The tuber is plump and not as large as the aforementioned; the length of the tuber is about 30cm with 20cm girth. It is highly resistant to cassava mosaic disease, cassava anthracnose disease and cassava blight disease; they are also tolerant to cassava green mites and African roots and tuber scales.
About 18 to 27 tons of cassava can be harvested from one hectare, if all conditions are favorable. It takes about 12 month to fully develop and ready for harvesting.


TMS 92/0057:
This is another variety developed by IITA, Ibadan. It has a red petiole and white tuber when freshly peeled and remains white in color when stored. It flowers and form branches above one meter height. It has a large tuber of 60cm long with 20cm girth. This variety is another hardy variety; it is highly resistant to cassava mosaic disease but moderately resistant to cassava blight disease and cassava anthracnose disease. It is tolerant to cassava green mites and African root and tuber scale.
One hectare of this variety will yield about 21-30 tons; this variety stays on the field for 12 month before harvesting.


TMS 92/0067:
This is another improved cassava variety developed by IITA, Ibadan. This variety forms its branch when it is about one meter high; it also have red petiole and white tuber when freshly peeled and remains white in color when stored. It produces a small-sized tuber of 30cm long with 20cm girth. It is highly resistant to cassava mosaic disease but moderately resistant to cassava bacterial blight and cassava anthracnose; it is also tolerant to cassava green mites.
18-24 tons can be harvested from one hectare of this variety of cassava.

Other varieties of cassava are:
- TMS 98/0505
- TMS 98/0581
- TMS 30572
- NR 8082
- TME 419
- TME 7

All these varieties are improved varieties that can be gotten at IITA office across the world. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is an African-based international research institute established in 1967. They are saddled with the responsibility of providing improved planting materials to enhance increase in
productivity and profitability. As a farmer, who is passionate about increasing farm output, do not be far from IITA; you will get new practices and innovative information from IITA.

Source: IITA


Wednesday 7 March 2018

How To Start A Profitable Poultry Farming Business In Nigeria

AGRO-ECO SOLUTIONS 


How To Start A Profitable Poultry Farming Business In Nigeria

Poultry farming is one of the most lucrative agriculture businesses in Nigeria. Thousands of tons of poultry products are consumed everyday yet, the demand remains unsatisfiable. A large quantity of Nigeria’s poultry products are imported into the country. But with this aggressive imports happening, not enough poultry products are available to meet the local market demand.
About 160 million Nigerians consume a lot of poultry products, ranging from chickens, turkeys, eggs, and a lot more. This shows that the opportunities surrounding poultry farming are exponential in highly profitable ways. While a lot of people supply frozen poultry products to restaurants, events, and more, many others supply mostly eggs, and the rest supply poultry feeds. The market opportunity existing in poultry farming is extremely wide and lucrative if executed right.
If you’re looking for answers to questions like; how to start a poultry farming business? How to make poultry farming very profitable? How to start poultry farming with low capital? This poultry farming article will explain everything in a very detailed manner for you to easily understand and start your own profitable poultry farm. With the information in this article, you can start off today with little capital. It’s important to always start small and over time grow exponentially because you need to understand all the perks in the business, without losing so much money.

Before we dive right into the poultry business plan, here are 4 major reasons poultry farming is a very profitable business in Nigeria:

How To Start A Profitable Poultry Farming Business

1). Food Is Important To Everyone:

Everyone must feed to stay alive, but a majority of individuals value poultry products above other types of meals. Poultry animals like chickens, turkeys, and more feed millions of homes every day. Their importance in meals mostly insinuates that people can’t do without them.

2). Poultry Animals Grow Very Fast:

It takes 28 weeks for an average chicken to be fully grown and ready for market. It also takes 21 days for a chicken’s eggs to hatch. But with the use of incubators, it takes a lot lesser for chicken eggs to hatch. Poultry animals in general like turkeys, chickens, guinea fowls, and more have a fast reproduction and growth rate.

3). Poultry Animals Lay A Lot Of Eggs:

An average layer lays one egg every two days. A farm with 1000 layers would produce at least 800 eggs a day. The market value of the eggs are extremely profitable with 1000 layers capable of producing 400,000 Naira ($1,333.4) in sales every month. A larger portion of this birds would mean an explosive revenue rate.

4). Price For Poultry Products Are Attractive:

The price of poultry products has been on the rise for years. With an average sized chicken costing at least 2,500 Naira ($8.4), the profit margin accrued never stops growing. Selling 10,000 chickens in a month would amount to 25,000,000 Naira ($83,333.4) in revenues generated.

With these lucrative poultry benefits, here is how you should prepare your poultry business plan. This “poultry farming business plan template” will ensure your poultry farm turns up profitable in a short period if you put in the right work to it.

The first thing you need to consider if you want to go into poultry farming is:

Poultry Farming In Nigeria - Poultry Layers Cages

1). What Poultry Niche Do You Want To Focus On:

The poultry farming business is wide. People majorly assume the market is all about growing chickens, turkeys, and guinea fowls. Poultry farming covers a lot from meat production to egg production, to feed production, to medicinal products, to chicken raising, to equipment production and a lot more. When you identify a niche that you can work with, you can start your farm.

2). What Breed Of Bird Do You Want To Raise:

There are various bird breeds you can raise on your poultry farm. Each comes with its own maintenance cost. But once you can determine the breed you want and know where and how to reach your potential customers, you can begin. Here are some bird breeds you can raise on your poultry farm: Chickens (Broilers & Layers), Turkeys, Guinea Fowls, Quails, Peacocks, Ducks, Geese, etc. Choosing the breed will help you determine what you want to achieve from each bird. If you want to go into meat production, broilers are raised for these. If you want to produce loads of eggs, layers are raised for these. Every breed has it’s main specific purpose.

3). Business Location:

The location of your poultry farm is very important. Setting up a farm in a remote area is far cheaper than in a city area because of the distance and low population. Usually, governments do not permit large-scale poultry farming in urban areas because of the health implications, so you’d need to place your poultry farm off-city. The location must not be too far from a city area for ease of transportation and exposure to potential buyers. It’s a lot cheaper and safer to travel for 1 hour than to travel for 6 hours to deliver your poultry products. Pick an area with a good road network to an urban environment and you’re on a good track with your poultry farm.

4). Capital Investment:

As with other businesses, starting and running a poultry farm in Nigeria is capital intensive. Depending on the location and how large you want your poultry farm to be, it can take you between 100,000 Naira ($333.34) to 10,000,000 Naira ($33,333.34) to start up your poultry farm. The size of the poultry farm will determine how large your turnover will be.

5). Poultry House, Equipments, & Facilities:

The poultry housing system is critical to the success of your poultry farm. The type of poultry housing system you focus on will affect how your birds are placed, identifying productive & unproductive birds, and their overall health. There are three types of poultry housing systems. These are:

a). Free Roam:

This is a system where chicks are bought and allowed to roam about feeding themselves. This system is not right for anyone who wants aggressive production for wide-scale commercial use because the birds could go missing or worse.

b). Battery Cage:

This is a system where the birds are kept in cages and fed on a regular basis. This system is a highly organized and effective poultry housing system used in poultry farming. Here, the birds have access to feed and water through troughs and laying nests. The cages are separated into various compartments and also creates a perfect environment for laying eggs.

c). Deep Litter:

In this system, sawdust is usually poured on the ground over a wide area so the birds can be comfortable. This makes it relatively easy for cleaning.  The major disadvantage with this method is that it’s difficult for a disease outbreak to be managed.
Asides the poultry housing, many facilities and equipment that will make your poultry farm successful are Egg trays, feeders, drinkers, lighting systems, nests, crates, incubators, heaters, waste disposal systems, and a lot more. If the facilities are thorough, adequate, and of top quality, your farm would grow favorably.

6). Poultry Feeds:

The bird feeds are the most important things to their survival. Without food, none of them will survive. Feeding, been important to poultry farming, accounts for over 70% of all the total expenditure you will incur in your business. You can either manufacture poultry feeds, or you can purchase poultry feeds. Manufacturing the feeds are perfect for very large poultry farms because it saves them a lot of money. If your poultry farm is still small scale, buying feeds is the best option for you because it takes a lot of money to fully set up a feed manufacturing plant.

7). Bird Health:

The general well being of the birds are very important. You’d have to spend periodically on vaccines and medications to ensure the birds stay healthy. Healthy birds grow strong and would generate a lot of revenue.
This poultry farming business plan template is important to starting7 and running a successful poultry farming business. With the right attitude and approach, your poultry farm would be highly successful and could positively contribute to the country’s GDP

How to Maintain Your Farm Property Without Stress

How to Maintain Your Farm Property Without Stress

Your animals are all settled in, your garden is producing well, and you’re already thinking about next season’s improvements. But of course, you still need to maintain what you already have. With a little bit of attention and care, you can keep your farm infrastructure well-maintained and able to function smoothly. Here are some tips.

Plant a Cover Crop

One simple way to keep unused pastures or garden plots healthy is by planting a cover crop.
Also known as “green manure,” cover crops build fertile soil, suppress weeds, and help control pests and plant diseases.
For fall cover crops, make sure to plant them about four weeks before the first frost. Winter rye is the exception: it can be planted right up to a frost. You must make sure to mow cover crops before they set seed, let the remaining stems and leaves dry for a day or two, then turn them under by hand or with a tiller. Wait two to three weeks before planting vegetables.

How to Maintain Fencing

Intact, working fencing is critical to keeping your animals safe and your neighbors happy. Walk the fence line often, checking for damage and repairing it promptly. Replace rotten posts and reset any loose ones. Make sure gates are latching properly.
If you have an electric fence, take a voltmeter with you on your walks and test the fence for voltage drop at various points. Check the insulators and replace any that are worn, broken or missing.
 Adjust tension as needed. Check the ground rods to make sure they’re still making good contact.

How to Maintain Farm Buildings

Just like fencing, your barns, coops, and animals shelters will periodically need attention and repair. However, buildings are typically lower maintenance than fencing. When you make your rounds to inspect fencing, take a look at your animals’ quarters as well.

Revisit Your Farm Plan

In all the hustle and bustle of daily farm life, don’t forget your original farm plan. Revisiting your goals and even your resources (perhaps your soil is improved, or you now have more usable pasture) regularly will help ensure you’re staying on track. And if your long-term goals and dreams have changed, taking stock of where you are and where you want to go can help you smoothly transition to your new track.

Thursday 1 February 2018

2018 Budgets: Nigerian Govt Proposes to ‘Revamp’ Agriculture with N118.98 Billion






2018 budget: Nigerian govt proposes to ‘revamp’ agriculture with N118.98 billion


President Muhammadu Buhari presenting the 2018 Appropriation Bill to lawmakers.
President Muhammed Buhari on Tuesday said N118.98 billion will be spent to strengthen the nation’s agricultural sector in 2018 in order to ensure food security.
He said the agricultural sector played a crucial role in Nigeria’s recent exit from recession and remains the largest employer of labour.
The president said this while presenting the 2018 budget to the National Assembly, Tuesday.
“We will consolidate on existing policies and develop new ones to ensure the numerous value chain challenges in the agricultural sector are addressed,” Mr. Buhari said.
He said several investors had deployed significant capital in the production and processing of crops like rice, sugar, maize, soya, cassava, yams, tomato, oil palm, rubber and poultry products adding that more effort will be deployed to see increased investment in the agro-inputs manufacturing sector.
Aside getting more of these investments, the president said efforts will be made to protect these investments because food is a crucial part of the administration’s national security agenda.
“We are determined to protect these investments and encourage more. Food security is an important aspect of this administration’s national security agenda. Any person involved in smuggling of food items is a threat to our national security and will therefore be dealt with accordingly,” the president said.
He said a committee chaired by the Vice President Yemi Osibanjo was working to ensure the nation’s borders are protected in this regard. He said a key part of the work of the committee would be the reactivation of the Badagry Agreement signed between Nigeria and the Republic of Benin in 2003.
This agreement, which the president said was abandoned by previous administrations, was to tackle smuggling and other cross border crimes.
To further support investors and state governments, he said his administration will accelerate the establishment of at least six staple crop processing zones which will develop infrastructure for the production, processing and storage of strategic commodities.
The president also spoke on other ongoing initiatives in the sector.
“We have also completed over 33,000 hectares of irrigation projects that have increased water availability in key food producing states. We shall continue to intensify our interventions through the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme and the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative to ensure that this momentum is sustained.
“We have also made provisions in the 2018 budget to complete ongoing irrigation projects at Ada, in Enugu State; Lower Anambra, in Anambra State; and Gari, in Jigawa State. In 2017, many factories and projects in the food and agricultural sectors were commissioned in Kebbi, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Anambra, Edo, Jigawa, Rivers, Niger, Ogun and Ebonyi States, to mention a few.
“This is a clear statement that our economic diversification and inclusive growth ambitions are coming to fruition.”

Source: Premium Time

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