Sunday, February 26, 2012

Easy Way to Start Snail Farming Business

Snail is an animal specially made, though looks unattractive but very and highly nutritious.
People do not like it because of its slimy body and the effort made to clean it more often.
Snail is a member of the family of Mollusa (Phylum) and is hermaphrodite by nature. There are other snails like Trapdoor snail, a few other species of snails (apple, golden inca, four hormed, etc) that can reproduce sexually only.
Snails lay hundreds of eggs within a year. Snail farming business is good because both the edible part and shell are important.
Furniture companies and jewellery companies use the shell part for designs, and manufacture beautiful lovely product.
The snail body is made up of head, viscera and foot. Snails can be amphibious which means it can either be aquatic or terrestrial but the common one is terrestrial.
Snail farming which is also known as “Heliculture” can be done in large quantity for commercial purpose. One can make good money in it, if it is well planned.
To set up snail farming business, there are some basic tips that are needed and it includes:
Capital: Every business has a bed rock foundation which cannot be avoided, and this is money. Money is essential to every business. This capital can be raised through borrowing or loan, savings and financial supports from family and friends etc.
It is advisable for new entrant to start small, to test run the business first.
Feasibility Study: There is need to do a good feasibility study of the snail farming business. This study will throw more light deeper into the business. It will also help you to know whether the business can survive in your environment because the first customer to patronize you, are those within your area.
There is also need to find out existing people in the business who you can liaise mind with. They will give you more practical experience on the business. Eateries, beer parlors, restaurants and hotels buy in bulk, so there is need to visit them and encourage them to also patronize you.
Type of Breed: Snails have about hundreds breeds, just that few are acceptable for consumption in some areas. People prefer more snails like Archatina marginata, Archatine archatina and Archatina fulica. These snails mention above are Africa giant snails because of their size.
Some people also like Archatina archatina due to its highly prolific. Therefore, the choice is yours to choose your breed.


Housing: Snails does not require any special housing. They can even survive in damp and dry places. One important thing, they also need is spacious surface area good enough for them to crawl around and lays eggs.
In other to avoid the snail getting infected with diseases, the farm and it’s environ must be kept neat.
Feeding: It is very necessary to know what snail feed on, before venturing into the business. They feed more on green vegetables, even they consumed decay ones. Among the list of food they consumed are; fruits, bark, mushroom, aigae, chalk, leaves and damp paper.
Therefore, it is not very expensive to maintain the aspect of feeding because vegetables can be found everywhere, but be careful of the type of vegetables they eat.

Source: http://business.wikinut.com/Basic-Information-on-Heliculture-Business/ykbnavxv/

Source: Learn more about snail farming in Nigeria @ THE THY SNAIL & GRASSCUTTER FARMS http://snailriches2.tripod.com

Friday, February 24, 2012

Starting Up A Snail Farm In Nigeria – The Benefits

Snail farming has developed so much that snails consumed in Europe and other parts of the world are raised from the farm.

Whilst Snail farming as a business in Nigeria and in most of Africa is still in its infancy as most snails consumed are picked from the wild, this might be the time for Nigerians to jump on board and seriously consider this business of snail farming.

Source:
http://www.snailfarmingbusiness.com/blog/tag/snail-farming-business-in-nigeria/

Learn more about snail farming in Nigeria @ THE THY SNAIL & GRASSCUTTER FARMS http://snailriches2.tripod.com

Snail Farming - Success Story

A charitable organisation (ROLE) uses Snail Farming as a means of revitalising communities through the education of women and children and the management of environmental issues in Bali

ROLE Foundation believes that the most effective way to ensure a healthy environment and to eradicate poverty is,

not only through environmental assistance projects, but through education, environmental awareness building, and the creation of eco-friendly job opportunities so one of the projects that they worked on is snail farming.

Here is a one of the success stories on snail farming in pictures

Its a set of images showing what ROLE in the process of building its Heliculture Station at the Eco-Learning Center


Source: http://www.snailfarmingbusiness.com/blog/success-story-snail-farming-in-bali/

Learn more about snail farming in Nigeria @ THE THY SNAIL & GRASSCUTTER FARMS http://snailriches2.tripod.com

Monday, February 20, 2012

Grasscutter teacher-He is a selfless man

I really thank God for the lecturer, Ismail AbdulAzeez of THE THY SNAIL & GRASSCUTTER FARMS http://grasscutterfarming.tripod.com

He is a selfless man,ready to go any length to make sure his students got what he is teaching .
You will live long to teach more Nigerians.

Mr. Samuel Igwe, Ikorodu, Lagos

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Snail farming as a small cottage industry

From the prehistoric age, human has been consuming snail meat because of its high rate of protein, iron, low fat, and including almost all the amino acid which is neededfor human body. Basically snails originate from wild life they are considered asgood food and source of nutrition. Snail farming has many kinds of benefits. If a person raise them and expects to get possible qualities, he has to care them properly. In the recent years snail farming increasing day by day and turns into a large scale from small cottage industry because of its real economic value.

Suitable Place and Soil:
For snail farming an open pasture should select where suitable plants are grown for food and shelter. Basically any kinds of shed are not used. At the time of selecting a site for snail farming the main concern should given to the prevailing wind that is essential to dry out the soil. A farmer have to concentrate to eliminate predatory insects and pests. For this reason soil analysis and ensuring growing leafy, green vegetable crops are urgent. It is said that friable soil with PH 5.8 to 7.5 and calcium contain soil is useful in this regards. The soil structure should be light because clay soil is inappropriate for egg lying and moving. Besides,plants and snail should keep moist by night time dew, rain or collectedmisting. Snail can move more easily on moist, leaves and ground and that is why they can eat more and grow faster.Proper drainage system is necessary because no water should remain on ground in puddles. Rain water and collected irrigation is also important for snail farming. The place should be free from big tress so that no predatory and insects can grow and these tress give shade for the development of crops that hinders dew fall.




Size of Farm:
Generally the size of a farm may be varied or depends on the category of grower. Cottage industry or the people who start from his hobby can utilize around 1000 to 2000 meters area. On the other hand, the people who start as a small business can use, average around 3000 to 10,000 squares meters area. If a farmer wants to start in a large scale, he has to take at least 2 hecters area and must increase this area with the increasing of his business up to 30 hecters.

Constructing a Snailery:
There are different kinds of snailery that can be built. In this regards, some factors have to be taken into consideration. Firstly, the snails stage of development and snails habit.The most important matter is that snailery must be an escape proof and be effective against predators and it permits easy entree to the trend snails. When a person wants to build a snailery, he must require some materials that are decay- and termite –resistanttimber, such as Milicia excelsa (trade name- iroko); Nauclea diderrichii (tradename- opepe); Lophira alata (trade name – ekki), sandcrete blocks; mosquito nets and polythene sheets. These types of materials are needed for each kinds of snailery that are mentioned below:

•Hutchboxes
• Trenchpens
• MiniPaddock pens
• Moveablepens
• Freerange pens

Food:
Generally the most of the species of snail are vegetarian and they accept many kinds of food. Different types of food that is favored by the most investigated species, Achatina achatina, and the diet that is recommended to the farmers who is rearing this species, described here.

Types of food: Some studied show that Achatina achatina can utilize a wide range of food items. Basically it prefers green leaves, fruits, tubers and flowers. Unlike other species it favors leaves and fruits which are separated from main plant. Snails prefer wet leaves to dry leaves. The recommended food items are below:

Leaves: Cocoyam, kola, bokoboko,paw paw, cassava, okra, eggplant, loofa, etc.
Fruits: Pawpaw, mango, banana,pear, oil palm, fig tomato etc.
Tubers: Cocoyam, cassava, yam,sweet, potato and plantain.
Flowers: Oprono, odwuma and pawpaw.

Besides these foods, a farmer should provide nutrition rich foods that enhance the growth of snails. In this regards farmers can provide mixture food.

Mating and Egg Lying:
Snails are a unique animal which have both male and female reproductive organs, in short hermaphrodites. In spite of being hermaphrodites, they do intercourse with another snail of same species before laying eggs. Some snails act as males one season and in another seasonas females and fertilize each other simultaneously. The mating of snails occurs only when they become mature or adult enough. Generally the mating occurs in the late spring or early summer. After doing intercourse, snail can store its sperm for up to year, but usually it lays egg within in a few weeks. Mating also depends on origination although they are same species as for example a Helix aspersa from southern France may deny a Helix aspersa from northern France.
At least two inches deep soil is suitable for laying eggs. The place should be pests free such as ants,earwigs, millipedes etc. Dry soil, clay soil heavy soil is not suitable forlaying eggs. It decreases the reproduction and hatching ability. Hatchability of eggs depends on soil temperature, soil humidity soil composition etc. The soil which is rich in moisture is suitable for laying eggs. After laying egg snails lose its weight and some do not recover it. And investigation says that about one-third of the snails die after the breeding season.

Diseases:
It is recommended to the farmers that a hygienic environment of snails can prevent the spread of disease and improve the health and grow rate of snails. For example, removing or replacing daily food to avoid spoilage. Farmer should add earthworms to the soil that helps to keep the penclean and also have a concern about intestinal infections that causes for thebacterium Pseudomonas. Snails may be attacked by parasites, nematodes,trematodes, fungi, and micro arthropods when the populations of snails aredense. Careful consecrations have to for predators such as: rats, mice, moles,skunks, weasels, birds etc.

Marketing:
West Africa and west French are the two main areas of snails’ consumption in the world. In West Africa, Ghana,Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire are the main markets of snails. France plays a significant role in snails’ trade. Some of the snails are imported from French and exported to the European countries or North America. Annually, the USAalone about imports $200 million worth of snails. Other markets are Germany,Belgium, Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland, Japan , Sweden, Austria, Denmark etc.and the main suppliers to these markets are Greece, Turkey, Rumania, Algeria,Tunisia etc.

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/Snail/articles/yI20u9DGLVN/Snail+Farming

Learn more about snail farming in Nigeria @ THE THY SNAIL & GRASSCUTTER FARMS http://snailriches2.tripod.com

Monday, February 13, 2012

GRASSCUTTER FORAGE

FORAGE
Grass cutters normally prefer grass with succulent stalk and such quality
can be found in the following wild or cultivated grasses among others.
Elephant grass (pennisetum purpureum)
Sugar cane (Saccharum spp)
Guinea grass (Panicum maximum)
Giant star grass(Andropogon gayanus)
Maize stem (zea mays)
Rice stalks (Oryza spp.)


Learn more about grasscutter farming in Nigeria @ THE THY SNAIL & GRASSCUTTER FARMS http://grasscutterfarming.tripod.com

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Grasscutter farming-Nigerians need to undergo this

This training session on grasscutter farming in Nigeria @ THE THY SNAIL & GRASSCUTTER FARMS http://grasscutterfarming.tripod.com is abosolutely fantastic.

I am leaving here more empowered than I came in.Please,keep up the good work.Many Nigerians need to undergo this.

Mr.Bassey Offiong, Lagos State.