Zambia Agribusiness Society

Crop fill assessment Crop fill assessment is one of the measures of determining the comfort of the birds in the brooder. Crop fill assessment is when a poultry attendant or farmer massages the crop of a chick to determine whether the chicks have familiarized with the feed and water. Making a crop fill assessment helps us to judge appetite development in the chicks, health and to avoid a compromised growth rate. It also helps to improve flock growth rate uniformity, and productivity. With a poor crop fill, farmers experience high mortality, poor growth rate, more small and weak chicks. How is it done? You know, when you have just introduced chicks in the brooder, we give them clean water which contains glucose. So they have to go for about an hour without feed, but with good quality water that has glucose. After one hour, we then introduce feed, where we spread super starter pellets on the brooder paper for the chicks to start eating. After about 3 hours in the brooder, ...

Are you starting a farming project because of the hype you are seeing on social media or have you done the necessary research? With regards to farming, social media has had a huge influence on people embarking on projects which are then abandoned due to a number of factors. And what was deemed to be easy has become something else on the ground. Farming is not a quick cash venture, be ready to take this journey! Whenever starting a new business line or product line, please do your research. Visiting farmers with experience in this field will be extremely helpful. You may begin by consulting various experts who provide that service. So you have an idea and can see what your budget will allow you! Others will tell you to start small, but what is small? You are starting a business and not a hobby. Start with viability and work your way up! 1.     Assess the risks involved and find ways to mitigate those risks. 2.     If you don’t have the resources,...

First thing you need, is to do a soil test at your farm so you know the available nutrients in the soil and the soil pH . As for soybean, it does well within a pH range of 5.5 to 6.5. Variety Choice Always plant seed varieties that are high in yielding such as SC Spike (Spike shutters if one delays to harvest and it's early maturity), SC Safari from SeedCo and Dina F1 from Syngenta. These varieties have proven to be performing very well with very good tolerance to diseases and with good potential yields. Seed rate per Hectare 100kg of seed i.e. 25kg x 4 bags/ha Cost of Seed/ha K580 x 4 bags/ha Fertilizer Applications Based on soil test results. But standard can be 250kg/ha of Soybeans basal or Soy mix. Cost of Fertilizer k750 x 50kg x 5 bags/ha Folia Sprays 3 weeks after planting apply Omniaboost 3kg/ha. From Omnia Fertiliser Zambia. Towards flowering apply K Leaf 3 to 5kg/ha. From Omnia or Egt. Plant Population Pre-herbicides: Glyphosate 3.0 litres...

Tomato field site should have well-drained soils free from flooding. Farmers should avoid selecting a site/field in which a crop of tomato family was grown before e.g. potatoes , eggplant, capsicum and tobacco. This is because they share common pests and diseases. After selecting a suitable site, soil sampling and analysis is important. This will enable a farmer to know which soil disease to manage and the nutrients capacity of the soil. Seed and Seedlings Selection Always go for certified tomato seeds and seedlings. These are disease free and give higher yields. Varieties preference may depend on where to grow (greenhouse or open field), target market and tolerance to fungal/bacteria prevalence. Common varieties include: 1.     Greenhouse - Uwezo RZ F1, Valouro RZ F1, Anna F1. 2.     Open field - Jarrah RZ F1, Gamhar RZ F1, Ansal F1, Bawito Safa F1. To mention but a few. Buying Seedlings By buying mature seedlings you have saved a mont...

This article is a useful guide on how to identity and utilize the common and different organic plant materials used to treat animals especially poultry. 1. Christmas melon (Tagiri) Poultry farmers can adopt Christmas melon (also called Tagiri) extract to cure the deadly and contagious Newcastle Disease (ND) that attack their birds and avoid the use of antibiotics and other synthetic drugs that often raise their production costs and harm humans. According to a previous report by International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) on Newcastle disease control in Kibwezi, Machakos County, in spite of the availability of the disease vaccines its uptake by small holder farmers is generally limited due to its cost, hence Newcastle disease remains a major constraint among the farmers. “The cost of rearing chickens has become costly and it is high time farmers go organic in raising their chickens and put in place natural defences that will help protect their flock against deadly poultry...

There are various ways of cutting pork; different countries have different methods and produce different cuts. Before instructing a butcher, decide on the sort of size you want your roasts, whether you prefer to have mince or require the butcher to make sausages, if you like chops or would rather have large joints. The butcher will have his favourite way of butchering but you should always discuss your needs with him. In Britain there are four meat categories: 1 . Porker : 55–62kg (120–136lb) for small joints on the bone, sold as fresh meat. 2 . Cutter : 64–82kg (140–180lb) trimmed of fat and skin . 3 . Baconer : 90–100kg (200–220lb) cured. 4 . Heavy hog : 100–125kg (220–275lb) trimmed of fat and skin . 5 . Leg : A prime roasting joint that is usually cut into two pieces – the fillet half leg and the knuckle half leg. Whole legs can be boned and rolled by the butcher to the desired size. 6 . Hind loin : or chump Known as chump chops if the bone remains or steaks if it is ...

So you may be thinking whether to start rearing indigenous chickens but still not sure. In this article, I will share with you six reasons why you should consider indigenous chickens as an income-generating venture. Proper indigenous chicken farming involves the chickens being allowed more room to roam around and forage for their own feed as opposed to being confined in cages like the case with broilers. So you really need to have space for the birds to freely run around. Here are the six reasons why I think you should consider indigenous chicken farming: 1. Indigenous Chickens are on High Demand There is so much high demand for indigenous chickens these days. This can be attributed to the quality of meat and eggs provided by indigenous chickens which is tastier and healthier. Indigenous chickens that are properly allowed to roam around develop stronger muscles and the meat is much firmer and rich in nutrients. Indigenous chickens eat different types of feeds such as ...

A group of young chicks under a warm light 1.     You bought poor quality chicks. 2.     You gave them low quality feeds. 3.     You failed to clean their feeders and drinkers frequently. 4.     You didn't clean their house. 5.     Their bedding was wet and dirty; and their house was dusty too. 6.     You denied them clean drinking water, enough warmth, energy and essential nutrients. 7.     You failed to disinfect their house regularly. 8.     You didn't vaccinate them. In short, your birds didn't die – YOU KILLED THEM! Next time, care for you chicks the same way you care for your kids.

Many potential fish farmers ask questions on factors to consider when starting a fish farm and how profitable is fish farming? Several extension officers and consultants in fish farming give an outline on factors and things needed to develop a profitable fish farm. Let us consider four steps to profitable aquaculture: learning, evaluating, planning, and testing. 1. Learning Learning is a first step in developing a profitable fish farm. This include attending training, reading and visiting experienced fish farmers. It also involves hiring an experienced consultant to help you get started in fish farming. 2. Evaluating Evaluate your resources — human and natural. Your genuine response to this question will help you to plan: Do you have the time, energy and financial resources to develop a fish farm? Do you have both land and water that can be used for fish farming? What equipment will you need to raise fish? Are there local markets for fish that you can supply? 3. Planning ...