Zambia Agribusiness Society

Soya beans is a crop that belongs to the same family as beans, groundnuts, sunflower, tomato, eggplants and many more. It is a crop native/indigenous to East Asia (China), which is one of the five oldest crops cultivated by the Chinese for food before 2500 BC. They are collectively called leguminous crops. Unlike maize, the bulk of soya beans consumed in Zambia are grown by the commercial farmers and some of the emergent farmers. Though, it is a crop that is not too difficult to grow, if one judiciously follows its requirements. It is not by design that small-holder farmers don't grow much of it, but for some reasons that have to do with the way it is marketed. Climatic and Soil Requirements It is a crop that can be grown in a wide range of soils, though it does very well in deep well drained sandy loam to clay loam. For economic yields, avoid growing it in sandy soils. However, the soils should also not have a pH less than 5.6. pH is a scale on which we measure soil conditi...

  The consequences of chemical pesticides are becoming more and more serious, hence the need to now opt for organic pesticides. Step 1: Getting good almonds: 1.     Harvest ripe neem fruit. 2.     Remove the pulp. 3.     Dry in the shade. 4.     Hull using a mortar. 5.     Store in a dry and ventilated place away from light. Step 2: Materials needed for manufacturing: 1.     Scale 2.     Mortar 3.     Scarf 4.     Sieve 5.     Bucket 6.     Clean empty container to receive the product. Step 3: Transformation: 1.     Reduce neem powder fines first. 2.     Weigh 1kg of dry neem fine; 3.     Put it in a mortar and pound it until it is reduced to a powder. Step 4: Preparation of the solution: 1.     Weigh 1kg of neem powder. ...

When your birds are getting to a marketable age, there is need to plan how they will be taken to the market and sell them off to consumers. Most part of poultry bird marketing entails conveying these birds from the farm to the market or consumers’ house. However, due to carelessness or ignorance, some livestock farmers lose some of their birds such as broilers, spent layers, cocks, and turkeys in the process of taking them to market to sell. Another important thing to note is that, proper handling of these chickens or birds is necessary before and when moving birds to the market. When animals are improperly handled, they may be bruised or wounded which lowers the quality of the animals and their meat. The value of these birds would also reduce when they are not well handled, which could lead to loss or reduced profit. To avert these losses as a farmer, put the following into practice: Stop feeding your birds with grits 2 weeks to marketing. Stop any form of medication 2-3 weeks before...

Rats are dangerous animals in the poultry house and they cause problems both direct and indirect. Direct - they eat chicks or kill chicks rapidly. Indirect - they carry many diseases that affect chicks. Therefore, their presence in the poultry house is a big risk. However, it is a bit hard to control rats in the poultry house because most of the chemicals that kill rats are harmful to our birds. Nevertheless, today we shall break the secret on how to kill rats using safe methods. Remember I am an organic poultry farmer and I promote organic methods all the time. So now, let us see how to solve this rat issue. Organic method of getting rid of rats on farms and at home: Mix baking soda + flour + sugar at equal ratios 1:1:1. Mix thoroughly dry. Put them in small containers and place them at the corners of your poultry house. They will eat it and never return to disturb you again. If you have a small bowl of that size, you can also use it. Rats love flour and so will golf it. Secondly, t...