AGRICULTURAL NETWORKING; THE ROLE OF YPARD IN MOTIVATING YOUTHS FOR AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION

Young people want to be part of the policy discussion, programme development, implementation, working groups and dialogues that produce best practices and sustainable solutions to emerging global issues.

YPARD – Young Professional for Agricultural Development is a name that echoes across continents, regions and countries of the World in promoting agriculture among youths through various strategies and approach. (ypard.net).

Having identified that one of the ways to combat the problem facing agriculture as a poor career path, is to create a forum for young professionals to come together and brainstorm on high value ideas that are geared towards making changes in the agricultural sector. YPARD Nigeria as one of the many existing chapters recently held a Youth Summit in Abia state with over eighty participants in attendance.

At the start of the year, an apiculture training was held at Ikwuano LGA in Abia, where fifty young professionals were trained on apiculture farming and evolving business around it. Reminiscing on the promises made during the training led to the seminar with a view to talk about YPARD as a global platform, its role in promoting agriculture among youths and the potentials of agribusiness in creating employment.

The summit started on a high note with recognition of participants and the speakers - Prof. Ukachukwu S.N – Registered Animal Nutritionist; Kalu Samuel Anya - Agribusiness Consultant; Nwaogu Kingsley - Apiculturist and YPARD South East Regional Representative; Agbo Chukwunonso - Agribusiness Consultant and YPARD Enugu state Representative and Joseph Ikechukwu Jude – Animal Physiologist and Abia State Representative.

The start of the program centered on YPARD’s mission and vision, the history that led to the birth of the global platform, the thematic area of operations and objectives, membership projection and benefit of being a member. While discussing on these aspects, the Abia state representative emphasized on progress and plans developed in moving YPARD forward and transforming the agricultural sector through a process where youth can share their views and ideas.

Passing on the baton, Kanu Samuel Anya, shared his experience, success stories and challenges faced in the agribusiness sector. He discussed on the fundamentals on agribusiness as a panacea for youth unemployment. A scenario was painted about unemployment as one of the major problem facing the country and disguised unemployment where young people do tasking jobs with less pay. Proffering solution to the problem of unemployment requires engagement in viable agribusiness operations along the value chain, where young people do not only create employment for themselves but for others and in the process, reducing poverty and contributing to economic growth.

Erasing the fear of the most frequently asked questions about which sector of agriculture and value chain is profitable? He encouraged young people who are venturing into agriculture to identify their areas of interest and pursue it with passion but, he identified some areas where young people can explore such as providing support services for farmers, production of exotic vegetables such as basil, lettuce, cucumber, and carrot. Reinstating that smart agricultural practices and proper marketing strategies are imperative in any agribusiness operation and ultimately, the need to form strong partnership and network with people of the same interest.

One of the foremost speakers with vast experience in agriculture and development issues, Professor Ukachukwu S.N addressed the participants on economic empowerment through agriculture, where points were raised on the discovery of crude oil that led to the abandonment of the natural wealth – agriculture and the high pronounced poverty level, particularly among salary earners.

The speaker identified the potentials of the country to scale up its agriculture and ensure food security but there are limiting factors such as low gender inclusiveness in agriculture and policies, lack of youth interest in agriculture, low capacity empowerment programmes, lack of competitive market for agricultural products, lack of finances and incentives support, among others. He proceeded to challenge young people to think seriously about the opportunities in agriculture and create economic opportunities for inclusive growth.

The other speakers spoke on “Apiculture - a sustainable tool for job creation and economic empowerment” and “economic empowerment through crop production - The role of

youths” with success stories and case studies to boost youth interest in agriculture.

The meeting ended on a high note with questions and answers from both the participants and the speakers and individuals were challenged to carry on their passion for agriculture and success is inevitable.

Photo credit: Joseph Ikechukwu Jude

TWINNING & MULTIPLE BIRTHS IN GOAT & SHEEP

This kid is one of the twin Red sokoto goat breed I assisted in delivery recently. multiple births such as twin & triplets may be rare, my personal experiment has shown that such multiple births is not only possible but can also be induced. To increase the chances of your Doe (female Goat) or Ewe (female sheep) kidding or Lambing twins or triplets; this three (3) steps must be followed rigidly; 

(1) Master the Estrous Cycle: Estrus, or heat, is the period in which the Doe will stand and allow the Buck to breed her. This phase of the reproductive cycle may last between 12 to 36 hours. The period from one heat cycle to the next is referred to as the estrous cycle. In goats, the estrous cycle occurs every 18 to 24 days, or 21 days on average. Does that are in heat may exhibit signs of mucous discharge from the vulva, swollen vulva, bleating, frequent tail wagging, pacing down the fence line and standing in heat. The doe can be bred when she has reached 60 percent to 70 percent of the average adult weight for her breed. Does that are bred too early may have problems during kidding (dystocia - kidding difficulty), and/or their future reproductive performance may be harmed. So, how can the estrous cycle of the Doe be systematically harnessed to increase twining and multiple births? For details call; 08060503539

(2) Deworm your Ewe and Doe: Internal parasites develop in manure and make their way into your sheep’s digestive tract through the pasture and forage they eat. Deworming will ensure the energy you are putting into your sheep through feed and forage goes toward helping your sheep grow or maintain their productivity instead of feeding parasites. For an effective deworming schedule Call: 08060503539

(3) Feed your Ewes & Does well: You may think, well, I do feed my sheep & Goat. But this is one of the most important contributors to ensuring multiple births. People go about feeding only forages without paying attention to the other nutritional needs of small ruminants. This is not to say you should feed them so they are fat – that would cost you more money in feed and decrease their ability to maintain a pregnancy. Feeding a little extra energy – such as a specially formulated concentrate – two weeks before breeding is called flushing. Flushing will increase the Ewes or Does chances of having twins because her nutritional needs will be met and she will have that little extra energy she can put into growing lambs. It will also increase the number of eggs that can be fertilize by the male spermatozoa. If you Flush the female, you also need to flush the male (Buck) that will do the job. Flushing should continue 2-3 weeks into the breeding season. (Keep in mind that fat Ewes or Does should not be flushed.)

How can a good concentrate be formulated to induce twinning and multiple births in Does? For details call; 08060503539

JOSEPH IKECHUKWU JUDE

Chief Consultant JIJNAALS FARMS & LIVESTOCK SERVICES NIG LTD 

ABIA STATE, NIGERIA.

12 USEFUL STEPS TOWARDS A SUCCESSFUL POULTRY FARMING 
Despite the popularity of backyard poultry, many just simply manage to breakeven while to others who are very unfortunate, great losses has been their lot. How can you succeed in poultry business?  
1. Consult a livestock expert before you start.: Poultry farming is dynamic, evolving and ever changing. a strain of bird that is doing fine few months ago may no longer be productive now. It is penny wise pound foolish to think you can do it alone without the services of a professional. You can reach me on WhatsApp or call :+234(0)8060503539.
2. Start small: My dear, a journey of a thousand miles start with a step. To experience great joy and make good profit in poultry farming you need to start small and grow eventually. 

3. Always wash drinkers and replace leftover water: Make sure you wash the drinkers or drinking trough of your birds every morning and replace the water with clean and cool one. Don’t use chlorinated water or water from a stream or river that you don’t know its source. Also, ensure that you rinse off the drinkers to avoid re-contaminating the fresh water with soaps or detergents.

Note: Please don’t ever discard leftover water around the pens. If you do, you’re signaling to soldier ants to pay your birds a visit. So discard leftover feeds and water far away from the production pens

4. Serve water before feeds: Birds are different from humans or other animals. You must always serve them water before you serve them feeds, especially if you’re on a deep-litter system. This is to avoid stampeding as the chickens struggle for feeds at the same point.

5. Avoid serving moldy feeds: It is dangerous and risky to serve moldy feeds to your birds. Don’t do it. It is just like giving them poison. Moldy feeds can make your birds to become sick or have disease(s).

6. Strictly follow medication and vaccination schedule strictly: You need to get the right vaccination and medication schedule of the poultry species you’re raising. This helps in immunizing your birds against some poultry killer diseases like Newcastle Diseases (ND), Fowl Pox, Fowl Typhoid, Gumboro Disease, Avian encephalomyelitis (AE or Epidemic Tremor), Marek’s Disease, etc. Medication such as dewormer and antibiotics are very important to the health of your chickens and other poultry species.

7. Collect and raise healthy chicks: Most of the health problems faced by birds are as a result of a poor genetic background or early life. Some chickens are product of poor parents. Some egg hatcheries are not reputable as they raise poor parent stocks to produce fertile eggs, or they buy eggs from bad and problematic parent stock farms. There are some poultry farmers who never make any attempts to know the source of eggs of a particular hatchery they are buying chicks from, hence they collect and raise problematic chicks.

There are hatcheries who don’t administer all the necessary vaccines such as Marek’s Disease Vaccine, Infectious Bronchitis vaccine (IBV) before distributing chicks to customers, thus exposing the future of those chicks to danger.

Note: Always purchase your chicks from a very reputable hatchery. It is very important that you ask the officer in charge if they have given the chicks the necessary vaccines with proofs. For inquiries call or WhatsApp: 08060503539

8. Prevent ammonia build up: When the litters in the poultry pen is left for a very long time, it gives rooms for increased production of ammonium gas, which will definitely choke your chickens, turkey, quail, etc. to death. So always remove wet or caked litters from pens and replace with new litters as soon as possible to avoid birds’ mortality due to choking or other respiratory problems.

9. Build a predator-proof poultry: The pen houses of your chickens should not be accessible to predators like foxes, hyenas, wild cats, rats and mice, snakes, hawks, etc. Make sure you install a strong iron mesh nets round the pens and apply predator repellents. If you allow these predators to penetrate into your flock, they will kill and/or eat the number of birds they are capable of doing justice to.

10. Maintain proper hygiene and sanitation: This is a somewhat wide topic, but the most important thing is that, you should maintain proper hygiene and sanitation in and around your poultry farm. You should also take biosecurity serious as this is one thing most livestock farmers don’t take serious until diseases are introduced into their farm.

11. Supply sufficient feed to your birds: I haven’t read or heard it anywhere that underfed animals grow well and produce excellently. Underfed birds are closer to their graves because they will always have low body weights and poor immune responses, and such birds will die sooner. So ensure you give enough feed and avoid overfeeding, which could lead to another problem.

12. Protect flock from extreme cold: Extreme cold is an enemy to both human beings and animals. Try every means to avoid exposing your birds to extreme cold. It kills faster like time poison. The only way you can protect them is to find a means of supplying heat during a very cold weather. You can also design the pens in such a way that birds are not totally exposed to direct cold. 

JOSEPH IKECHUKWU JUDE (CAP)

Chief Consualtant: JIJNAALS FARMS & LIVESTOCK SERVICES

For inquiries call or WhatsApp: +2348060503539, +2348145451182