- Grasscutter Farming Manual Pdf Download
- Grasscutter Farming A Manual For Beginners Pdf
- Grasscutter Farming In Usa
- Grasscutter Farming Manual Pdf Online
- Grasscutter Farming Pdf
Common farm animals are considered to be cattle, sheep, goats and pigs1. Most of these so called ‘classic’ Introduction BOX 1 Rabbits, Rodents and Reptiles Rabbits and Rodents In addition to the well known rabbit, other mammals – mostly rodents – are suitable as small animals.
Grasscutter farming in Nigeria | Image Source: www.dailytrust.com.ng
The practise of Grasscutter farming has grown steadily in West Africa over the past couple of years. These rodents also known as “The Cane Rat” or “bush meat”, generally live by the meadows, clearings, muddy territories, reed-beds, and river banks in sub-saharan Africa, and can grow to lengths of almost 2 ft (0.61 m) and weigh a little less than 19 lb (8.6 kg).
Grasscutter Farming A Manual For Beginners Pdf Holistic and sustainable farming practices form the foundation of all Jovana Integrated Farm's The company is a grasscutter company of choice in Nigeria. In grass-cutter with the aim of providing adequate information that will be of rearing grasscutter as they recorded lesser deaths of the. How To Start Grasscutter Farming In Nigeria (Complete Guide) Grasscutter is one of the most desirable meat in Nigeria. You can rear it from home and make millions. Find out how to start Grasscutter farming in Nigeria. Goat Farming Business Plan For Beginners A suitable and effective business plan is a must for starting any business.
With a large market demand for these rodents in countries domiciled in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, the market potential drives farmers with the technical know-how, to set up and run large grasscutter farms in their localities or on sites acquired at specific locations. Growing these grasscutter farms helps the farmers build a sustainable agribusiness in a very unsaturated agricultural category.
See Also:How To Start A Lucrative Snail Farming Business (Comprehensive Business Plan + E-Book)
What Is Grasscutter Farming About?
Grasscutter farming is the rearing of grasscutters both for domestic and commercial use. Originally, grasscutters were not grown on farmlands. They were usually hunted down, caught, and then sold to buyers. But the inherent discomfort in hunting these rodents gave rise to the practice of rearing grasscutters.
Business Opportunities In Grasscutter Farming Around The World
With about 80,000 tons of grasscutter meat consumed annually in Nigeria, only 0.2 % of these lot are domesticated grasscutters. Here are two core opportunities in grasscutter farming:
1). Source Of Meat:
Grasscutters are a great source of meat for many households in sub-saharan Africa. The nutritious and scarce nature of their meats doesn’t just serve as a source of protein to compliment Africa’s popular starch dinners, but also makes people place high values on them, thus raising their costs in the market.
Since grasscutter meats are not regular market commodities that can be spotted easily, their scarcity drives their prices high; especially in Latin America and Asia, where grasscutter meat if available, are highly favoured over most types of meats, due to its high protein, low fat, and low cholesterol content.
This makes the market demand for the grasscutter meats utimately far exceed its supply.
2). Medical Purposes:
Grasscutters have medicinal advantages, because of their pancreas which has a high concentration of insulin used in the treatment of diabetes. This major advantage makes them a key piece of the manufacturing process some pharmaceutical companies use in making diabetes drugs.
The consumption of grasscutter meat also has great health benefits for hypertensive patients.
See Also: 5 Profitable Agricultural Businesses You Can Start In Nigeria Today
Benefits Of Grasscutter Farming
1). Source Of Income And Employment.
2). Great Source Of Protein.
3). Cheaper to run than poultry, fish, or pig farming.
4). Medicinal Uses.
5). Feeding Them Is Extremely Cheap (can be grass only).
6). Can be reared at home.
7). They sell for great prices.
8). More Demand Than Available Supply.
9). They Can Be Pets.
The Suitable Species For Grasscutter Farming
1). Thryonomys Swinderianus (T.S):
The Thryonomys Swinderianus, also called the Greater Cane Rat, are the most popular types of grasscutters reared in West Africa, especially Nigeria and Ghana. They are usually large and weigh an average of 8.6kg per animal. These grasscutters are of two strains. The smaller strains are found in the forest zone, while the largerer strains are usually found in the savannah zones and are lighter in colour.
They live in small groups led by a male, make nests from grasses or burrow underground, are nocturnal, and can live for more than four years. They belong to a small family of the African hystricognath rodents.
2). Thryonomys Gregorianus (T.G.):
Image Source: www.sanbi.org
The Thryonomys Gregorianus, also known as the Lesser Cane Rat, are a species of rodents in the family Thryonomyidae. These grasscutters are smaller than the Thryonomys Swinderianus, and usually weigh about 7.5 kg. They are mostly found and reared in Central and East African countries like Cameroon, Chad, Congo, and the likes.
These grasscutters usually have bristle-like coarse hair that lies flat against their body. They have small ears almost hidden in their furs, long feet with functioning toes, strong claws, and bare palms. Their backs and sides are usually yellowish or greyish-white, and their tails have few bristles, scales, is brown above, and white below.
Their males are mostly larger than their females.
See Also: Aquaculture: How To Start A Profitable Fish Farming Business Anywhere In Africa
How To Setup Your Grasscutter Farm
1). Grasscutter Cage Or Pen:
The grasscutter pen or house has to be built to be adequately spacious. In setting it up, you must separate the region they sleep from the region they carry out any other form of activity. This is especially important because grasscutters hate to sleep where they feed.
When placing grasscutters in their pens, you should ensure that each colony would be about 1 male to 4 to 6 females. Two fully grown males cannot live together, and would fight till one is dead. But by placing a colony of 1 male to about 4 females in a cage, you can be assured that they’d live peacefully and have a rich reproduction rate.
In constructing your grasscutter cages, ensure it adheres to a close dimension of 180cm in length, 60cm in width, and 45cm in height. They should all contain separate grasscutter colonies, and be built in such a way that the temperature remains stable at all times. The cage should also keep the colonies secure from potential pests like snakes, soldier ants, and humans. You can ensure ants have no access by pouring engine oils around their pens, and surrounding areas; especially during the rainy season.
2). Choosing A Breed:
Image Source: www.guineapigheaven.com
In choosing the grasscutter breed you want to rear, it’s important you select one that’s most demanded in your country, or that is accepted in the regions you intend to ship out to. The Thryonomys Swinderianus for instance are most popular in West Africa, while the Thryonomys Gregorianus are most popular in Central and East Africa.
Once you’ve determined what breed you intend to rear, you can purchase 4 healthy females and 1 large and healthy male for a start to make one colony. The healthy state of your grasscutters is crucial to aid rapid reproduction. Since fertility is the most important thing in rearing animals, make sure you can purchase the most healthy grasscutters you can find.
Grasscutter Farming Manual Pdf Download
If you’re working with a very large budget, you can purchase a lot of colonies to start-off with.
3). Feeding The Grasscutters:
Feeding your grasscutters is a lot cheaper than any other farm animal. Since they’re herbivorous animals, the bulk of their diet lies majorly on grass. The most common grasses they’re fed with are Napier grass or Elephant grass. They could also be fed Congo grass, Guinea grass, groundnut, maize, cassava, sweet potato, rice, legumes, plantain, paw paw, pineapple, roots of oil & coconut palms, and most importantly, sugar cane.
By constantly feeding your grasscutters with rich (healthy) meals at all intervals, they can gain weight quickly and reach market size within a short time.
The cane rats usually prefer to drink liquid with artificial tastes, e.g palm wine (which is largely why they destroy oil palm plantations). In a privately grown setting, they can be fed water that has little additives in it.
For grasscutters in the weaning stage, they can stay with their mothers between four to eight weeks. But when they’re in the wild or moving together as a family, they can all be with their mothers for up to four months. By the time they’re about seven to eight months old, they can be separated from their mothers and placed with the mature opposite sex, for mating to occur.
The male grasscutters reach their mating stage at the age of seven months, while the females reaching their mating stage when they’re about eight months old. The mating period should last for 140 days, and should be restarted with different males if after 160 days, the female grasscutters show no signs of pregnancy.
Grasscutters are generally great for rearing because of their fast reproduction rate which begins about seven months after birth, and can be about 4 to 10 babies per reproduction cycle, which usually happens two times in a year. With their market price going for as high as 7,000 Naira for each, 10 females could give birth to 200 grasscutters in a year, which would amount to about ₦1,400,000.
See Also: How To Make Millions From The Palm Oil Business In Africa
A Short Feasibility Study On Grasscutter Farming
Initial Start-up Capital (Naira Value)
1 Colony = 5 grasscutters (1 male & 4 females) = ₦55,000
5 Colonies = 25 grasscutters = ₦275,000
Cage/Housing = ₦80,000 for 5 colonies
Feeding Cost = ₦40,000 per year
TOTAL = ₦395,000
Expected Income (Naira Value)
1 female gives birth to an average of 4 to 10 grasscutters within 6 months.
5 females will give you an average of 20 to 50 grasscutters within 6 months.
20 grasscutters x 5 colonies = 100 grasscutters within 6 months.
In 1 year, you will be expecting at least 200 grasscutters.
The grasscutters weigh between 6 to 10kg at maturity.
Assuming you sell each for ₦7,000;
₦7,000 x 200 = ₦1,400, 000.
See Also: How To Market Your Farm Products In Nigeria: 10 Ways To Get Distributors
Challenges Of Grasscutter Farming
The major challenges of grasscutter are the technicalities involved in running a grasscutter farm and also the danger of pests and diseases.
Conclusion
Grasscutter farming is one of the often overlooked agribusinesses that turn in high revenues. With only about o.2% grown domestically out of about 80,000 tonnes of grasscutters consumed yearly in Nigeria, the opportunities for scale exceeds most farmers’ expectations.
If you’re unsure of an agribusiness to venture into, and you want something odourless, less expensive to run, and still highly profitable, grasscutter farming is a great bet for you.
See Also: How To Start A Cassava Farm In Nigeria: A Comprehensive Business Plan
Professional Business Plan Writing Service
Writing a bank and investor ready professional Grasscutter Farming business plan can be challenging. If you need a professional and affordable business plan service, StartupTipsDaily’s MBA standard professional business plan writing service is perfect for your business.
All you have to do is request an understanding of your proposed business model, and you’d have a professional MBA standard business plan ready for you in anywhere from 5 to 14 days. You can click here to get started with using StartupTipsDaily’s professional business plan writing service to create the perfect business plan that’d get accepted anywhere.
What are your thoughts on this article about grasscutter farming in Nigeria? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
These little creatures are not just amazing but can bring you some profit as well. Grasscutters are loved and treasured in West and Central Africa. Their meat is considered to have one of the highest protein and lowest fat contents. Grasscutter meat can be very valuable. Let’s find out why there is a very intensive production of grasscutters in many African countries and how you can start this kind of business yourself. For those who want to learn more about grasscutter farming, a manual for beginners in Nigeria, continue reading.
The grasscutter farming intro
Grasscutters come from the family of rodent species and are considered to be a delicacy in many countries. In Africa, Asia, and Latin America, grasscutter meat markets have been around longer than any others, therefore grasscutter meat is very valued. The majority of these amazing animals are still captured from the wild areas of Nigeria where they are hunted and brought to the table. These days, more people wish to have a small grasscutter farm of their own. So, a lot of investors and businessmen are investing in this market.
READ ALSO: Prospect of livestock farming in Nigeria
In addition, due to dry seasons and overhunting tendency in savanna region, more wild grasscutters are at risk. Thus, planning to start your own grasscutter farm is a good choice and a nice idea for investment. Grasscutters are in high demand and this means you can play around with a market price. Also, only a small amount of investment is necessary for starting the business. It is a great opportunity to raise your income. You can sell it either at small markets or to luxurious hotels and restaurants.
Grasscutter meat is perhaps the most wanted animal meat in the Nigerian market. Everyone loves it and that is why it is sold so fast. The poshest and expensive restaurants buy it to cook the high-priced and tasty delicacies. For example, it is estimated that the full piece of grasscutter meat can be sold for N4,500 in the market.
Grasscutter Farming A Manual For Beginners Pdf
Grasscutter soup is a favorite dish for those, who can treasure the taste of real grasscutter meat
Now you are probably wondering how to start the grasscutter farming. Not a lot of people know what is needed to start the business. So we have prepared some tips for you to get more familiar with grasscutter business.
Stepping into grasscutter farming
Colony
Grasscutter normally lives in a colony which is why two mature male grasscutters cannot live together. You should put a male with few females together, which means one colony should have at least three to four females and one male. When it comes to the amount of colony, it is all up to you but at the beginning, it is better to start with few. The small farming requires at least two colonies, consisting of one male and 3 females in every colony.
Breeding
Grasscutter in most cases is raised only for meat reasons. For breeding, you should put them in either a properly build cages or in a specially designed breeding houses. To ensure successful breeding, a brand new farmer needs to provide each colony with a good, healthy male grasscutter. The male grasscutter is the key to the reproduction and it is what you need to make your business expand.
When you are in the process of selecting the right male grasscutter for the colony, you should pay attention to several factors. The male should be of a healthy weight and look very active. You also should keep in mind that the female grasscutter also needs to be healthy, therefore pay attention to both the male and female grasscutters.
Grasscutter cage
Grasscutters don’t like to stay dirty or sleep at the same place they eat. So, when finding them a place to live, keep in mind an important factor. In the cage or house where they live, you are supposed to provide both sleeping areas and dining areas differently.
The dimension
The cage dimension is usually up to 180cm in length, 45cm in height, and 60cm in width. The grasscutter is a very picky inhabitant. Therefore, you have to build the cage in a way that each colony has a special area.. If you are making awalled pen or a built-in house, pay attention to the details. The cage should protect grasscutters from excessively hot or cold temperature and humidity. The floor of a cage should be filled with dry soft grass, which protects the grasscutters feet from any damage and gives them a chance to enjoy soft cushy ground.
Ants and snakes
Grasscutter does not like to have any other animals in the cage and moreover, it can be dangerous for the animal. Make sure the cages are secure and built is a safe place. To protect them from the attack of soldier ants, you can pour some black engine oil outside the cage. This is especially important during during the raining season. Snakes can do harm to your animals, as well.
The process of grasscutter feeding
Since the grasscutter is a herbivorous animal, it loves to eat grass and leaves. Also, they love to live in the bush and search for food in there. The major food which grass cutter enjoys eating is Elephant or Napier grass. The second choice is sugar cane and in fact, the majority of farmers give grass cutter mostly sugar cane, adding some Guinea grass, Congo grass or Gamba grass.
Grasscutter Farming In Usa
The Elephant grass is a perfect choice for feeding grasscutters
Grasscutter Farming Manual Pdf Online
You can also feed them with root and pitch of oil, coconut palms or the bark of Anacardium. For an additional meal, you can use fruits, such, mango, pawpaw, pineapple and other fruits. Crops such as maize, grain, groundnut, cassava, sweet potato, rice can be also a part of the diet for a grasscutter. The animals can also be fed with formulated concentrates, such as pellets or other processing by-products. These can be corn bran, maize shucks, groundnut, brewer yeast, grain legume pods wheat bran, soya, oilseed, cotton, seed cakes, brewers’ grains, and cobs, brewer’s yeast and others.
Grasscutter weaning time
Grasscutter Farming Pdf
Grasscutter reproduces quickly and breeding begin within 7 months after birth. Grasscutter gives birth twice per year and delivers 4 to 7 little grasscutters at a time. Therefore, in the case where you have 100 females and they are able to give a birth, you can have from 800 to 1,400 new grasscutters annually. You just imagine how fast you farm will expand! You can make more than N5 million if everything goes well.
During weaning, proper care and adequate feeding in required for every female grasscutter. A newly born grasscutter should be weaned between four to eight weeks. They have to get separated from the mother on the fifth or seventh month and be placed in a place with a male for mating.
Starting at the age of seven to eight months from birth, the weaned animals can be mated. If a male grasscutter is seven months old and a female is about eight months, mating can be expected to take place. The indefinite mating period lasts for 140 days but in a case where, 160 days after separation from the male grasscutter, there is still no sign of pregnancy, then you need to put the female back in the cage to reunite with a male. You can also have one extra male to secure the breeding process.
There are a lot of Nigerians who wish to go into the grasscutter business. Grasscutter farming in Nigeria is a truly profitable and prosperous small livestock farming and you can get a lot of benefits out of it. Keep in mind the information leaned from the article and start your own grasscutter farming with ease.
READ ALSO: Honey bee farming business plan