Advantages Of Having A Poultry As A Farmer
Agriculture had been a means of sustainability for everyone since no nation will survive without food, so it has become necessary to look inward toward food production.
The economic sustainability of every nation is to make food affordable to citizens since it stands as the basis of the economy. If food is costly other aspects of the economy will suffer.
Farming which makes up over 70% of occupations within Africa, has not only provided employment but had also helped in food sustainability.
There are many ways farmers use to increase the productivity of their crops and one of them is the addition of fertilizers and manure to the soil, this can either be bought from agro-markets or made locally.
There are many ways farmers use to increase the productivity of their crops and one of them is the addition of fertilizers and manure to the soil, this can either be bought from agro-markets or made locally.
Today we shall be dealing with how local manure can be made from poultry and used the increase in farm productivity. The best way this can be achieved is through the use of waste generated from the poultry floor.
Every poultry generates waste. This waste includes the shits of fowls, broken eggs, dead fowls, and other substances. it is usually evacuated from the poultry every day.
For an inexperienced poultry owner, it is a waste but for the experienced ones, it is a fertilizer meant for sale. Many poultry owners make good money from their poultry waste, if the poultry is big, the money to be made will also be big, some can
Many poultry owners make good money from their poultry waste, if the poultry is big, the money to be made will also be big, some can sell a cement bag of poultry waste to farmers at the rate of N400 per bag, which is cheaper than fertilizer that could cost up to N1000 for the same size.
Experiments and farming experience reported to us show that the local manure from poultry is more effective than the artificial fertilizer. The use of such waste as manure has become a common practice in Africa.
The good news about it is that some poultry farming owners can give you such waste for free provided you can accept to be coming to their poultry every day to clean up the floors and pack the waste to your farmland.
Every farmer that will find it difficult to purchase artificial fertilizer will find it easier to buy or obtain the poultry waste for even better crop yield.
However, there are reasons most farmers avoid or dislike using poultry waste on their farmland and one of the major reasons is the bad smell coming from the waste, such that it is very irritating to go close to or handle such waste.
The poultry waste can be difficult to pack due to the bad odor, the worst of it is when you visit the poultry early in the morning to pack the waste since the fowl shits are still very fresh, the smell will be more intense.
The best way to handle such waste is by the use of a nose mask, rubber hand gloves, and rubber shoes or rain boats. These materials will serve as your PPE to ensure the repulsive feeling is reduced.
HOW TO APPLY POULTRY WASTE TO YOUR FARMLAND
First, ensure you have just weeded your farmland and are ready to plant your crops.
If you are planting cassava, pack a 4kg (custard bucket) of poultry waste and place it just below the place you inserted the cassava stems and cover it with normal sand.
Ensure no part of the poultry waste is exposed to the sun or atmosphere, it should be buried just below the cassava stem or at the root where the cassava tubers are to be formed.
When the waste starts decomposing it will become a source of manure for that cassava stem causing it to develop very fast and yield bigger tubers before harvest season.
If you are planting yam, dig a round hole of about 50mm diameter and depth of about 2feet below the small yam tuber you are planting, then fill up the hole with 4kg of poultry waste.
Place the small yam above it and cover the yam and the hole beneath it with normal soil, ensuring no part of the poultry waste is exposed to the surface of the land.
For other shallow crops like cocoyam, sweet yam, potatoes, corn, etc. the poultry waste can be poured onto the surface of the farmland in an even measure across all surfaces.
Then the entire land will be plowed to ensure homogeneousness between the soil and the waste which will cause some to go below the soil surface, which will ensure proper yield for some surface or shallow crops.
