Banana Plantation (Lusuku) Plans

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The November rains (musenene) are here, so it is time for us to put into action our plan to add a 1.3 acre plantation of bananas as part of our food security metric. After discussion with a J. B. Wasswa (@jbkwasswa ) we have narrowed on having local varieties which are:

– Mabidde for making banana juice and beer (landrace variety)
– Gonja
– Sukari Ndizi – sweet or apple bananas
– Bogoya (Gros Michel) which are larger and less sweet than the ndizi
– Nakitembe – the indigenous traditional Ganda cooking variety of the landrace class
– Kibuzi
– Mpologoma

The land is gently sloping, about 30% incline so will include terraces to stop the downward flow of water, and which shall also be used as manure stores. For manure, we are targeting to use cow dung that has been through a biogas digester, mixed at about 10kg per square hole of dimensions 1′ wide x 1’ deep with spacing of 10’ between holes.

For intercropping we shall add ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) in the next rain season that starts February next year.

Lusuku Area View 1

Lusuku Area View 1

Lusuku Area View 2

Lusuku Area View 2

Week 5 - Adequate Spacing and Numbers of Feeders and Drinkers

Brooder Week 5 – Learnings and Look Ahead

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The chicks are now 5 weeks in the brooder, with a mortality rate of 0.4%, weights less than the management guide (which are based on environmentally controlled conditions) but within range and closing fast, weight uniformity distribution of over 70% and improving.

This post is about lessons learnt in this flock and what we have done differently:

  1. Hired brooding services from a poultry focused service provider who provided a worker for the brooder and a vet who visited regularly: 3x per week in the first two weeks, 2x a week later, currently at 1x per week
  2. The vet provided also supervised and carried out vaccinations as per the recommended schedule
  3. Focused on building immunity in the first 3 weeks, now growth and development of the pullets
  4. Weighed the birds to provide benchmarks for the growth, but only used the data for tracking so did not adjust diets to bring up the weights
  5. Adjusted the chick and duck mash formula, to provide the necessary energy levels and texture for easy feeding.
  6. Provided recommended levels of feeders and drinkers to reduce bullying and contention for deed
  7. Bio-security improvement: started leveraging powdered construction lime for initial disinfection and at entrance to the brooder, disinfectant spraying every week on the premises and proactively spraying inside the brooder with a high mist disinfectant (selected not to have any major side effects for the birds)
  8. Collecting data on feed and water consumption on a day-to-day to better understand the changing patterns – increase in feed consumption is at 4g per bird per week

As always a selection of shots from brooder:

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AgroTraining the new cash machine that is hurting Agriculture in Uganda

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Agriculture has long been the mainstay of Uganda’s populace providing livelihoods to over 80% both directly and indirectly. Over the last 2-3 years, agriculture investment and operations has moved to urban employed who are looking at it as an alternate investment. Due to the education system  however there is no exposure to farming practices, knowledge and experience.
In comes the popular one day and half day agro-training workshops, seminars and agro-tours to existing farms as part of knowledge sharing, experience and a way of inspiring the “new age” farmers. While this is a good idea proving an accelerated experience, eduction and exposure. The new cash cow is holding training sessions and experience visits for new farmers, however this does not provide next steps for starting new enterprises or improving/scaling up existing ones.
While the commercialisation is difficult to control, there are a few tips that one can use to discern between what is useful and what is not outlined below:
  1. The training & experiential visits must be on a farm where the learnings can be seen in practice.
  2. The hosts and facilitators must have been in business for at least 3 seasons of production which provides great learnings.
  3. Ask questions about the investment and profitability numbers, remembering that this is just a metric for what is possible and your own experience may be different – you may perform better or worse
  4. Carry out your own research to validate what the benefits from the training session are
  5. Ask questions of the organisers and hosts to get a feel of how well they know the subject matter
  6. The best experiences are focused on a single crop/livestock area
The best experiences to date for me have been the Bongole Farm Passion Fruit visit and Aqua Farm fish learning visit (blog post coming in a week or so as I digest the information).
Remember this is an investment of money and time on your part, so use it wisely.
Brooder - Day old chicks

Day Old Chicks – Flock 4 Now In Brooder

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We are excited to be starting a new chapter at the farm, where we have a new batch of chicks that have come in today, Isa Brown, with the learnings from the last 2.5 years of business.

The changes that we have put in place:

  1. Increased bio-security with a dry lime bath on entry into the brooder
  2. Testing a new “sigiri” in addition to the pots
  3. Using newspapers as a bio-layer over the coffee husks, that will disintegrate and mix with the litter
  4. Contracting with an experienced poultry brooding services company to provide a dedicated person to raise the birds from day-old to about 6 weeks, depending on the progress and learnings that we have had.

Photos below

Brooder - Day old chicks

Brooder – Day old chicks – View 1

Brooder - Day old chicks

Brooder – Day old chicks – View 2

Brooder - Day old chicks

Brooder – Day old chicks – View 3

Smallholder & Commercial Farming Models Not the Future Africa Agriculture Revolution

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There are a lot of interesting articles on the web on different farming models for Africa, many of which acknowledge that large scale farming is not possible. However the prescription is social enterprise driven engagement with small holder farmers, such as this New Model farming (http://africanbusinessmagazine.com/special-reports/new-model-farming/) and Realizing the potential for high returns from agriculture (https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/07/realizing-the-potential-for-high-returns-from-agriculture/)

However this new thinking is still flawed because there is no understanding of the thinking of small holder farmers which is grow enough to survive with a little left over to meet basic needs around the household. This does not lead to a focus on agronomical practices that increase yields, or in investments for growth past the current season, or even pursuit of higher revenues for better markets.

I have argued in a previous posts on the mindset shift required for agriculture to succeed in 2015 and beyond https://ugfarmer.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/mindset-shift-required-agriculture-success-for-2015-beyond/ and so has this author Agriculture in Uganda Where Next (http://ssmusoke.com/2014/10/08/agriculture-in-uganda-where-next/)

In summary the model is neither small holder farmers nor commercial farming, but rather a usually ignored hybrid of the two which is mid-tier family owned farming enterprises run by urban trained professionals.

Why would this be successful:

  1. Farms are run as agribusinesses, with cost and revenue models focusing on not only short term profits and longer term growth
  2. The mindset changes allowing the use of professionals such as veterinary doctors, agronomists, crop specialists to maximize the productivity of available land
  3. Increased use of agro-inputs such as improved seeds, agronomical practices such as irrigation, greenhouse farming, fertilizers, as well as pesticides/herbicides/fungicides to control pests and diseases.
  4. Access to capital and financing to smoothen out slumps
  5. Focus on revenues, leading to improved marketing, and distribution models.
  6. Ability to combine resources with others in cooperatives and farmers group to increase purchasing power, advocacy to drive government policy towards policy improvement.
  7. Mindset and appetite for growing economies of scale to improve revenues
  8. Mindset to embrace value addition to increase and stabilize revenues across peak and off-peak seasons

So in order to drive Africa forward the need is to grow the “middle class” agribusinesses which have the potential to feed the world.

What are your thoughts?

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Poultry Feed Dilema – Mix My Own or Outsource?

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The major factor affecting poultry egg production and therefore revenue & profitability is the feed. Its not enough to just provide feed, but rather a consistent product, with little variability in composition, quality and texture.
Birds are usually kept in high concentrations, so any change in the feed will quickly have a ripple effect on the productivity measured in days, with return to regular production taking longer usually weeks. The cause is that egg laying, a.k.a reproduction is not critical to a bird’s well being, so is reduced in any shocks to nutrition.
Given how critical this is, should I mix my own feed so that I have full control of the process, and outputs. That is a loaded question, my answer and advice being that it varies depending on your (the farmer) strengths and your business model.
Considerations for mixing your own feed:
  • Cash flow – as most of the ingredients are to be paid for in cash
  • Supply chain – you need to develop relationships with the providers of the ingredients to cater for times of shortages as most of them are agricultural based
  • Storage – you need to maintain your own stores and manage moisture contents along with other contamination sources. This will also include bio-security controls for the traffic within the farm related to ingredients
  • Mixing Space- you will have to mix feed regularly which period reduces with the size of operation you are running. In Uganda, you also need to manage electricity supply, repairs and operations of the motors, human resources (the mixers) along with pillage (some ingredients like premix are prone to this due to their high unit cost)
  • Dust from mixing operations – if you have a large area then this will not affect you much as this areas can be separated from the rest of the farm and living quarters
  • Consistency – can you keep doing this regularly, consistently for ever?
  • Cost – does the capex & opex for mixing your own feed add up to savings?
  • Feed formulation – do you have the necessary expertise to formulate, adjust formulae for the birds as conditions change?
Considerations for outsourcing your feed mixing:
  • Operational Capability – what capacity does your supplier have to stock up on key ingredients, ensure a consistent supply from the market even when they are shortages, and to maintain a consistent predictable feed mix. Do they have the right machinery and personnel in place, as well as capability to formulate, refine and advise on feed formulations.
  • Consistency – how consistent is the output of the feed mixing
  • Checks and balances – how is the quality of the feed maintained, and controlled, do you have to be there when the feed is being mixed all the time. Do you trust the quality of the product that you are receiving?
  • Turn around time – what is the turn around time from ordering to receiving your feed
  • Scale – will your supplier be able to scale with you as the numbers grow?
  • Feed formulation – does your supplier have the necessary expertise to formulate, and adjust formulae for the birds as conditions change?
Essentially the two camps are evenly matched with the choice depending on your particular conditions, with the ability to mix and match options as your farm grows and scales.
What choice did you take? I took the choice of outsourcing feed mixing, with the major drivers being:
  • We do not have experience with agricultural ingredient selection and quality management
  • The space we are working with is too small to allow mixing
  • The supplier we have is currently is working out for us, and we have been able to develop an efficient operation to ensure un-fettered just-in-time feed supply to the farm
  • The largest customer that our supplier services has 30,000 birds there is scaling capability there
  • There are no major cost savings given the local cost of capital & operations, so we are focusing our energies on ensuring higher revenue for our products.
  • The feed supplier is well versed with feed formulation, as well as other aspects of poultry layer management which provides additional value

Why did you make the choice you did, how is that working out for you, if you had to do it again what would you do?

Q and A: Newcastle Vaccines – Thermal Stable or Cold Version

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Question: I have been using the “cold” Newcastle vaccine for my birds, however I am thinking of moving to the thermal stable version. Being paranoid knowing that it is important to stay consistent for a flock – does it make sense for me to move at this time to the thermal stable version

Answer by Dr. David Omoding of Quality Chemicals (U) Ltd

Your fears and apprehension are understandable. However, be assured that moving to the thermal stable version would be the right move for the reasons below:

  1. Vaccine failure is a major issue for any “cold” (thermolabile) vaccine from point of manufacture, thru transit, to storage at the pharmacy premises, transportation to your premises etc. Wipe that uncertainty away by using a thermostable vaccine.
  2. The Thermostable strain is called I2 and it offers quicker, stronger, longer lasting immunity to poultry as compared to the cold La Sota, Clone, R2 strains. It might be bit more expensive but surely worth every penny. More can be found from http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/ac802e/ac802e04.htm.

In extensive systems (free range), one application is sufficient for the life of the bird including local birds while In intensive systems we advise one application every 3 months.

Q & A: How can I manage Biosecurity on a Poultry Farm

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Question: I hear practitioners talking about bio-security being a requirement on a poultry farm, why do I need it, how do I do it?

Answer: Biosecurity is a practice designed to prevent the spread of disease onto your farm. It is accomplished by maintaining the facility in such a way that there is minimal traffic of biological organisms (viruses, bacteria, rodents, etc.) across its borders. Biosecurity is the cheapest, most effective means of disease control available. No disease prevention program will work without it.

Best Practices:

Contributions by: Mugisha James Frank of Jade Commodities Ltd, Ssekatawa Charles – Veterinary Consultant with Surebreed Farming Operations, Peter Ssenkungu of NutriNova Limited, Dr. Sewagudde Samuel – Genesis East Africa Ltd and Nakato Winnie Fernandes of Vic and Val Ltd.

Our understanding of biosecurity is mitigation of risk in case of disease occurrence or outbreak….Measures taken so far are;

  1. Controlled access into the farm through fencing. Farm divided into two zones, buffer zone fenced off with barbed wire and clean zone with chain link. General movement is from buffer to clean zone. Poultry coops are within the “clean area”
  2. Restricted access to the farm by visitors. Any visitors who come in have their shoes sprayed with a disinfectants or common bleach.
  3. Professionals in the poultry industry are considered as the highest risk and require special permission to access the farm because they have accessed other farms so are more prone to carry bio-hazards.
  4. Manned access points were we do spray both individuals n vehicles using disinfectants like biosafe or common bleach like JIK
  5. Records kept on a daily basis on the accessibility of the farm.
  6. All staff have protective gear in terms of uniforms, dust masks n boots.
  7. Water filters fitted to each tank in the water distribution network to reduce the incidence of Ecoli
  8. Isolation of coops for flocks from each other
    • Poultry coops spaced from each reduce air-borne contamination. The minimum distance is 20m, with 50m being the international recommendation. The open nature of the poultry coops requires breaking the effect of direct flow of air from one house to another. Beyond 15m, the air flowing from one coop gets diluted with fresher air outside the coop reducing the contamination of air entering the next coop.
    • Each poultry unit is strictly manned by one person.
    • All poultry units have footbaths whose disinfectant is changed on a daily basis.
    • Feeders n drinkers washed on a daily basis, with those of a coop washed separately from others.
    • No sharing of equipment between poultry coops.
    • Each poultry coop has a separate sick bay and isolation ward.
    • Feeds for each coop stored separately so that there is reduced contact during feed distribution
  9. All mortalities recorded and inspected before disposal.
  10. Periodical water and feed tests say every 3 months to monitor their quality.
  11. Housing is provided 4 all poultry attendants, so there is reduced contact with the outside world.
  12. Posters placed all round the farm, reminding staff of the importance of maintaining set biosecurity standards.
  13. After offlaying a flock from a coop, thorough cleaning, of the poultry house is done along with the equipment that has been in use in the coop. This is done multiple times, and a time period of at least 3 weeks to increase the effectiveness of the process.
  14. Vermin control by keeping grass within the farm short and clearing bushes.
  15. Placement of rubbish bins for easy disposal of garbage n vaccine / viral bottles
  16. Periodic burning of garbage

Additional comments and inputs are welcome…

Q and A: Management of Newcastle & Viral Diseases

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Question: A friend’s birds started laying and have reached 50%. She was advised not to vaccinate Newcastle till they peak. Now she has noticed 2 that developed twisted necks. What should she do?

Dr. David Omoding – Quality Chemicals: The long-term health of the birds cannot be compromised for production performance. If vaccination is due, it should be done regardless of production level

Dr. Sewagudde Samuel – Genesis East Africa Ltd: Some birds can react post vaccination, 10- 14 days later, and show signs of disease, but with use of antibiotics, you can help them fend off the associated infections

Background to Answers:
Viral diseases like NewCastle and Gumboro normally destroy or weaken the immune system, just like the Humman Immuno-Deficency Virus (HIV) for humans. This then allows bacteria to take advantage of the reduced of immunity to cause further havoc through secondary intestinal, respiratory and other infections which further reduce productivity and potentially cause mortality.

Therefore treat such situations with antibiotics and vitamins to kill the bacterial and boast the immunity. Common antibiotics trade names include Keprocoeryl, Tetracycline 20% or 25%, Enrosol, etc. The vitamins combos include Amino vital, Aminovit, Cholivit, Vitalyte, etc

Quality Chemicals Uganda Limited also has vaccines of all kinds for poultry and larger animals. The latest on their list is the thermal stable Newcastle vaccine which does not need to be maintained under cold conditions, and soon the injectable Newcastle given prior to laying reducing the need for continous boosting during laying.