We Crossbreed Grasscutters For High Performance

Rodent 2

Rodent

By Prince Arinze Onebunne

It’s nice to be here again. How is life and business? Fine I guess you’d say. Do you remember the Ebola and certain bush meat story? It’s now clear to everybodythat grasscutterhas no connection with Ebolaafter all the gossip! This rumor is circulated by the ignorant and lazy people!If you are a regular reader of this column you will agree that I have done a lot of explanation on this Ebola issue.

Grasscutter meat once called the “the king of bush meat” and still treated as a delicacy; can be taken regularly as part of the healthy human diet. A high-priced tasty meat, that the health-conscious and affluent find interesting.Again! It’s not among the bush meat that harborsEbola. The W.H.O had said ‘’the virus is transmitted to people from wild fruit bats, gorillas, monkeys and chimpanzes.” Moreover, it’s a human being that brought Ebola into Nigeria from Liberia and not grasscutter. However, we thankGod that the Ebola outbreak has been curtailed andcontainedin the country.

The fast population growth and the associated increase in the demand for animal products present many development opportunities. Grasscutter farming will become the biggest contributor to agriculture in coming decades, with consumption of animal-based foods the fastest growing sub-food category in Africa.

Rodent 1In order to effectively and successfully raise grasscutter in large numbers, it is crucial to explore and understand the characteristic nature of the animal.Although many varieties have been described, they belong to two different species: smaller grasscutter (ThryonomysGregorianus), and larger grasscutter (ThryonomysSwinderianus) which is of greater size and can weigh up to 10kg or more at adulthood and it has a head-and-body length of up to 60cm.

Grasscutters can be subdivided into two categories, the docile and indocile grasscutters. The docile grasscutter adapts well to life in confinement and becomes accustomed to man quickly, whereas the indocile grasscutterare difficult to tame.

At JOVANA FARMS, we’re crossbreeding grasscutterswith many speckled-brown Swinderianusfrom Gabon and Central African Republic; the fur is extremely coarse, firm, and briskly-reflecting the animal’s kingship to the porcupine. We crossbreed them with our local breeds with short stocky legs, a short rat-like tail clothed with spiny hairs, which look like short soft quills. The cross breeding is in two aspects, we allow the pure breed to breed among themselves to have more pure lines and then mix them up with the locals for the cross breeds. Cross breeding is the mating of animals with unrelated genes, which belongs to the same species. It is used to inject new genes into the flock, the advantages may include fast growth rate, heavier breeds, resistance to diseases, fertility rate, high meat yield, etc. Surely, as we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.

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Rodent 2The swinderianus breed is known worldwide as the type of grasscutter that gives a lot of meat. They are known as giant grasscutters.Smart farmers buy and multiply them; then cross breed them. This cross breeds performs better than the pure line in the country.

The main reason crossbreedgrasscutters are now being preferred by some farmers for rearing purpose is because it is easy to house, very friendly and you don’t buy food for them. They are very prolific animal. In this category, they are next to pigs.

A robust and thriving grasscutter meat industry would have an enormous impact on and add value to the economy. It would not only offer up opportunities for major investors to start and grow large meat processing companies for export, but it also will open up avenues for the lucrative trade in smoked and dried meat export.

You can get started, without the costly items the so-called experts say you should have. With N45,000, N50,000 to N60,000 one can kick-off with one-male and four-females depending on the breed/ specie. They can be reared in wooden cage which costs N10, 000.

We remain committed to providing farmers with improved grasscutter breeders with fast growth and early maturity. Our grasscutter species are always a sure bet, exceeding farmers’ expectations in terms of performance and profitability in all the farms across the country where they are being used.

Since we’re all concerned about food security, wealth and employment creation, I am amazed so little is known by the public about the profitability of grasscutterbusiness approaches to income generation and eco-system preservation. Add to the fact that production of grasscutters is relatively affordable. And my wonder continues….

CONTACT us for CONSULTANCY or attend JOVANA FARMS seminars nearest to you and discover the essential steps on how to breed grasscutters easily and avoid costly mistakes that grasscutter owners are prone to! Can’t attend? ORDER for SELF-TUTORIAL VCD& BOOK. Visit us at www.jovanafarms.com, E-mail:[email protected] or Call: 080 33262 808, for more details.

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