How farming without soil can reduce methane emission in cattle.

Cattle are responsible for 20% of the world's green house gas,contributing to climate change experienced worldwide. 

The methane emission stems from their digestion model,wherein feed ingested are digested by gut microbes in rumen resulting in large amounts of the methane gas,the constant chewing ,regurgitation contributes to the burping and farting which releases the gas to the atmosphere. The change in diet of cattle to more easily digestible and metabolisable feed ensures less regurgitation,more absorption and less methane emission. 

 

Farming without soil also referred to as hydroponics refers to growing plants in nutrient rich media under controlled temperature and humidity to produce fresh fodder for animals,which are highly nutritious, easily digestible and free from pesticides. 

 Farming without soil can be used to grow food for man and fodder for livestock saving money,reducing water use and need for pesticides. Farming without soil can be used to grow wheat,sorghum, millet,corn and oats making a nutritious fodder for animals. Cattle fed with hydroponic fodder grow fast, produce more milk,beef and less gas. 

The animals have access to the full nutrients from the cereal or legume,the minerals protein and fat are liberated in the fodder making it a great alternative. 

  Cows normally have access to 20% of energy in the grain diet while with fodder system 95% of the energy is available for growth and reproductive health and performance. The short span of growth from seed to fodder within 7 days ensures that animals have fresh fodder all year round.  

 Farming without soil is ecofriendly because there is no pressure on the environment for the following reasons 1) limited land space is needed. 2) less amount of water is required to sprout the seeds. 3)reduction of carbon print on farms as no machinery like tractors are used. 4)fodder is highly digestible preventing excessive burping and farting thus reducing methane emission. 5) smart agriculture. Farming without soil = hydroponics is a form of #smart agriculture our #solution to #climate change.

Agriculture and Nollywood.

Agriculture is now the bride many suitors are after, basically because of dwindling resources and because of the go back to the farm campaign.  People never thought of agriculture as a profitable business but now various people from all walks of life are venturing into one or more aspects of agriculture. 

 There is the  necessity to go back to the farms to ensure food security and revamp the economy, there is even a national call to spur us all to the "Green Land".

 The government at both the federal and state level are wooing more people into the line of agriculture not only for sustenance, but also as a major growth tool for the economic growth. Agriculture is an all-comers affair now, so come on board. 

If our former president,Olusegun Obasanjo can go and learn the nitty-gritty to be able to set up his farms then 

The value of agriculture has also enchanted some celebrities ,especially from the silver screen(NollyWood) who are diversifying to invest in agriculture and agribusiness ventures. 

The latest entrant is Funke Adesiyan who recently dumped acting for politics and now is back in the spotlight an investor in agriculture. 

 The Ibadan-based actress has shared that her investment in Agriculture has started paying off and that she has been able to save enough money that will sustain her for the rest of her life through farming. The gorgeous actress who lives in a simple comfortable house, explained that her decision to venture into agriculture was a choice she had to make, either to buy a house or buy hectares of land for farming. She chose the latter, and invested in agriculture. 

This is how to start investing in Agriculture. This could be small, medium or large scale depending on your capacity but whatever your level, you can always start small and grow from there. 

Thinking of #agriculture #urban agriculture #agribusiness? See

Soilless farming an avenue to food security.

Soil-less farming could help developing countries with little arable land and harsh for agriculture climate, such as Qatar, to become self-sufficient in terms of their produce. Relying on advanced hydroponics and multi-story vertical growing, the proposed system uses nutrient-enriched water to produce approximately a hundred times more yield compared to when the crops are grown on a conventional farmland of the same size. The hybrid setup, devised by Nik-Othman Abdullah, biotechnologist at Malaysia University of Science and Technology, is described in his Methods paper, published in the open-access peer-reviewed journal Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO). The proposed vertical-horizontal regulated soil-less farming is theoretically capable of increasing the domestic produce on such a scale that the country. This type of soil-less farming could provide reliable quantity as well as quality of the crops. Grown indoors, where they would be constantly monitored by personnel with good technical and scientific knowledge, the produce would be less affected by factors such as atmospheric conditions, contamination or pests. The plants would be supplied with the calculated amount of nutrition they need, as well as the exact amount of light and gas exposure. Being grown in a sterile environment and not treated with fertilizers, pesticides, and other harsh chemicals, the crops would not only look visibly identical, but would also be cleaner, fresher, healthier, tastier and richer in nutrient content. They would also grow faster and bigger. Plants would not waste energy in root tissue production because nutrients in pure form will be provided to the plants instead of the plant stressing to search for the nutrients," explains the bio-technologist. "Therefore, plants grow evidently 50% faster and bigger. This type of farming platform can be constructed basically in any location. It can be set up almost anytime and everywhere, in a greenhouse, warehouse, inside a building. This in-house farming is viable in urban areas as well,where more of the available land is for infrastructure.This platform is a model of the hydroponic system described in earlier posts. #food security # hydroponic system # food safety.

How to start an aquarium business.

Thinking of starting an home based business that is not capital intensive? welcome to the aqua world.

Starting an aquarium shop/store is easy and can easily be operated from the confines of your home. The basic skill you need is love for the sea-life and a spark of creativity to bring you projects to life.The size of your business will depend on your target audience, their taste and purpose.

The service is centered around fish and other water creatures that you can incorporate into your tank to add color and beauty to the tank. #urban farming .

Fish types to choose from are wide and the choice of what you stock depends mainly on what is available in your locality,taste and the expression you are willing to create.Turtles, are also a beauty to behold in the ponds. 

 Starting off; tank housing/containers are the major piece for the project.

The tanks could be plastic bottles,plastic drums,glass troughs,glass vats,wooden boxes,glass columns and slide trays.A host of water holding containers can be used,it all depends on your creativity. 

 The size of the project and the nature of client will also determine the type of vats.

Did you know you could incorporate a fish tank in an existing fountain? The next thing will be the accessories to make the tank stand out.

These include; pumps,filters, lights, decorations,plants,sand, and various toys. #aquarium The aquarium is ready ; Clean your vat/container. pour in your sand. put the desired accessories. put in your fish. Turn on the lights and your aquarium is ready. 

 The business opportunities are as follows :

1) sale of vats/containers

 2) sale of accessories. 

 3) sale of fish and other creatures for the tank. 

 4)consultancy on setting up ,managing and maintaining a fish. #aquarium

 5) sale of fish flakes.

 These vats could also be used to raise fingerlings and sell as juveniles or you can raise fingerlings to market size using bigger and large number of vats depending on stock size.

This will open up another business for sale of fish feed and catfish @ harvest time.