Business person or farmer? which label is yours.

Agribusiness is the business arm of your agricultural practice,but the way you play the role affects your profit. This is the key to making money in your agriventure,define who you are,what you represent and what you aim to achieve. 

 Agribusiness person or farmer which label is yours? . Identify yourself as a businessperson, not a farmer. A farmer grows fruits, vegetables, and grains and tends cattle, goats, chickens, and bees with a short-term sales outlook while a businessperson is someone who understands that these productive assets are cultivated, reared, and turned into quality consumer products that generate regular income. 

The key words here are productive assets, quality products and regular income. Assess your strengths and build on them. Ask yourself are you flexible to change; how amenable you are to using new methods. Can you utilize the space you have in a more productive way? 

Are you using organic manure from your own cows to fertilize your crops? Are you diversifying your product lines to establish different revenue streams? There is strength in numbers, get out of your small space and join others who are building the future. Always associate with people who know more than you do and listen to what they say. Often your neighbors will know more about what is happening than you do.

 Ask others at church what is happening with irrigation systems, or disease prevention or crop rotation patterns; who is building processing plants that will ease the movement of raw materials into finished products. 

Always ask, how can I be involved in what is happening that will make a difference in my productive capacity? Understand the risks of farming and learn how to manage them. If unpredictable pricing is a risk, diversify into more stable product lines. If climate change is destabilizing your seasonal production or reducing quality outputs, reach out to agribusiness specialists to learn how to manage these risks. 

Understand how research changes the dynamics of success in the field. This is the single largest issue confronting you now and everyone needs to be involved in finding solutions. 

 Become your own brand manager. Does your farm have a name? Can the consumer differentiate your products from others? Can you get your story in the local newspaper? Manage your farm like a product and trust your instincts when doing anything. continue

Process cashew nuts and make $1.4billion from cashew exports.

Nigeria is the fourth largest producer of cashew in Africa and the sixth in the world with an output of 160,000 metric tons per year. A production which is expected to reach 500,000 metric tons by 2020. The main export destinations for the crop are Europe, India and the United States. Nigeria’s inability to process cashew nuts in significant quantities for export resulted in the loss of $1.4 billion in 2016. Data from the National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) showed that the country exported a total of 160,000 metic tons of cashew valued at $300 million in 2016. The cashew industry is a massive industry that is waiting to be tapped,processing is where the money is but only a small fraction is processed for export. A ton of processed cashew, is sold for $12,000 while a ton of raw cashew is $1,200. Investment opportunities abound in the cashew processing.which will not only be a source of foreign exchange but also a point of creating jobs at various levels.The higher the quantity of cashew nuts processed,the higher the income/revenue generated. Processing can be on large scale or small scale,but the equipment required for production are the same. These are the necessary equipment: 1)Steam Boiler. 2) Cooking vats. 3)Semi-automated Peeling Machine. 4)Multi-color Cashew Kernel Sorting Machine. 5)Husk Winnowing Machine. 6)Steam Pipeline. 7)Hot oven 8) Hand Operated Cutting Machine. 9)Cashew Peeling Machine. 10) cashew filling machine. 11)Pieces separator. 12) Weighing scale. 13) Sealing Machine.14)plastic, buckets, crates, bowls 14) Generator Set.

Bird flu kills 11,000 poultry in one week in Plateau .

The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has reported that the resurgence of Bird flu in Plateau state killed over 11,000 birds, last week. According to PAN’s chairman in the state, John Dasar, six farms had so far been affected and no fewer than 11,000 birds were gotten rid of. Dasar attributed the fast spread of the disease to failure by farmers to report the outbreak of the disease. “Farmers in Plateau state are really going through tough times because of the resurgence of bird flu in the last one week. In one week, six poultry farms were depopulated. The main concern here is that most farmers don’t report the outbreak, they prefer to sell their birds to marketers rather than wait for government’s compensation that will never come. So, all we do is when we get wind of an outbreak in any farm, we alert government’s officials to take immediate action,” he said. The chairman, however, urged poultry farmers to report any outbreak in their farms to the appropriate authorities so as to prevent any further spread of the disease in the state.Source

Paperfuge the low cost hand powered centrifuge for disease diagnosis.

Modern medicine relies heavily on technology, like centrifuges, that are costly, bulky and require electricity. In many places around the world, especially developing countries this kind of equipment can be difficult to access. A new study published online in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, researchers described an inexpensive, hand-powered centrifuge that's based on an ancient toy and could help doctors working in developing countries. The centrifuge is the essential in modern medical laboratories,because this device spins samples at high speeds to separate particles or cells based on size and density, effectively concentrating specific components making disease diagnosis easy. The researchers found that a toy known most commonly as the whirligig had the greatest potential as a centrifuge. By altering the basic design, they were able to achieve speeds of up to 125,000 revolutions per minute (RPM), the fastest speeds reported for a hand-powered device. The researchers used a paper disk and fishing wire to modify the whirligig, turning it into a hand-powered centrifuge that costs about 20 cents to build. They called their device a "paperfuge" and tested it against modern centrifuges to measure red blood cell counts. To do so, Prakash and his team loaded a finger prick of blood into a capillary tube and placed that into a sealed plastic straw that was mounted onto the paper disk. The result was obtained in a minute and a half , without electricity and were similar in tests for malaria parasites.

Coca-Cola’s fairlife launches ‘Superkids’ milk

Coca-Cola’s fairlife launches ‘Superkids’ milk: Coca-Cola’s ultra-filtered premium milk fairlife has launched a children’s ‘Superkids’ variety, available in white milk and chocolate milk.

AGRIBUSINESS : 5 ways to make millions in agribusiness.

AGRIBUSINESS : 5 ways to make millions in agribusiness. Agriculture is the new currency and everybody is tapping into the market one way or the other. The current trend of back to agriculture has opened up an in-road to agribusiness such that more products are available as a source of income or as sustenance to ensure food security. 

 Agriculture is broad but you can carve a niche for yourself and produce desirable products,there are very many opportunities to create wealth but i choose to write about these because they are simple, easy,can be home based and require minimal capital. 

 1) Egg sales and distribution; the demand for eggs are ever increasing and you can easily start this with as little as 10,000 naira ,which you can easily turn around and start making profit immediately. Egg sales and distribution is an instant cash cow,your personal money-making machine. start

2) Fruit sales; majority of people are concerned about health nowadays with many people turning to fruits and vegetables to stay fit and trim. The sale of fruits is simple and easy to start. The first step will be to visit fruit markets in your area or link up with fruit farmers and strike a deal. 

The fruits purchased can either be sold as whole fruits or cut in bits for sale to people who cant afford the full sized fruits. The dicing of the fruits will not only sell fast but it opens another avenue to cash in fast ,the diced/sliced fruits can be hygienically packed , chilled and sold as fruit box or packs that are handy packs for schools,hospitals,offices and of course superstores. 

 Fruits can also be diced ,blended , chilled and sold as smoothies,this is the cream of the fruit business. Entrepreneurs can actually start a health store where various fruit smoothies are sold,the winning edge will be the basic knowledge of various fruits and the health benefits to the body so that you can make a perfect mix and offer your customers. E.g a customer that wants to lose weight can ask the fruit vendor for the best fruit combo to achieve this goal e.t.c. the ability to blend various fruit combo to fit different requirement will boost sales as many customers will troop in to try the mix.

 AGRIBUSINESS : 5 ways to make millions in agribusiness.

 3) snail farming,this is a hidden goldmine that its easy to start and manage. Snails are not noisy,nor pollute the environment with effluents thus its a super urban agribusiness venture to look into.see 

 4) Start an aquarium store; you can actually start from home and reach out to clients. The shop can be set up with various sizes of vats for the different fish types,an aquarium accessory shop will be an addition to the venture. 

The interior decoration in many organisations are now complimented with different types of aquarium,also you can generate more money if you open up a section of your store as exhibition ground or resort center,where schools,individuals can come in ,look around and pay for the visit. start and this 

 5) Feather processing; this is turning waste to wealth. Everybody loves fashion,and one or two pieces of accessories can make you stand out. Feathers of different poultry can be accessed in various live bird markets with processing facility. 

The feathers are collected using  breeds,color and size. The feathers are washed in warm water to get any dirt or debris off,then its disinfected ,rinsed and dried in the sun. The feathers can be further processed according to use,such as adding color,trimming to fit a pattern or using them plain. Feathers can be used as fans,earrings,hat clips,brooches ,set decor,home decor e.t.c .learn

Gut bacteria linked to development of Alzheimer’s disease: Mouse data

Gut bacteria linked to development of Alzheimer’s disease: Mouse data: Intestinal bacteria can accelerate the development of Alzheimer's disease, say researchers who suggest their findings could open new opportunities for preventing and even reversing the disease through the gut.