CATTLE RAISING GUIDE

Beef is one of the protein we eat to give the body the necessary support to stay healthy. Although meat consumption is urgently needed by us but it has limitation based the frequency only enough to keep the system going. There are many beef meat products in the market. Too much consumption will elevate the dangerous cholesterol level.

A good beef meat has more lean than fat meat. One problem faced by cattle raisers in a big scale operation is the supply of feeds. For small cattle raisers, they can’t afford to depend on commercial feeds. What they did is to improve pastures in their lands to have a healthy grasses and legumes as the source of forage they can afford. For fattening purpose, the cattle needs enough nutrients to fatten. A balance diet is important to be able for the cattle to gain weight.

As small scale raisers, what you can do to make your cattle competitive to market.

-Look for an ideal location where to raise your cattle. There should be favorable climate. The location should have sufficient source of cheap feeds. The area should not be too far from the market in order to minimize cost in transporting cattle to slaughter house.

-Unfavorable climatic condition will result to heat stress and it will affect their feed intake that will affect the fattening operation as you can’t reach the desired weight of the cattle to be profitable. Weight loss will affect the quality of the meat.

-A cattle placed in cool environment will increase their food consumption during the day. It is favorable for the raisers to have their cattle to gain weight.

-Even small investor in cattle rising needs sufficient capital for additional commercial feeds aside from the regular intake of grasses and legumes.

-The raiser should have full knowledge on how to effectively raise cattle. He should have enough understanding on how to do the proper nutrition, control of disease, select the right species of cattle, enough feeding ground and alternative feed processing.

-The cattle raisers should have establish marketing outlets to them protect against price fluctuation and manipulation that will be a disaster to cattle raisers.

-Lean meats demands high price in the market. Good fattening process is important to maintain profitability. Look for dealers of cattle fattener that can guarantee you with lower price especially if you are regular buyers to them.

-In selecting cattle variety, look for healthy cattle to serves as your stockings that has good body formation, healthy and has enough vigor. Never buy sickly stocks as it is costly for you to procure enough feeds for his recovery.

-See to it that cattle should be given commercial feeds that contain vitamins and minerals, protein and energy booster. This is to produce more meat, less bones and give less fat content. A low quality meat from the cattle that are bony, narrow body frame and thick skin will not demand better price in the market.

-To give you enough time to fatten the stocks, buy yearling above 2 years to produce better, meaty and leaner quality of meat. If you thoroughly know how to fatten cattle, you will shorten your fattening activity, cutting your expenses in raising them.

-Prepare dry area where the cattle can be down and take rest for a while.

-Be sure to give the cattle with fresher feed in clean bunkhouse. Feeds cattle regularly. Clean water should be available.

-Regulate the contents of the bunk only up to their desired appetite. Excess feed in the feeding trough will become stale wasting portion of the costly feeds instead of saving it.

-As the cattle has delicate digestive system. Make a gradual rotation of feeds from roughage to concentrate feeds.

-Check the condition of the cattle. If there is visible sign of parasite infestation then use de-worming tablet for the animal to maintain its normal body weight. Too much infestation in the intestines will reduce their weight losing chances to fatten them quick.

-Maintain better feedlot condition. It should be clean to prevent the outbreak of diseases and insect habitation in the area. Better sanitation programs and disinfection process will reduce the carrier of the disease to maintain their presence in the feeding ground.

-Place your feeding trough in higher ground. It should have better waste disposal facilities to maintain cleanliness around the area. There should have better drainage system to remove obstruction of waste materials from the feeding area.

The success of the fattening process to have meatier, juicy and leaner meat will depend on your full knowledge on how to correctly handle them. Increasing weight gain will increase your profitability in selling them to market.

BULLFROG RAISING GUIDE

Bullfrog meat already gained popularity in people’s taste. Cooking bullfrog with complete ingredients will result to a delicious menu on the table.

Without experience knowledge in raising bullfrog it may be difficult to raise them. But anyone wanted to develop interest and try raising bullfrog for meat has to learn his first lesson.

Construct a concrete tank in a place shaded with trees. It should be constructed in rectangular shape. The walls should be 4 feet high from the ground level of the tank. This is where the last phase of raising is placed.

Take note that there are many stages in raising bullfrog.

First, there is a breeding cage for the eggs where the couple bullfrog has to mate. It should be 2-1/2 feet high and 15 meters long. There is no water in it except carabao grass to place the couple bullfrogs for mating. Bullfrog mating commonly occurred early in the morning and evening. The copulation period will last about 2 days. The breeder should not be disturb that will delay the laying of eggs.

There is hatching tank where the eggs are transferred to hatch. Slowly scoop the eggs in the breeding cages and transfer to the tank. The eggs will float in the water tank. Plant is with aquatic water lily or water hyacinth to cover the eggs that are laid in the tank. It has outlet for water to go out through a small gate valve to control the flow of water outside. Periodic replacement of water is necessary to ensure that the tank is clean and has fresh water.

There is tadpole pond used for metamorphosis when the tadpole loses its tails and grow limbs. It has 30 centimeters deep to help the tadpole swim up to the surface and breathe air. It can accommodate thousands in per square meter size. It is then segregated to prevent the bigger one to cannibalize the smaller tadpole.

There is froglet pond where the metamorphosed bullfrogs are stocks. The ponds contain floaters, water lily and feeding boxes. This is the stage that the feeding habit of the frogs has to be modified from vegetables to life feeding consist of small insects that moves. The pond is much larger than the hatching tank. The bottom has clay loam or mud soil that can hold and retain water.

There is grower cage where the bigger froglets are transferred. Those smaller froglets where later on are stocks to this cage. The cage has earthlike platform in the dug-out canal. It has inlet pipes to regulate water supply and drainage. Any fecal matter and dirt should be removed. They can swims in shallow water. The feeds are simply drop through the cage opening. They are feed twice daily one in the morning and one in the afternoon. You can use water hyacinth as feeds mixed with fish to have a fishy odor to invite froglets to eat. Using squirming maggots with vegetables and dead fish or cultured earthworms are best as it can induce movements among the froglets.  Other foods they can eat are tilapia fingerlings, kangkong leaves, dead shrimps, golden snail and other moving pond pests.

To sell to the wet market, the bullfrog were skinned without inner parts leaving only the upper chest without head and lower portion of the body especially the thigh.

POULTRY RAISING GUIDE

Transfer healthy pullets to the laying area. Light breed is ready to start laying when they are about five months old. Heavy pullets started laying eggs few weeks later. The increase in egg-laying capacity depend in good management and the kind of breed used. It should came from a good strain that has the history of increased laying capacity.

Make a routine work to clean the laying house thoroughly. It should be done 2 weeks before transferring the pullets. The feeders and water troughs are in working condition. Laying hens wanted a clean, well-ventilated and dry, quiet laying house.

Examine every pullet. Use only those healthy ones. Any poorly developed pullets with stunted growth should be culled. Healthy birds are always active and vigorous and healthy, well-developed body with yellow pigmented beaks and shanks.

A laying birds produces eggs over a year. If the profitability of a group of laying birds decreased, then you have to select which of them be taken out in laying area. You have to develop a group of pullets as your alternative replacement so that you are assured that you have a combined supply of table eggs.

It is your responsibility to have a continues flow of water and feeds. They keep on eating during the day. Give your hens plenty of high protein foods including vitamins and minerals. The laying mash should be ready at all times. There are still other kinds of feed that you need in the entire life of your poultry production. You also need all-mash, pellets and crumbles as your alternate feeds.

In feeding, you have to avoid wasting feeds. Do not fill the feeder more than what is needed in order that when you do the next serving it is always fresh and in good appetizing condition. Your feeder should have guard or lip to control the feed to be scratch or beak. Always make sure that the feeder is level with the back of the birds. Construct your layer house defensively with screen wires around to prevent entry of flying birds and rodents to eat feeds outside. Putting windbreaks is important to keep the feed blown away by the winds.

The amount of feed that you refill every day should be in accordance to their needs and their desire to eat. During cold days, laying birds consume less food in a day or if the temperature is hot. In feeding, give your laying flock an energy boosting formulation where they consume only less food during the day. That means a saving for the cost of feeds. A young pullets eat more feeds for their continued growth. Hens will productively lay eggs if the quantity and quality of the feeds are always available to them.

Observe their feeding habits. If a laying hen reduces his normal eating requirements and no good appetite then something is wrong that you have to check and observe. There is a possibility that these laying birds has health problem that should be segregated immediately especially if he showed weakness and less energetic and sickly.

Any remaining stale feeds in the feeder should be remove and replace it with a fresh one especially if it is no longer palatable. Feeding be done twice a day (morning and afternoon). Make water is available to the layers at all times. They need to drink more especially during high temperature. This is also to keep a normal production rate of eggs. Water troughs should always have a continues flow of clean water. Any left-over should be taken out to avoid the growth of molds which is toxic to the birds. Water is used in giving additional nutrients to the laying hen and also for dispensing medication for their protection.

Proper lighting is needed in the poultry house. The recommended height of the bulb from the floor is 2.8 meters. Do culling of unproductive layer every now and then. They should be removed in the laying house and placed separately. Remove those with shrunken combs and wattles, pale and dry body, have dull eyes, thin and low of energy and have poor appetite. Egg collection should be done 3 times a day or as often as possible especially during hot days. Do the sorting according to the standard size. Any dirty eggs should be check and clean for any flaws before bringing to the storage room.

Keep the eggs in a cool room with temperature of 150'C or lower with humidity of 70' degrees. The egg collection troughs always clean to avoid dirtying or have stain embedded to the eggs.

For the project to succeed, it lies on how you done prevention and control of parasites and many diseases. It can only be realized if you as poultry raisers can achieve the proper management. What is important is effective sanitation measures. To ensure your laying pullets protected from diseases, it should be vaccinated. Do a correct feeding, good housing facilities, comfortable locations. Remove all manures and litters. Wash the area, walls, ceiling, floor, equipment, etc. with water and detergents to remove dirt and dust,then use disinfectants . Cleanliness inside and outside the laying area, proper care and other safety measures is needed to prevent infection to spread out to the laying flocks. If it cannot be controlled, then your project is doomed to failure.

In having a poultry production, it is a must to have your own veterinarian who are knowledgeable when it comes to control. His function is more on prevention. Any warning signs of a disease can be prevented and necessary measures is carried out.

SUNFLOWER PRODUCTION GUIDE

The plant can be grown mostly in all types of soil in a dry condition. The yield can greatly improve if irrigation is used during the formation of the bud and during the end of the flowering period.

It can be planted any month of the year but best in January. It is harvestable after 4 months time. It can produce a higher yield if planted in fertile soil and have a better drainage system.

Plant sunflower in a single row 70 cm from the next row. You can also use a double row 45 centimeters spacing between rows and 1 meter every two rows. The depth is 5 centimeters in planting the seeds.

In one hectare land, it needs an estimated 15 kilograms. The quality of the seed should be given to attain a 90% germination rate. Cultivate the land one or two times. Fertilization can increase production and obtain a higher yield. Using NP combination of 120-120 or 120-160 is mostly recommended.

Use a furrow irrigation method to avoid water logging. Do the necessary pest control measures to ensure protection from pests. Proper pesticides application is needed. Some of the diseases noted are damping off, bacterial wilts, leaf spot rust. Proper application of fungicide is needed for better result.

Harvesting can be done by cutting sunflower heads. Use scythe in harvesting.

MUNGBEAN PRODUCTION GUIDE

It can be grown during wet and dry seasons except in areas with heavy rainfall. The plants can thrive well in any soil type but yields are better from deep, well-drained and fertile soils. Acidic soils affect the growth of the plants due to lacking of essential nutrients.

Practice complete land preparation in an upland condition. Plow it twice and harrow twice with four passings in one harrowing after plowing. Make furrows 60 and 70 centimeters apart for the dry and wet season.

In the lowland areas, you can plant the mungbeans after the harvest of rice. No need for land preparation in order to conserve the needed moisture before the planting. See to it that the areas for planting is not weedy enough.

Plant in rows to make weeding easier. Space the plant in rows about 55 to 70 centimeters. Fertilization will depend on the kind of soil and the presence of required nutrients. It is recommended to apply fertilizer based on 30-30-30 kilograms of NPK per hectare.

It does not require any irrigation if planted during wet season. Removed all weeds from the field for at least 1-1/2 weeks during emergence of seedlings. You can do handweeding during the first week when the seedling emerged. Do the hilling-up in the third to fourth week. Spot weeding is necessary to remove fast growing weeds. Maybe 2-3 weedings is needed to get a good yield.

They were proned to beanfly damaged and aphids and other pests as the plant matures. Assess the damaged and do the necessary measures by the application of insecticides. If diseases hit the plants then remove the infected plants. Apply fungicides to control disease occurrence.

Harvest mungbean by hand as soon as 80% of the pods are fully dried. Harvest it 60 days from crop emergence. Harvest 2nd time 15 days after the first priming.

Dry pods in the sun then thresh by beating the pods inside a sack with a wooden stick. Dry the seeds further for 3 days until it can reach a moisture level of 12 percent to facilitate longer storage.

HAIRY LYCHEE PRODUCTION GUIDE

It is known as Rambutan, Nephilium lappaceum gained much popularity and acceptance in its introduction to the country. This spiny fruit is available only during August to October and quite expensive.

You can propagate it by vegetative means and by seed. Select only fresh and healthy seeds. Before sowing, wash the seeds thoroughly and sow immediately, in seedbeds or directly in individual containers. The soil medium to be used must be sterilized in order to eliminate organisms which may attack the seeds.

It vary as to fruitfulness, quality of fruits and sex. An orchard planted by seedlings can give 65% male trees. This makes vegetative propagation more desirable than by seed.

Propagation by marcotting procedure is not advisable because when the root-bearing young plants are transplanted in the field, a large number of them die. The most prevalent method is inarching. It is relatively easy technique and success is usually very high. The main drawbacks of this technique is that it is wasteful of propagating materials and it is laborious.

A tropical tree, Rambutan thrives best in humid and hot region where rainfall is well-distributed. It is also perform well in regions with three dry months or with an average length of less than four months dry season. They are tolerant of many soil types, but it grows best in deep, loamy soil which is well-drained and rich in organic matter.

Elaborate land preparation is not necessary when only one or a few rambutan trees are to be planted. The usual practice in backyard plantings is to dig a hole large and deep enough to accomodate the root system of the planting materials. For medium to large-scale planting, the land should be thoroughly prepared. One plowing and one harrowing are usually adequate where the land has been previously under cultivation.

For sites that have not been planted, the field should be plowed as deeply as possible to loosen the soil. It may be necessary to alternately plow and harrow the field several times to obtain the desired soil tilt.

The procedure of planting rambutan is essentially the same as with other fruit trees. Trees removed from cans and other containers maybe transplanted without defoliating or cutting back the top provided care is taken that the roots are not disturbed when removing from the container. While preparing for planting, the roots should be protected and kept from drying out by wrapping them in wet burlap.

In sloping areas, contour - planting is recommended. This will prevent soil erosion and help water to stay in a single place. In level land, the seedling should be planted in a straight line.

Spacing should be done not too closely. The rambutan tree bears most of its fruits on the outside of its canopy of branches. When the side branches meet and crowd each other, the trees tend to fruit at the uppermost branches. Overcrowding reduces yield and also increases the difficulty of spraying thoroughly enough to control insect plants and disease. Rambutan can be planted 11 to 12 meters apart.

Rambutan requires plenty of water during its entire growing period. The most critical period being the first dry dry season after planting, constant watering is necessary at this stage. Conserve moisture in the soil by practicing cover-cropping and mulching.

During the first dry season, the young rambutan trees may suffer from intense heat. It should be provided temporary shade for the plants. Shade no longer necessary starting the second year.

Apply complete fertilizer of ammonium sulfate to hasten the tree growth. Supplement with animal manure and compost or other organic fertilizer.

Several insects like twig borers, mealy bugs and pad borers can attack rambutan trees. Control it by spraying with recommended insecticides. It is also susceptible to disease, the most common is ring spot. Control them with proper fungicides.

Asexually propagated rambutan trees may produce fruits three to four years after planting. Seed planted trees will take five to six or more to bear fruits.

Fruits do not ripe at the same time, pruning or picking only thus ripe one. Harvesting is done three times a week.