SNAIL FARMING
Snail farming is one of the most
neglected farming businesses in Nigeria even though the business is very
lucrative. This is one of the farming businesses that requires very little
capital to start.
Snails are very easy to rear in that
they are not harmful, (they don’t sting,
bite etc) some take snail to be irritating but i don’t think so. There are no
irritating legit money anywhere , it all in your mind.
Snails are very profitable in that one
single snail can hatch up to 100 snails (for archachatina margita). This Agric
business is one of the businesses that have not been explored in Nigeria. People
who are into snail rearing are making it big.
This is also another business that any
smart investor can go into and in turn export it to other Africa countries
(country like UK spends up to 5 million Dollars on importing snail every year).
Nigeria has a very good weather for snail rearing. Snails are very easy to rear
and contain high level of protein with less cholesterol.
You can make up to 3 million naira in
just one year if you understand it( these are not exaggeration ).
Snail can be classified according to their
habitation ie the land snail, freshwater snail and sea water snail.
Below Are Some Species You Can Rear For Food.
(1) Achatina tulica:
this specie generally grows around 20cm in length. The giant Africa land snail
is a native to the forest areas of east Africa but has been taken to other part
of the word.
These snails have both male and female
reproductive organs. They round 6 clutches of eggs every year, laying an average
of 200 eggs per clutch.
They get to their adult size by 6 months,
although achatina can stay up to 3 to 10 years.
Some of it feature are as follows
Scientific Name: Achatina fulica
Type: Mollus
Weight : 250-450g
(8.8-15.9oz)
Top speed: 0.003km/h (0.002mph)
Colour: Brown,
Yellow, Red
Skin type: Hard Outer shell
Favorite food: leaves
Predators: Wild cat, Birds, Humans
Life span: 3 – 10 years.
Picture of achatina fulica
(2)
Achachatina Marginta: Also refers to as
giant West Africa snail. This is the largest kind of snail that can be found on
the land all around the world. It is a specie of air breathing tropical land
snail. Among the family of Achatinidae which can grow up to 20cm long and can
live up to 10 years.
This is the most commonly reared snail in
Nigeria due to its high yielding capacity and it size 4 two years old
archachatina marginata specie breeder (suitable for rearing) can be sold for
N300 which can be reared in pan or in free range system.
Picture of Archachatina Marginata (picture credit- landsnails.org)
Now
let’s begin the process.
Your pen or snail leries:
The snail lery (snail house) can be located in a closed (fenced) location or in
an open environment. The snail leries has to be protected from too much wind as
snails are easily dehydrated and wind increase the rate of moisture loss in
snail which in turn, leads to dryness of the animal.
If pens are located in an open environment,
trees have to be planted around the pens. In most farms plantain and banana
trees are planted, due to the availability of leave. Balanced soil will be best
for snails as snails shells are formed from the soil. Acidic soil must be
avoided.
In case of open range snail rearing,
snail has to be protected from predator like birds and termites etc. they love
cold, wet (Not too wet), dark environment and remember that snails cannot be
reared on the concrete.
Feeding: snails eat almost anything leaves and fruit. Fruits like, mangoes, papaw,
tomatoes, pears, banana and vegetables like okra leaves, cabbages, and yam
leaves etc.
special formulated feeds for snails can be
found in the market.
Sourcing
for snails: getting snails from established
farm can the best way to get snails even though you would pay. But snails can
also be sourced from the forest.
Harvesting:
Hatching process would take about 21-28 days then you can start feeding and
taking care of your baby snails. Which will multiply with time harvesting your
snails is easy and it takes up to 2 to 3 years before your snails can mature
for market. A matured snails shell is very thick and hard, with the brim
thicker and harder them after parts of the shell.
Visit
A snail farm: One of the most important step you
must follow to establish your farm, is to visit one. If there is anything
unclear about this agro Business, visiting a very good snail farm will help you
with experience advice. This will allow help you to see for yourself how it
works. A Google search of snail farm around your city can do.
Reference:
a-z-animals.com/animals/giant-africa-land-snail/
HODASI, J.K.M (1984) some Observations
on Edible Giant land snails of West Africa world Animal Review, 52:24-28.
UDEDIBIE, A.B.I (1989). The giant land
snails and prospects of snail farming in Nigeria. Pages 33 – 36. In : 25th
Animal Conference of Agricultural society of Nigeria, owerri.
Labels: Agriculture, Snail Farming
