How to establish a commercial pig farm

The need for alternative source of revenue for Nigeria as a result of the current global financial meltdown cannot be over emphasized.  The only source of alternative income for the country is agriculture.  We must be able to develop the Agric sector to provide products for internal and Export Market.

 

It is through agriculture that we can increase our Gross Domestic Product, provide food and employment opportunities for Nigerians.  Establishment of Commercial Piggery is one of the projects that readily fit into this situation.

Justification of investment in piggery    

The establishment of the proposed commercial pig farm can be justified in the following grounds: Many Nigerians suffer from malnutrition due to lack of protein in the diet.

 

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recommends 35 grams of animal protein per day per person.  But less than 7 grams is eaten on the average in Nigeria.
Most of the protein in the food derives from plants and are only comparatively little from animals.  Animal protein is essential because it is of a high biological value and contains the building stones for health and growth.

 

Animal protein should not be completely substituted by plant protein.  It is especially needed by the young, the old and the weak.  The deficiency is more serious in the south of the country than in the north, as the staple diet in the south is monthly based on crops while the North’s the principal meat producer.
Sources of animal protein are milk, eggs and meat.  For example, minimum requirement of milk is considered to be ¾ of pint per day, while only 1/10 of that amount is actually consumed, on the average.  A large proportion of the population does not drink milk, milk is also expensive.
The main source of meat stems from cattle, yet a Nigerian does not eat more than ten pounds per year; the average American consumed almost ten times as much.

A good sow will farrows twice peer year, each time rising up to ten piglets while a cow will valve once.  The first litter will be born when the dam is one year old, while a cow has her first calf at the age of three.

 

By the time the first calf (beef) is ready for market, 30-40 slaughter haps can be sold from the one sow with about 5 to 10 times the amount of edible meet.  Pigs reproduce faster than cattle; they have more offspring, which grow at a more rapid rate.

Gains in pigs are more economical than in cattle.  To produce 100kg of live pigs requires 200kg of feed from birth to market weight.  A steer needs twice as much, it fed properly.

Even though concentrate cost is higher for pigs they still will pay twice as well.  Hogs convert 1/5 of the gross energy eaten into feed compared with 1/25 by ruminants (cattle).  Pigs convert farm raised feed into meat more cheaply and more rapidly than any other domestic quadruple.
The pig carcass yields a higher percentage of dressed meat and a higher proportion of edible parts.  Pork is higher in energy then other meat.  It is nutritious and tasty, as slaughter animals are comparably young.

Pork is palatable and attractive, as it is tendered than beef.  A slaughtered pig can be more easily utilized; it does not require ageing or tenderizing.  The product can be smoke, salted, processed and stored otherwise; a smaller quantity becomes available at any time and causes less of storage and keeping problem.  The pig carcass yields a high dressing percentage, more edible meat of greater nutritious value.
The salvage value of the breeding stock is very high.  This means that pigs which have been used to produce several can still be sold at a relatively high price whenever they are to be sold out.

Pigs can be bred at any time of the year and goat that have to be bred at a particular time of the year.
Pigs are also an efficient converter of industrial by-products and Agricultural wastes (including kitchen wastes) into pork. Social and economic benefits derivable from the project are improvement of the economic well being of the sponsor, generation of employment opportunities, and increase in the level of protein consumption thereby improving the level of our health care delivery system.

Technical aspect

The project involves design and construction of the entire physical infrastructure such as Pig Pens and acquisition of foundation stock of Pigs (breeders).
The stock female pigs are to undergo intensive feeding and breeding for the purpose of giving birth to young ones.  The young ones are to be raised at the fattening house to market sizes where they will be sold to prospective buyers.  Also, males will be sold to prospective buyers.  Also males will be acquired to serve the female ones.

Financial information

To establish a 50 sow unit commercial pig farm, the breakdown of the costs are given as follows:
Pre-Investments              :   N200,000
Housing                             :   N3,000,000
Breeders (55 at N30,000)  N1,650,000
Feeding                                   N2,000,000
Utilities/Others                    N500,000
Total                                      N7,350,000
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Note:   The scale could be lower or higher depending on the financial strength of prospective investor

Profitability
A 50 sow unit farm should be able to produce 500 pigs annually.  A matured pig can be sold as high as N30, 000.  This translates to N15 million as gross income.  The Cost of maintaining the farm is put at a maximum of N7.5 million.  This leaves annual net income of N7.5 million.  This project is recommended for serious minded Nigerian investors. The author is in a position to assist serious investors in terms of training, establishment and management.   Tel phone 080-23058045 or e-mail: [email protected].