YAP proposal #245: Hydroponic livestock fodder (Sadiq Murtala, Nigeria)

I am Abdulfatah Sadiq Murtala, a 23-year-old Nigerian national residing in Kaduna state. I am a graduate of the Department of Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, with a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering.

I got my business idea from the success of my final year project in university. After graduation, I discovered that the economic situation of the country is difficult and the government is devising means of diversification, mainly by investing in Agriculture.

I decided to put my project into reality by seeking a financial donor to develop my own business so as to reduce the number of unemployed youth looking for government and other jobs.

I am looking to develop a hydroponically grown livestock feed production unit so as to solve the problems of loss of nutrients, fodder deficiency and low quality in milking and beef animals.

The project will be built for development and training in the hydroponics market. The project aim is to carry out intensive and high turnover production, using very little land, while providing work and leadership experience. It is a combination of cutting edge, high quality, efficient food technology and production committed to the improvement of excellent quality and nutritional value in livestock feed.

The company will provide education, experience and research in the field of hydroponics.

Hydroponic fodder is essentially the germination of a seed (such as wheat or maize) that, when sprouted, becomes a high quality, highly nutritious, disease-free animal food. This process takes place in a very versatile and intensive hydroponic growing unit where only water and nutrients are used to produce a grass/root combination that is very lush and high in nutrients.

This green fodder is extremely high in protein and metabolizable energy, which is highly digestible by most animals.

The steps I would like to follow when given the opportunity are as follows:

1. Construction of a large greenhouse enclosing the production area.
2. Setting up irrigation, temperature control and water treatment devices much like the ones Biopro uses.
3. Seeding and harvesting the resulting green shoots after 10 days, and repeating the process continuously.

I have acquired the production space already and applied for a company registration. I am seeking funds to facilitate the construction of the production unit to start production as soon as it is completed. The project will break even when I sell 10 of the 2 square meter fodder blocks a day at a cost of $20 each.

 

If given the $5000 grant, I hope to establish the business by building the facility, which will cost an estimated $2000.
After construction, I will set up the facilities immediately which will cost an additional $1000.
I will purchase the seedlings at a cost of $1000, which will see me through 6 month as I calculated from the forecast.
will also budget $500 for running costs and other miscellaneous expenses.

Furthermore, I would like to expand the business by pursuing more selective cereal fodders and fresh cut flowers.

The project is estimated to provide at least 12 jobs to the people in the locality and more jobs as the business grows.

Product and targets markets

This industry is a new concept in the livestock feed production market in Nigeria in terms of research and number of completely developed farms. The proposed method of producing green fodder has many advantages for the farmer, the economy and the environment. These advantages include:

• Reduced water usage
• Productive use of marginal land
• Constant food supply
• Reduced growth time
• Reduced labour requirement
• Cost effective
• High nutritional value
• Completely natural

Market research was conducted and the target audience was identified as polo teams, livestock farms, Ranches, traditional rulers and/or horse breeders, as well as fish farms. Contacts were made with some of the above listed and some of the clients made assurances from the discussions.

Here is an outline of the keys to success of this project:

• Efficient production utilizing greenhouse
• No existing project of this magnitude in the region
• Product freshness, variety, price and quality
• Constant research of industry to keep knowledgeable on market needs
• Management: products delivered on time, professional customer service, good budget management
• Constant evaluation of strengths and weaknesses with adjustments made as necessary.

I am looking forward to a favorable response to this effort I have made.

Thank you for the opportunity presented.

Blogpost and picture submitted by Sadiq Murtala (Nigeria) – sadiq4sure2000[at]yahoo.com

The content, structure and grammar is at the discretion of the author only.

---

This post is published as proposal #245 of “YAP” – our “Youth Agripreneur Project”.

The first selection of the winners will be based on the number of comments, likes and views each proposal gets.

As a reader, you can support this speaker’s entry:

• Leave a comment (question, suggestion,..) on this project in the comment field at the bottom of this page
• Support the post by clicking the “Like” button below (only possible for those with a WordPress.com account)
• Spread this post via your social media channels, using the hashtag: #GCARD3

 

Have a look at the other “YAP” proposals too!
As a donor, support young agripreneurs and sponsor this unique project. Check out the side column for our current sponsors.
“YAP” is part of the #GCARD3 process, the third Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development.