WONDERS OF GRASSCUTTER FARMING

Grasscutters (Thryonomys swinderianus) are rodents widely found in grasslands, clearings, wet or marshy areas in Africa.

Wild Grasscutters or cane rats are victims of their success with consumers and becoming increasingly scarce in areas like urban centers in Nigeria. In Nigeria hunters kill almost millions of wild Grasscutters every year. At present the concept of rearing small game is mainly taking hold in countries where bush meat is firmly entrenched in local dietary practice as in Nigeria, Congo basin, Gabon e.t.c. In Nigeria (South West area) consumption of game/ bush animals is said to be twice that of beef.

Also, livestock sector is an important source of income and provides improved livelihoods in many countries. The growing demand for products of animal origin resulting from population growth, increased disposable income and lifestyle aspirations, especially in expanding urban areas provides small-scale farmers additional opportunities.

Some Benefits of Rearing Grasscutter

1. Health and Nutrition

2. Food security

3. Equity, gender development and opportunities for the disabled

4. Financial rewards

Single Farm Setup

This business (Grasscutter rearing) is not capital intensive; you don’t need to spend much on feeds, they grow quickly in intensive conditions, and their meat is high in protein and value.

You can start with a breeding family, which is made up of 1 male and 4 females and in about five to six months, you may have up to 30 litters from the 4 females. Grasscutter normally produce twice a year. Note: that this family sometime do cost up to 37,000 naira, this is all you need as a new comer.

Housing System in Grasscutter Farming

The grasscutter is easy to house, though its handling requires skills. Among rural communities and even some urban people with adequate space, Grasscutter is usually kept in a wooden cage (You can build a cage with about N6, 000), empty drums. However, the grasscutter cloud be properly managed under these three systems: enclosure, cage and floor. In grasscutter business, you do not need to buy land or build a new structure. You can put the cage in any available space in your house. It could be your corridor, kitchen, garage, under the staircase or in your backyard.

Feeding Grasscutter

The grasscutter is a herbivorous animal with a wide nutritional intake. The major part of its diet is composed of grasses with fairly high crude fibre content. Apart from grass, Grasscutters also eat cassava

(note that certain varieties of cassava could be poisonous to the animal), Palm Kernel Cake (PKC), calcium from crushed animal bones, toasted soya beans mixed with cassava e.t.c.

Constraints to Grasscutter Farming

1. Breed

2. Thefts / Security

3. Finance/ Capital

4. Marketing & Pricing

5. Management/

6. Feeding/

7. Mortality

8. Disease

How to Improve Grasscutter Farming Culture

To sustain grasscutter farming a lot of stakeholders has to come in like; government, Wildlife Department, non-governmental organizations and local communities to provide training, funds / soft loans to farmers and breeding stock at affordable cost to easy the promotion of this mini livestock.

!!!...WATCH OUT FOR MORE COMPREHENSIVE NOTE ON GRASSCUTTER FARMING FROM MY NEXT POST…!!!