Snail farming as a means of livelihood

By developing agriculture, we shall provide more food, create employment opportunities, provide rural and urban income, expand our foreign exchange earning capacity and attain some level of self-reliance. There are countless investment and employment opportunities in the agricultural sector. We have both the natural and human resources to develop agriculture to its full potential. What we need is formulation and implementation of policies that will strengthen the Agric sector. Snail farming is one of the hidden treasures that many Nigerians can rely on as a means of livelihood.

The demand for snail meat cannot be over-emphasized: Its consumed all over the world. Its a popular meat of many Nigerian and non-Nigerians. Its served in many restaurants in cities. The implication of this is that local and export markets are abound for snail meat.
Snail meat is highly nutritious: Its high in protein and iron, low in fat and cholesterol and contains almost all the amino acids needed by human beings. Not only this, it has some medicinal properties, which are useful in the control and cure of hypertension, asthma and anemia.
Snail farming if well attended to can be an important source of income for the practitioners: The land requirement for snail farming is small. It can be reared a the backyard with small amount of money to start with. The feeds are very cheap and are readily available. Snails feed on leaves of cassava, pawpaw including heir fruits.
Management of snail farming is simile: It can be managed by the young ones, the old and even the disabled. Snails are harmless and are sources of additional income to the family. Snail farming is very profitable and can bring back the invested fund within 18 months. Therefore, snail farming is strongly recommended for all.

The Shell

The Shell is a calcareous concave cone coil clockwise in three or four whorls. The shell is covered by a thin coating called the cuticle or periostracum which gives it color. The shell is secreted by glands located along the edge of the mantle, the regiment which covers the visceral mass. The shell is made of three main layers, the thin outer periostracum which consists of an organic compound known as conchiolin, the second much thicker layer is made up of three layers of a crystalline calcium carbonate based on an organic matrix.

Technical Information

There are about 5 species of snail that can be grown in Nigeria. The type of specie that can be grown in one area depends on the preference in that particular area. One needs to select the species that has both local and international market. Breeding can take place anytime of the year under the intensive management. Under intensive management, snails are kept in specially prepared cages called Hitch boxes. Its inside the cages that they are fed, bred and hatch their eggs. Snails mature within 15 months of hatching.

Feeding Requirements for Snails

Snails can be fed on formulated pellets which are adequately available in Nigeria. Pellets can be sourced from reputable Feed Mills such as Boards feeds, Livestock feeds, Bendel Feeds, Top feed and other livestock feed milling companies. It must also be noted that snails are excellent converters of less costly feed items like green plant of stylosanthes gracillis, cassava peel, amarmuthis, pawpaw, banana plantain and their leaves and other fruits used to supplement their ration.

Breeds of Snails

There are small, medium and giant snails which can be bred in Nigeria, Breeding of particular species of snail depends on the locality. The following breeds of snails can be grown in Nigeria:

1. Archachatina Marginata (the big black snail)

2. Archatina Achatina

3. Archantian Futica (garden snail)

4. Linicilaria spp

5. Archatina Falica exbora (the snail that has export market)

Housing System

The housing system used for snails is called snailery. There are three main systems, namely extensive or pasture system, semi-intensive system and intensive system. The most import features of any of the systems are that:

1. Its escape - proof i.e snails cannot escape from the house

2. It keeps predators out.

3. It allows easy access to tend the snails.

Extensive System

A priority in setting up the extensive or semi-intensive system is the selection of suitable site. The characteristics of a good sit are:

1. Its protected from the wind e.g downhill site with adequate tree cover.

2. The soil should be loamy rich in calcium and organic matter, not waterlogged or acid.

3. The temperature must be moderate (25-28")

4. The relative humidity must be high above 85%.

A large area of between 25sq.m and 50sq.m is fenced round. The fence may be made of chicken wire mesh, wood, bamboo slabs, sandcrete or soilcrete blocks, iron sheets and woven mats. Devices to prevent the snails from escaping from the top of the fences should be considered when constructing the snailery. The snails are put in the snailery after the food and shelter plants are established. The recommended stocking rate for this system is one mature snail per square metre.

The main advantages of this system is that its inexpensive to maintain because of the low labor and general management inputs.

The disadvantages is that; the performance of the snails are not monitored. There is no control on weeds, predators, parasiotes and diseases, parasite and diseases. Much space is required.

Semi-Intensive System

This system is like the extensive system except that the snails are supplied with feeds in addition to what is available in the snailery. Water is also provided.

Intensive System

With this system snails are managed intensively. Feed and water are regularly provided for the snails. They system had many advantages; namely

1. It utilizes small space

2. There is control over the performance of snails.

3. There is control on predators.

4. It is easy to keep records on the performance of the snails.

The Disadvantages are:

1. High labor and general management inputs

2. At least two housing units are required. A unit each for layers and hatchings.

Types of Intensive Housing System

1. High fenced Pen

2. Cages (Hutch boxes)

3. Trench Pen

4. Drums

5. Pots

6. Used motor vehicles tyres

7. Baskets

Reproduction

Edible land snails tough hermaphrodite reproduce by fertilization of the ova when two snails mater and exchange their sperms reciprocally. In about two weeks after fertilization, the egg are laid at night in holes dug 5-15cm deep in the soils, well arranged and covered with soil, with adequate moisture, temperature and aeration eggs hatching method i.e Egg hatch where they are laid. The hatching remain in the soil for 3-5 days and feed on their eggs shells before they come out of the soil. They are then put in a separate housing unit.

Egg may be incubated in a hatchery. This may be wooden or metallic box or plastic container. The bottom of the box or container will be performance before putting humus or loamy soil are put in holes dug 3-5cm deep and lightly covered with soil. The eggs are watered every other day until they hatch.

The hatchling feed mainly on leaves for the first three months. With good management the hatchlings of Archachatian margimata and Achatina achatina become sexually matured (Start to lay eggs) in 10-12 months. They are mature for sale with they are 15-18months old and weight 200-400gm each.

Feeds and Feeding

Snails feed on a wide variety of food mostly in the night and at dusk i.e snails are noctural and crepuscular. They may also feed during the day when it rains or there is dark cloud.

Types of Feed

1. Leaves: Pawpaw (carica papaya), Cocoyam (coolocasia esculenta), Cassava (manihot esculenta), Variety of low cyanide,Cabbage lettuce, Okra, Egg plant cowpea.

2. Fruits: Pawpaw, Mango, banana, Afon(Yoruba), Treculia Africana, Ugwu(Igbo apiroko Yoruba), Plantain, eggplant, Avocado pear, oil palm, tomato, cucumber, sweet orange, guava, pineaple, coconut, breadfruit, cashew and melon.

3. Tubers: Cooked cocoyam, cassava and white yam, raw or cooked sweet potato.

4. Flowers: Pawpaw, sunflower, milk bush (Thevetia peruviana)

5. Grains: Ground maize, guinea corn, millet

6. Industrial by products: Wheat offal, rice brain, spent grains, maize brain, maize chaff (eeri,Yoruba) soyabean residue.

7. Household wasters: Peels of banana, plantain pawpaw, pineapple, cassava and rice, cowpea brain, beans such such wastes should not have salt (sodium chloride) which is inimical to the life of snails.

8. Dry cow dunning and poultry droppings

9. Concentrate: Compounded ration can be fed to snails. A ratio with the following nutrient composition will be good enough: Carbohydrate 47%, Protein 41%, Fats 11%, Mineral(Calcium) 0.6%, Vitamins 0.4%

10. Mineral supplication; For good growth and eggs production snails require a lot of calcium which should be provided in form of calcim carbonate powder, ground oyster shell, burnt and ground snail shell, poultry egg shell or bone meal.

11. Water: Clean water provided in shallow containers should be made available to snails at all times. Rain well or river water is preferred. Avoid the use of chlorinated water (tap water) or water with insecticides, herbicides or fungicides. The soil environment should be kept moist should be kept moist always.

12. Blood meal: Fresh blood is coagulated by boiling and served to snails.

13. Mushroom.

Processing and Marketing of Snails

Processing is the treatment of the live snails to make the meat ready for consumption or packaging for storage and export. The visceral mass (whole body) is removed from the shell in either of the following two ways:

By breaking the shell and carefully removing the broken shells from the visceral mass.
By killing the snails in hot water and removing the visceral mass, from the shell the edible part of the visceral mass is then separated from the other parts.

Marketing

In Nigeria live snails are sold in urban and rural markets and along intercity roads. Fried snail meat is now sold at restaurants and at tollgate by hawkers. Some companies and farms have started selling processed snails meat in packages of 1/2kg, 1kg and 2kg.

There is a growing international market in snails. Some Nigerian now export live and processed snails to Britain, USA, and Europe. Live snails are better transported in basket, jute bags and aerated crated. The crate may be partitioned into layers and compartments. Live snails should not be transported in air-tight containers.

Financial Information Profitability Analysis

To establish a 24 snail breeder farm (for example)a sum of N230,000 will be required broken own as follows:

1. Pre-Investment - N50,000

2. Housing including cages - N120,000

3. Provision for Feed and Labor - N60,000

TOTAL = N230,000

A snail breeder can produce up to 1000 in year. For 24 breeders we are taking of 24,000. Matured Snail sells at farm gat price of N100. A turnover is over N2 million is achievable from this obscured investment opening.