Bangus can now be raised profitably
By pinoyfarmer | March 7, 2010
“BANGUS has always been the most important species cultured in the Philippines in terms of area and production.” These words come from the mouth of Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III, former executive director of the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD).
In fact, the Philippines is one of the top bangus producers in the world, along with Indonesia and Taiwan. “Until recently, the country has contributed around 55 percent share of the world bangus production,” said Dr. Guerrero, who popularized tilapia production and consumption in the country.
The Philippines has been exporting bangus to other countries like the United States, England, Canada, and Japan. “The main consumer market, however, is the United States, where there are large Filipino communities,” Dr. Guerrero said.
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Topics: Aquaculture | No Comments »
Mastitis – inflammation of the milk gland of an animal
By pinoyfarmer | March 5, 2010
MASTITIS
Mastitis is inflammation of the milk gland of an animal
Symptoms
- The udder is swollen, hard, warm and painful.
- Necrosis (dying-off) of udder tissue occurs and the cow could die.
- The cow is often feverish, does not eat and produces less milk.
- The milk has a different appearance. It could, for example, be watery or it might contain mucus, pus or even blood.
Causes
A variety of micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and yeasts cause mastitis. Factors which contribute to the disease are:
- a wet climate
- sawdust containing dung
- dirty equipment and dirty water in the dairy
- infected cows in the herd.
Topics: Livestock, News & Updates | No Comments »
Collect Rainwater from your Roof
By pinoyfarmer | March 4, 2010
Did you know that your roof could catch plenty of water for you? Most parts of South Africa do not get much rain. If you can catch all the rain that falls on your roof, you will have water for your gardens and fields, livestock and household later in the season.
It does not matter what the roof is made of. Water collected from thatched roofs is often discoloured and is usually contaminated, so it should not be used for drinking. Use this water only for watering plants. Tile or metal roofs give the cleanest water.
How to collect rainwater
It is easy to collect water from your roof. Place a container below the roof in which to catch the rainwater. You will also need a gutter to direct the water to the container.
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Topics: Miscellaneous, Technologies | No Comments »
Mycotoxins in Grain
By pinoyfarmer | March 3, 2010
1. What are mycotoxins?
Mycotoxins are poisonous chemical compounds produced by certain fungi. There are many such compounds, but only a few of them are regularly found in food and animal feedstuffs such as grains and seeds. Nevertheless, those that do occur in food have great significance in the health of humans and livestock. Since they are produced by fungi, mycotoxins are associated with diseased or mouldy crops, although the visible mould contamination can be superficial.
The effects of some food-borne mycotoxins are acute, symptoms of severe illness appearing very quickly. Other mycotoxins occurring in food have longer term chronic or cumulative effects on health, including the induction of cancers and immune deficiency.
Information about food-borne mycotoxins is far from complete, but enough is known to identify them as a serious problem in many parts of the world, causing significant economic losses.
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Topics: Crops & Vegetables, Miscellaneous | No Comments »
Garden Silage & Intensive Gardening
By pinoyfarmer | March 2, 2010
Intensive Gardening
Intensively cultivated vegetable gardens can supply a great deal of a family’s food from very little land. However, to maintain their productivity, these gardens require a lot of fertilizer and some special techniques, which are discussed below.
As one crop is finished, another is put in its place throughout the growing season. Without additional fertilizer the soil would soon be worn out. Cost of the garden can be kept low by using compost and a crop rotation system that also includes poultry or other livestock, which can give a steady supply of manure. This virtually eliminates fertilizer costs. The best way to ensure a large supply of manure is to keep the animals in a pen, barn, or corral, especially at night.
THE SOIL
Fertile soil includes organic matter and minerals. The best soil is loose and has a crumbly texture that breaks easily into small pieces a few millimeters in diameter. The deeper the crumb structure exists in the soil the better.
If the soil is compacted or dense, it can be loosened by first plowing or tilling to break up the soil. Tilling also controls weeds. This work can be done with a pick and shovel, a hoe, or a heavy fork. A small tractor, or animal drawn tools, may be helpful in a very large garden.
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Topics: Farming Methods, Technologies | No Comments »
How to make Home-made Ham
By pinoyfarmer | February 16, 2010
Ham is easy to prepare. You can even make a Chinese style ham and the quick-cured ham without using costly equipment.
Chinese-style ham. You will need 2 pieces of pork legs weighing 5 kg each. Trim the legs but do not cut off the feet. Prepare the following pumping pickle ingredients.
- boiled water 1 – cup
- saturated salt solution – 4 cups
- salitre – 1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon
- oil of cloves 1 drop
- oil of anise – 1 drop
- maplein – 2 drops
- Phos PT – 2 1/2 tablespoons
Dissolve the dry ingredients in a small amount of salt solution before mixing with the rest of the liquid. Then, stir thoroughly and strain the mixture. Now, prepare the following dry-cure mixture ingredients.
- refined salt – 3 tablespoon
- sugar – 1 tablespoon
- salitre – 1/16 teaspoon
Mix the three ingredients well. Then, with the use of syringe, inject the pickle into the lean portion, that which is closest to the joints and nearest to the bones. Use 1/2 cup of pickle solution for every kilogram of meat. With light pressure, massage the legs to distribute the pickle.
Apply the dry-cure mixture on the skin side and on the fleshy portions of the legs. Place them on wooden racks. Then, keep inside the middle portion of your refrigerator. on the 15th day, rub the dry cure mixture (this time without salitre) on the pork legs. Store again inside the refrigerator for 15 days.
After 15 days, take out from cold storage and soak in warm water, scrub to remove excess salt. Tie the leg at the joint portion with abaca twine or lubid. Dry for seven days in an artificial dryer maintaining the temperature at 110oF until dried. An artificial dryer is a chamber equipped with heating elements maintained at temperature of 110oF to 120oF and relative humidity of 85 per cent. Products dried here give better quality meat than those dried under the sun.
If you want to age the ham, store it in a clean and well- ventilated but screened room.
Quick-cured ham. To prepare this type of ham, you will need 1 to 3 kg of hindleg or shoulder meat. Prepare the following pumping pickles ingredients.
- salt-2 1/2 cups
- boiled water – 2 1/2 cups
- salitre- 1/2 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon
- Nitrate – 1/2 teaspoon + 1/16 teaspoon
- sugar – 2 1/2 tablespoons
- oil of anise – 1 drop
- oil of cloves – 1 drop
- ascorbic acid (500 mg)- 5 tablets
- Maplein – 2 drops
- Phos PT – 2 1/2 tablespoons
- Smoke flavor – 1 teaspoon
Mix all dry ingredients first in small amount of salt solution before mixing it with the rest of the liquid. Stir thoroughly and strain. Prepare the following dry-cure mixture (for every kg of meat).
- Salitre- 1/16 teaspoon
- ascorbic acid – 1/2 tablet
- phos PT – 1/4 tablespoon
Mix these ingredients well. Then, for approximately 1 kg of meat, inject 1/2 cup of pickle. Next, apply the dry-cure mixture all over the meat. For a quick ham, cure the meat in a well- ventilated but screened room for 8 hours. If you want to cure it for one week, store in the refrigerator for 7 days. But if you prefer to store the meat for two weeks, repeat the application of dry mixture (2 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar) on the 7th day before storing it again in the refrigerator.
After 15 days take it out from cold storage and wash. Drain, then roll and tie with a piece of rope or lubid. If you will not cook it immediately, store in refrigerator.
How to cook ham. Wash the ham with clean water to remove excess salt. Cut off the leg of the Chinese-style ham and par- boil (boiling for about five minutes) in water. This is done before final cooking to further remove excess salt. Change the water for final cooking. Quick-cured ham needs no parboiling. Prepare these spices (good for every 2 kg of meat).
- white sugar – 1/2
- brown sugar – 2 cups
- beer – 1 bottle
- laurel leaves – 2 pieces
- a few leaves of oregano
Submerge ham in water and add the spices. Cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours over a low fire. The skin separates from the fat when the ham is already cooked. Cover the fat side with brown sugar. Remove the skin of the Chinese-style ham before rubbing the brown sugar. Then, caramelize the sugar using a hot iron Sianse.
Source: www.da.gov.ph
Topics: Agri-Business | No Comments »
Coconut Dryer for other Crops
By pinoyfarmer | February 15, 2010
Los Banos, Laguna — The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCRRD-DOST), is promoting the nationwide use of an improve coconut dryer in coordination with the College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology of the University of thee Philippines Los Banos 9CEAT-UPLB). Dr. Ernesto P. Lozada, Dean of CEAT-UPLB and an acknowledged expert in postharvest/crop processing, said that the dryer improves the quality of copra which the traditional coconut dryer “tapaahan” is unable to achieve.
Aside from coconut, the dryer also dries other crops like palay, corn, coffee, cacao and black pepper. It can also be used for making dehydrated fruit products like mango, pineapple, and jackfruit. Furthermore, it can be used in drying fish.
The multi-crop dryer has an improved temperature control, minimal smoke contamination, improved heat utilization efficiency, and more or less uniformed drying. It has a capacity of 250 kg copra (l,000 nuts) in one loading. A square cross section ensures a uniform air flow during drying. It is made of different locally available materials depending on the model. The dryer has three models. These are the collapsible (knock- down type), mobile, and fixed models.
For collapsible and mobile models, the walls of the dryer are double-lined with G.I. sheets. The fixed model has walls made of hollow blocks, bricks, or woodslabs/adobe stones. The mobile model is made of wood and G.I. sheets.
The dryer’s system is composed of a product holding bin where the products are laid for drying, a plenum or burner chamber where the burner (source of drying) is located, observation ports, doors, and cleaning ports. According to Lozada, the key to efficient temperature control of the dryer are proper design of the burner and proper preparation of the fuel. The burner of the dryer is lined with more than 3 cm thick castable refractory material. It uses waste materials such as coconut shell shards, wood, and charcoal, as fuel. A burner- load of coconut shell shard weighing about 9 kg lasts between 2 and 3 hours. Thus, for a total load of 500 kg copra, the specific fuel consumption of the burner is only 0.4 fuel per kg copra.
Construction of the dryer costs only PHP 10,000, which is relatively affordable, especially for farmers’ cooperatives. Models of this dryer are demonstrated in various technology fairs/fora organized by the different DOST Regional Offices. For details, please contact Dr. Amado Maglinao, Director, Farm Resources and Systems Research Division, PCARRD, Los Banos, Laguna. (R.B. Alamban, PCARRD, S&T Media Service)
Source: www.da.gov.ph
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How to make Charcoal (Bricks) Briquettes
By pinoyfarmer | February 14, 2010
Charcoal made out of the modified pit method can be used in making charcoal briquettes. Charcoal briquettes are charcoal dust compactly massed by a binder of either cassava flour, corn or sweet potato starch.
As fuel, charcoal briquettes have higher heating value than wood or plain charcoal. They are almost smokeless when burning and give off intense and steady heat. They can be used in the smelting of iron ore since it is compact and dense.
Aside from their used as fuel, charcoal briquettes can be converted to other industrial products. In the chemical industry, they are used in the manufacture of carbon disulfide, carbon electrodes, carbon tetrachloride, carbon carbide, sodium cyanide and activated charcoal for purifying air or water.
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Topics: Agri-Business, Technologies | 3 Comments »
The farmer in the net
By pinoyfarmer | February 12, 2010
The farmer in the net
If you own a Facebook account, which I’m sure you do, you might have come across several applications that may have either intrigued or annoyed you. Among the many interactive games available on Facebook, Farmville deserves a place of honor because of its fun graphics and originality, something that’s definitely more amusing that irritating like Pet Society.
Farmville has nearly 35 million monthly users, and pretty soon, it’ll surpass the 35,554,755 record achieved by the ‘How Well Do You Know Me?’ application on Facebook. Farmville’s San Francisco-based developer, Zynga, says that the game provided a simple, fun way for people to unwind at the end of the day, with players spending an average of 20 minutes a day. The game’s popularity has been boosted by a growing trend among urbanites to try to their hand at being a leisure farmer without getting their hands dirty, literally.
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Micro-livestock: Little-known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future – Others
By pinoyfarmer | February 12, 2010
Part VII Others
As noted in the preface, this report by no means exhausts all the microlivestock possibilities. Lack of space and time precludes discussion of creatures such as edible insects, snails, worms, frogs, turtles, and bats, which in some regions are highly regarded foods. Similarly, we have not included fish, shrimp, and other aquatic life.
This is not to say that these are less worthy of consideration. The decision to leave them out was arbitrary, but with several recent breakthroughs in tropical beekeeping it seems prudent to include bees. Accordingly, the final chapter of this book describes the smallest livestock of all.
Bees are one of the most promising microlivestock. They forage on flowers that are otherwise little utilized and produce honey, wax, and other products of high value. They are important as plant pollinators and can greatly increase the production of some crops. Bees can be kept virtually anywhere with little disruption of other activities, and they are easily available.
35. Bees
Of all the livestock reviewed in this publication, bees are the smallest, the least demanding of space, probably the most familiar, and perhaps the most easily adapted to worldwide rural development efforts. For all that, however, they are an often forgotten component in agricultural programs. This is unfortunate because bees can be particularly valuable to tropical countries, providing pollination of crops, useful products, and a premium source of income.
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Topics: Farming Methods, News & Updates, Social Issues | 2 Comments »
