Mixed farming: Striking a balance between animals and crops
For many years, Kenneth Ireeta struggled to make farming work for him. He embarked on one failed enterprise after another, from crop to livestock farming; the entire undertaking was not reaping the gains he expected.
He invested himself in several activities at a given time. Giving each equal attention, however, none picked up as fast as he hoped they would in terms of revenues and painfully so, as he has always been passionate about farming since childhood.
“I developed a passion for farming at an early age. When I was young, I would go to the farm to tend the animals,” says Ireeta who also works in the records section in the Lands Ministry’s regional office Mbarara. “If you talked about goats or cattle, I would follow you. That is how much I love farming.”
The trick
His trials began in early 2000, when he inherited a 78-hectare farm in Rubindi, Kashari District in western Uganda, from his father.
Back then, Ireeta says, keeping cattle was the main income generator through milk sales, followed by banana production from the plantation. “I had market for my milk and bananas at the Rubindi trading centre. However, the revenues from these products were low.”
For the next decade and a half, the 52-year-old, started experimenting with other forms of farming in a bid to zero down on an activity that would help prop up the existing activities in Rubindi.
“The trick was to find an activity that would bring in enough revenue. An activity that would serve as the flagship and from which the proceeds would be re-invested to improve on the cattle and banana,” Ireeta explains. “An activity that would fit in seamlessly with the rest to enable me to build on its success, so as to venture into other activities while creating a sense of balance to it all.”
“I tried poultry, but that did not work out. It required a lot of attention, inputs and supervision, which I could not master along with my career and family demands.”
So, in 2003, he started piggery.
Piggery
“I chose piggery because pigs are a unique kind of animals. At the time I started piggery, very few people were involved in it in Mbarara,” he says.
“People perceived pigs as dirty animals that are difficult to maintain. However, I did some reading on them and realised that it is not the case. So I wanted to prove that pigs can be maintained in a clean and proper manner.”
Ireeta says when he embarked on pig farming the results were not good because his first sty was set up in semi-permanent structures that provided a challenge with high costs on repair and also security of the animals.”
He recalls how in the first year, some of his piglets broke out of the sty and were eaten by dogs. “Then I had about eight pigs. It was a great loss but it did not deter me. For six years the piggery stagnated,” he explains.
“I feared that a bigger herd would be costly to manage with such poor housing; so I kept a few animals to minimise costs and consequently, that limited my revenues from piggery.”
In 2009, Ireeta says a permanent structure was finally established from his savings and that is when his fortunes turned around for the better. “While on a visit to the Mbarara stock farm, I realised their pig sty had barriers, away from my method of free range space in the old sty. So I adopted their method and incorporated these partitions in my new structures.”
He adds that with the adjustments, his pig sty which features a block-shaped building with several partitioned units, improved the efficiency of managing the pigs.
“With these barriers I could now selectively feed and breed them according to their gender, age and condition,” Ireeta says. Extra units were also added to the first three, and this time these were much larger and provided room for the animals to move about.
“The Mbarara stock farm model partitions were smaller and more space was needed if hygiene was to be upheld and maintenance made easier.”
His next challenge was to figure out how to speed up the pig’s growth rate. “If their growth is slow that means they will stay with us longer. Yet the faster they grow, reproduce, the better, for it is then that we sell them off the more frequently hence more income.”
One of the ways he is doing this is through being meticulous in the pigs feeding regiment; “we make sure they get a blend of Napier grass, brewers grain [an alcohol brewery by-product] and sometimes add some vegetables, a mixture that is essential for speedy growth and also fattening of the pigs.” So far, one and a half hectares have been dedicated to the growth of Napier grass on his farm. Ireeta points out that at three to four months from birth a pig is usually ready for sell; “That’s when their meat is most tender and tasty,” he clenches his fist as if to make emphasis. “The maximum age would be eight months because beyond that the quality of meat drops.”
He notes that the sows in the herd, which are 70kg to 100kg, are kept for breeding purposes only. “Those we do not sell and if we were to, they would be at a high price, usually in the range of shs1m.”
Ireeta explains that it is the feeder pigs, which range from 30kg to 35kg, which are often slaughtered for sale. “We sell our meat in kilos at the market price of Shs9,000. Our market for the pork is mainly butcheries in Mbarara and Rubindi trading centre.”
“Orders come in weekly and they are usually between 80kgs to 100kgs which is about an income Shs800,000 to Shs900,000 per week,” he explains further. He notes that the pigs usually give birth to 12 to 14 piglets though one recently produced 16.
Ireeta has 101 pigs on the farm being fed on a varied diet with the main components being Napier grass and brewers grain which Ireeta procures from the Nile Breweries factory in Ruharo
“The pigs on his farm are better in size and quality of meat than the pigs I have seen on other farms. The males – amongst other reasons – are castrated to improve on the quality of meat,” says Yowas Benobusingye, a sub-county veterinary officer in Rubindi.
“Castration in male pigs not only reduces Boar taint – that offensive odour or taste that can be evident during the cooking or eating of pork or pork products, allows for faster growth of male pigs.”
To further bolster the quality of meat, Ireeta also planted a several rows of Bavaria pine trees to provide shed for the pig sty. “That cover reduces on the sun’s heat thus reducing the amount of water the pigs loose hence maintaining their fat.”
Ireeta notes that his success with improving on both the quality and quality of the pigs plus the rise in sales and revenue has subsequently had a knock-on effect with the other activities adding that his approach to their handling has substantially changed.
“Today, piggery constitutes 40 per cent of my income. The 60 per cent is from other activities. Piggery is the pivot,” he says.
“And that is thanks to these farming techniques I adopted through reading, consulting widely on matters piggery and also attending related events, after which, I would thereafter after apply those tried and tested methods on my farm.”
Cattle
On cattle farming, he reveals that due to artificial insemination, milk production has improved pushing it beyond 100 litres on average a day.
Of his stock of 23 animals, the four that are milked produce 75 to 95 litres a day. A litre of milk goes for about Shs800. “One of the major factors that have improved on the diary production is feeding. They feed on pastures such as Congo signal grass which boosts the production of milk,” he says.
Ireeta however concedes that there is still a lot to be done to push up milk production. He is optimistic the plan he has will reap dividends in a short time.
“I am soon consolidating all my Friesians to my farm in Nyakisharara from where I will practice zero grazing which will help me cut a lot of costs and improve productivity,” he says. “If you have the cows in one place, it not only mitigates their exposure to disease, hence reduction in medical costs but also the energy their bodies use to aid movement on the farm, they now use to boost milk production.”
Future
Ireeta reaffirms he is now ready to make greater strides in his piggery endeavour and is now targeting higher production and quality. “I am targeting the Mbarara and Kampala market. As a result, I am planning to move the piggery venture from Rubindi to Nyakisharara. Moving there would boost demand a great deal. The area is strategic, it is closer to Mbarara,” he explains.
“Once, there I will even expand the capacity. Build a larger sty for greater numbers. My target is about 500kg of pork a week as compared to the 100kg I am selling currently,”
He also stresses that adopting modern farming practices and applying them on the farm will play a big role in ensuring that growth of his enterprise is maintained.
“I am now looking forward to mechanising all the activities on the farm. That way, efficiency in production shall be realised in all areas so as to also strengthen our footing in the market,” he says.
Bananas
In 2012, Ireeta acquired another 17 hectares in Naykishara, Mbarara where he set up another banana plantation on two hectares.
He says the same formula is working for on his banana plantations. “Through good agricultural practices that I learnt from workshops in Mbarara, I have improved on the quality of the banana, but am also hoping to increase on production by expanding the plantations.”
He explains that through mulching, thinning and continued innovation of how to improve quality, quality of his bananas has increased significantly.
From his plantation, he earns more than Shs 1m each month. He sells about 100 bunches a month, which is a leap from the under 50 bunches the farm was producing five years ago.
“The price of a bunch ranges between Shs8,000 to Shs10,000. In a good season, the price can go up to Shs15,000. Yes, there is some good money coming out of this plantation,” he says.
Other activities
Elsewhere on his firm are a range of other activities. From goats, sheep to fruits like guavas, oranges, mangoes, pawpaws and avocadoes.
Ireeta’s mixed farm has 140 goats, which include the South African Boer breed, and 20 sheep.
“The foreign breeds grow faster and, from a business perspective, that is more income in a shorter time,” he explains. “However the local breeds have tastier meat, so I keep some of those too.”
In May, he sold some of the fruit which had previously been for domestic consumption. “Can you imagine that I sold a basin of oranges at Shs 20,000?” he asks.
“My experiment with commercial fruit production may yet turn out a success,” he adds.
The results have been remarkable and he is not about to stop. He is supported by six permanent employees on both farms. Others are part-time labourers.
