You Will Always Succeed With Agriculture – Queen Of Agriculture

By Suleiman Ugbokhe

Mrs Yejide Adunola Orisawayi in her grasscutter house

I first came in contact with this amazing woman more than six years ago when I accompanied a friend to her house at the LSDP Estate, Agege.

My friend, now late, had just set up a small fish pond inside his compound and needed more information that would help him in the course of running his pond. I remembered he bought a book and one cd from her during that visit, after showing us round her fish ponds and the grasscutter house behind her residence.

When I set up my agric blog not long ago, I made up my mind to go in search of her, although I was not sure of the very house again.

On my first try, my effort yielded positive result. I located the house but she was not at home. The grand daughter gave me her number, through which I was able to book appointment with her.

The result of that appointment is the story you are about to read.

Before then however, it is only fair you know that this woman took on men in their familiar acclaimed terrain of agriculture and dusted them! She bagged the best student award for Farm Practice in 1989 – the first woman to achieve that feat!
In 1998, she received Lagos State Government Ministry of Agric, Coop. and Rural Development Merit Award in recognition of her immense contribution to the Development of Agriculture in Lagos State.

She holds an Honourary Doctorate Degree in Agricultural Science (Animal Husbandry) from Columbus International University, British Virgin Island.

Will you fault me therefore, for naming her the Queen Of Agriculture?!
In order to let the story flow, I decided to edit myself out of this chat with this eloquent Grandma, who has refused to allow age to slow her down in doing what is her first love…nay, her second love, only after her darling husband!
Excerpts:

My name is Mrs Yejide Adunola Orisawayi. I am 74 years old.
I am into agriculture, specifically, mini-livestock, in which I deal in fish farming, snailery, grasscutter farming, rabbit farming, and sometimes, periodically, poultry, that is broilers.

Mrs Orisawayi speaking with Suleiman Ugbokhe

Actually, all my life I have been in agriculture. I went to school of agric, School of Agric, Akure, Ondo state, 1965 to 1967. And I worked briefly at Ibadan and I transferred to Lagos in 1967. Even the school was Western Region school, so, automatically when you go they pay you salary as if you are their staff. They located staff as they located teachers in the olden days. 

So, immediately I passed out, I was posted to Ibadan. I was there for just about three months because my husband was in Lagos. So, I did my transfer to Lagos. My first port of call was the horticultural center, Agege. The housing estate has taken over that place now. It used to be between Agege and Abattoir. I worked there from 1967 to 1972 and I was posted to Ikorodu. Later I became the Divisional Extension Officer for Ikorodu. I was there from 1972 to the 80s, because I spent over 10 years in Ikorodu.

Fish ponds section

I was already on level 10, but I just decided why must I not read. I have promoted several times. I come from Ondo; you know Ondo people like reading (laughter). 

So, I just decided I want to read, because I was at Ikorodu and the School of Agric is still at Ikorodu, the polytechnic. And I went to my boss. He said, “is HND not level 8?” I said yes. He asked what level I was. I said level 10. I said I wanted to read.

To cut it short, I was able to convince him. And in 1987, that is 20 years that I left Akure, I went for my HND at Ikorodu. I studied Agric Economics and Extension, because all along I have been on extension, doing extension work. So, I did Agric, Economics and Extension and I passed out in 1989, as the first woman to obtain that qualification of Farm Practice, because it is usually a man that comes out as overall head.

But for the first time, I was the first woman to be given that award of farm practice.

Snail structure

Immediately I finished, I came back to the ministry because the ministry sponsored me, Lagos state ministry of agriculture, and I was in charge of Graduate Farmer Scheme, Ikorodu.

During Governor Mudashiru’s time, I was in charge of Ikorodu division. Then, graduates had no jobs, so, those of them who wanted to be farmers were given ten hectares of land each to farm on crops, but later pruned to five hectares each because it was difficult to get land. So, that was our job to go and look for land, because they were many now. Initially, they were a bit few. And it was very successful. We even gave them tractors, everything because it was mechanized farming.

I spent 31 years before I voluntarily retired in August 1996. I decided to go on my own, because to me there was no more to do. To myself, I thought I was wasting my time, because it was not as buoyant as before.

Rabbits

So, I decided to go on my own. That same 1996, in December, I launched my first book, Practical Guide To Snail Rearing.

I started mini-farming with snails because my HND project was on snails. Later on, I added grasscutters, and then, fish farming. I also grow mushrooms in the house.
I used to have pigs at Okiaro, but because the place is far and the road was very bad, it is still bad, so, I decided to sell it off. I left the place.

But already, for my 40th wedding anniversary, I wrote a book on piggery. I wrote another one on grasscutter rearing.

Later, I added rabbit rearing. So, for my 50th wedding anniversary, I launched that one. That was in 2017. So, now, I have four books.

Quails

I also rear quail birds. And periodically like Easter or Christmas, I rear broilers. But it is occasional rearing. The ones I reared for last Christmas, I have sold everything, except for one or two for me.

Since I live in an estate where there is very small piece of land at your backyard, I decided to make use of what I have, because, initially, I had five hectares of farm land at Ikorodu, Mowula. So, any time I planted my maize, if I just decided may be in the next one or two weeks I was going to harvest, before I harvest, because they all know me. I work there and they know I come from Lagos. Any time I leave the farm by five o’clock, they know no man or woman will be foolish enough to leave Ikorodu by 5pm to Lagos and come back same day. 

So, they know for the day I will not come back. They will enter the farm. They will not even pluck and go; they will remove they will remove the backs so that when I come the next day I will see the heaps that they have stolen there.

Leftover chickens from Christmas sales

Then, I just decided one day why must I be working in Ikorodu all the way from Agege, for somebody to be harvesting, then, let me go livestock. That was what prompted me.

Initially, I was strictly on crops. I was planting cassava, maize, sometimes plantains as well. I just decided to leave that place and settle at my backyard and make use of whatever I can.

It does not cost much to start snail farming. With fifty thousand naira, you can start. The snail is very, very slow in reaching maturity. I don’t even advice anybody going into agric business to start with snails. You will be discouraged because you cannot get anything out of until about one and a half years. So, I advise people to make it secondary.

As a tenant you don’t need block (tank), you need plastic tanks. So, depending on how much you have you can have two – big one and small one – because you have to sort your fish. Twenty to twenty-five thousand naira for the two. If you are starting with fingerlings, maybe starting with fifty. You can make profit from the fifty, because if you buy more, that means you will need more space.

You need between sixty and seventy thousand naira to start fish farming.
As for grasscutter rearing, I first heard about it and I went for the program. When I retired I wanted something to do with agric. Fortunately, I was invited to lecture on snail. So, that time somebody came to lecture us on grasscutter. It was from there I picked the interest and I decided to go and learn in the year 2000.

The training took me just one week. I started grasscutter farming with two families. A family consists of one male and four females.

Initially, the cost of each in a family was about five thousand naira. But now, it is very, very expensive. Maybe because many people are into it now. Grasscutter farming is expensive. Besides the building, the cost of a family now is about seventy thousand naira.

The building is just like a real house. But the roofing and the doors. You actually look at where the wind blows from before you erect the building, because they don’t like too much air. And when you put up the four corners of your wall, the roofing is a mix of asbestos and transparent sheets because they like light. You do not put many windows because they don’t like much air; they like it hot.

Grasscutter female is ready for mating at five to six months; the male is ready at six to seven months. So, the person you are buying from must tell you the age. If he says the female is four months, then, the male must be five months while he is selling. That means you keep them for two months. And then, pregnancy is five months. So, it will take you not less than one year to breed the first set.

If you want to sell for eating, it is two thousand naira per kilo. I have one there now that is one and a half years old. It is five kilo already.

And when you have the young ones too, you merge them. If you are lucky to have so many females, then, you are in money. You take four females and put one male to make one family – that is seventy thousand naira! That is where you make your money from.

The feeding for grasscutter is better than that for fish, because if you don’t have money for their concentrates, they can survive on grass and rough things like your yam peels, your bread and yam that you cannot consume, things that fish cannot eat, the grasscutters will eat. They are rugged.

The most expensive aspects of grasscutter farming are the building and the grasscutters.

You cannot build a house for two families because you will have top disturb them. 
Even if you are starting with one family, you must build a house for not less than six families. It pays on the long run, but it is expensive to start the business.
The only one that is cheaper to rear is the rabbit. The rabbit produces so easily. The grasscutter gestation period is five months, 154 days, plus or minus two days. But the rabbit produces every month, 31 to 33 days.

The rabbit meat is not so high in demand as the grasscutter, but if you know how to market it, I have one customer who comes here every week to buy one. When he wanted to finish my stock, I said wait I don’t have for now. He comes every week as long as I have one that is up to three kilos and I sell at four thousand naira.

What I tell my clients is to start with their friends. When you know they are coming to visit, roast one. Let them eat it first. After, you ask them what are you eating. It is as sweet as the grasscutter meat. The same lean meat. It is better than this beef and pork that they eat. It is good for old people.

The challenges are the money to construct, especially the grasscutter house and money to buy the young animals and the feeds for the fish, because there is no alternative.

They don’t fall sick just like that if you are not careless. For the grasscutters they are borne with teeth and you should make sure the place is not prone to cold. Most of the time they don’t fall sick. Throughout the year they may not fall sick. If you notice anything, just give them antibiotics. That is all.

The problem we have is rats. So, if you can eradicate rats. Initially, they were eating the babies up, because they are the same family. Their mother will just be looking. When you get there, you will see only the legs; that is how you know how many they have eaten. The same thing with my quails. Being bush animals, they eat 24 hours. They eat at night. So, when they bring out their neck to eat, the rat will just take the head. In the morning, I will meet headless quail. But I have just barricaded the place; they cannot enter again. If you can take care of rats, they are number one problem. Rats!

If you are not a lazy person, you will always succeed with agriculture. You buy one animal; before you know it, you have four or five. They start to give you babies. Even fish, from fingerlings, they become adults.

These animals cannot talk but they know their friends; they know people who feed them.

Before you want to embark on anything, you must have the interest of animals, just like human beings. Treat them right like your friends. These animals cannot talk but they know their friends; they know people who feed them. They can identify.
So, if you are friendly with them, talk to them as if you are talking to your friends, just make them happy, then, they will make you happy too. You will get something out of it.

I retired in 1996. I have never written I beg to apply. I am not a contractor. My contract is with my animals. I teach people and I sell the offsprings of what I have.
Thank you, madam. It’s been a pleasure speaking with you.
Thank you.

agricriches.agbelonews.com