Young entrepreneur driving piggery business

•A pig in pen

Pigs have the highest yield in terms of profit. They cost a little to maintain and produce much more meat than other domestic animals. But running a piggery can be challenging, an entrepreneur, Wole Osileye, tells DANIEL ESSIET.

Wole Osileye, Chief  Executive, Wisewaters Strategies and Resources Limited is a young businessman making a career in agriculture.

He is someone, whose venture into piggery project has paid off.

He  started  piggery business in  January 2013 with 11 pigs, whose number has increased to 100 and   created employment opportunities for others.

According to him,  his main expenses are on feeds, consisting   maize, brewery waste, cassava peels and others, which he mixes with pig concentrates to produce the feeds for the pigs.

Observing  a prompt and scheduled feeding of the pigs ought to have translated into an immediate profit for him, however, it was not so. Piggery, he was made to understand, is a long term project which consumes much time and energy.

Operating from the piggery estate in Oke-Aro, in Ogun State, Osileye said the  experience   could be challenging for a first timer, adding that there were times, he  thought of abandoning the venture several times.

What hurt him most was losing  two of  his pigs.

Aside, he has had  to battle  high feed prices, worms and diseases.

Diseases, which commonly affect pigs are pneumonia, diarrhoea, piglet anaemia and helminthiasis.

To prevent this,Osileye  said  the  business  requires  a clean environment, safe and secure rearing methods.

Although the challenges are real, the joy of pig farmers across the estate is the avalability of a ready  market.

According to him, piglets are sold on first come first serve basis, but  there is the challenge  of meeting  demands from fellow breeders.

“Generally, a sow could have as many as 30 piglets per year in between two cycles of pregnancy, but it might not always turn out that way, ” he said.

According to him, there are times a sow  can  give birth to three  piglets depending on feed conversion ratio.

“When a piglet feeds well it  could gain a weight of 80 kg within three  months and 120 kg in six months,” he said.

But this is not always the case  because pigs do not  grow  at the same  rate. When selecting pigs for breeding, he  said,  one   must always go for those with good mothering abilities.

As entrepreneurs, he said, pig farmers must work hard and be smart. According to him,they  have to conduct research, plan carefully, keep track of finances, and be able to adapt when things go wrong.

To relieve his growing responsibilities, Osileye  said he paid somebody to  clean the pens and  scrub the floors.

“Along the line I read everything I can lay  my hands on. I also ask other pig farmers for advice and to know the local feed and veterinary suppliers,” he said.

Osileye is a go-getter, very dynamic and is always trying out new ideas.

He hopes to increase  production, and number of permanent structures in his piggery.

Osileye is optimistic that the growing agriculture industry will benefit his business.