HELICULTURE AS A SOURCE OF INCOME




Ø INTRODUCTION TO HELICULTURE
Firstly what is Heliculture? Also known as snail farming, is the process of raising land snails specifically for human use. So much is yet to be tapped from commercial snail farming. The market is large considering the high demand for a meat low in cholesterol with high concentration of protein; calcium and other vital nutrients. Snail is very medicinal. In recent times the very few who have found out this business potential have inquired about the skills and methodology of rearing snail. In this article, I will be exposing core secrets required to start this business right from the comfort of your home or farm. The good news is that you don’t need any university degree in agriculture to do this business and you don’t need to quit your job too. After reading this article, you will be on your way to start your own snail business in easy and simple steps…..Making ₦1,000,000 annually in snail rearing is a done deal if you do it well and get it right.
I will try to be as comprehensive as possible with this article so that you can get going after reading it, and as people starts commenting – asking questions and adding what they know about snail farming, the information here would be more enriched for everyone’s benefit.
You can start Heliculture business in small; medium or large scale; the choice depend on your plan and your available start-up capital. But for this purpose; I will treat small or medium scale farming.
For a medium scale farming; you may not need much capital to start up as; if you plan very well; you can kick start with even N10k or N15k.
All you need at this level is decide the location you want construct your Snailery. Let’s assume you have a little space in your backyard; all you will need is to clear up the place of shrubs; ants and rodents; hire a carpenter let him construct a sizeable pen for you within the available space. The tools for the pen: are plywood’s; wire gaze net; mosquito net; nails; etc. You won’t need to use a cemented floor as the snails won’t survive on cemented ground; so you'll need to fetch a loamy soil; fill it on the surface, cover the surface with banana leaves or cocoa leaves; then get ready to introduce the new breeds of snails. Warning! Beware of 'Snail Enemies'; Make sure the Pen/soil is free from ants; insects; lizards; snakes; or even mosquitos; they will kill the snail...
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Ø BEHAVIOURAL HABIT OF SNAILS
 Some behavioural habits exhibited by snails include;
       I.            Nocturnal in nature: Snails are nocturnal animals and this is the reason why they undergo most of their activity during the dark. Activities such as feeding, reproduction and movement in their housing unit are mostly done at night, snail mostly rest and digest food taken in during the day
    II.            Hibernation: This is the process in which snails dip or bury themselves inside the ground soil. This situation arise when temperature around the Snailery falls below 450f.

  1. III.            Aestivation: This is a period whereby the snail is inactive and the aperture seal with epiphgram.it is common during dry season when temperature go above 80f.it can be prevented by wetting and sieving



Ø The Most Suitable Snail Species
1. Achatina Fulica – Achatina fulica is a species of land snail in the family Achatinidae, known commonly as the giant African snail or giant African land snail.
Outside of its native range this snail thrives in many types of habitat in areas with mild climates. It feeds voraciously and is a vector for plant pathogens, causing severe damage to agricultural crops and native plants.
The species is native to East Africa, but it has been widely introduced to other parts of the world through the pet trade, as a food resource, and by accidental introduction. The adult snail is around 7 centimetres (2.8 in) in height and 20 centimetres (7.9 in) or more in length.
The shell has a conical shape, being about twice as high as it is broad. Either clockwise (dextral) or counter-clockwise (sinistral) directions can be observed in the coiling of the shell, although the right-handed (dextral) cone is the more common. Shell colouration is highly variable, and dependent on diet. Typically, brown is the predominant colour and the shell is banded. The shell is particularly tough and has the highest heavy metal content of any snail species.

2. Achatina Achatina – Achatina achatina, common name the giant Ghana snail, also known as the giant tiger land snail, is a species of very large, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Achatinidae. The shells of these snails often grow to a length of 18 centimetres (7.1 in) with a diameter of 9 centimetres (3.5 in). Certain examples have been surveyed in the wild at 30×15 cm, making them the largest extant land snail species known. Each snail lays up to twelve hundred eggs per year. Achatina achatina is an important source of animal protein for West African forest-dwelling ethnic groups, and commercial farming of these snails holds great promise.
3. Achatina Marginata – Achatina marginata, common name the giant West African snail, is a species of air-breathing tropical land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Achatinidae. They can grow up to 20cm long, and live up to 10 years.
Among these three species, Achatina Achatina is the most desirable for farmers because it grows so big to become the biggest snail species in the world. Achatina Achatina has its origin from Nigeria, get to Liberia from Nigeria and then Ghana. The snail has a bulbous protoconch that is large and broad, with a white or bluish-white columella, parietal wall and outer lip. The shell of the snail can grow up to 21 centimetres in height, and 13 centimetres in diameter. The shell, when magnified, has the appearance of a woven texture. Archachatina marginata can live up to 10 years, and attain sexual maturity at 9-10 months.
Another reason is due to its high yield capacity. The other species are very good too but I will focus on Achatina Achatina and Archachatina Marginata in this blog post because, they are easy to find in Nigeria.
Achatina-Achatina is very good for commercialization as well, because of its profitability. This is because of the volume of eggs it lays at once. Each achatina lays 300 to 500 eggs at a time in clutches, three times a year. Therefore, if you start a farm with about 1000 snails, in one year you would be getting about 1.5 million snails going by the number of eggs they produces.
Having decided on the specie, let me take you through the step by step how to setup your snail farm in a small scale level and starts rearing your snail towards harvest.
Someone might ask; why am I dashing out this information free here? The fact is that; Every Nigerian has a role for a better Nigeria.
Don’t forget; “Ignorance is more expensive than knowledge”. You need to spend money to make money.