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Hydroponic Fodder

The document discusses the importance of green fodder in livestock nutrition and the challenges faced in its production in India, including land scarcity and increasing demand. It introduces hydroponics technology as a sustainable alternative for producing nutritious green fodder, highlighting its advantages such as reduced water usage, lower labor costs, and year-round availability. The conclusion emphasizes hydroponics as a beneficial solution to address fodder shortages in the livestock sector.

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Ramudu Maddela
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4 views4 pages

Hydroponic Fodder

The document discusses the importance of green fodder in livestock nutrition and the challenges faced in its production in India, including land scarcity and increasing demand. It introduces hydroponics technology as a sustainable alternative for producing nutritious green fodder, highlighting its advantages such as reduced water usage, lower labor costs, and year-round availability. The conclusion emphasizes hydroponics as a beneficial solution to address fodder shortages in the livestock sector.

Uploaded by

Ramudu Maddela
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Vol.

2 Issue-3, NOV 2021 (e-ISSN: 2582-8223)

Hydroponic Fodder: An Overview


Dr. A. D. Chikhalikar1*, Dr. R.S. Khillare2
1
Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Animal Nutrition,
Mumbai Veterinary College, Parel, Mumbai-400012.
2
Scientist, Department of Veterinary Public Health,
Mumbai Veterinary College, Parel,
Mumbai-400012.

ARTICLE ID: 039

Introduction
Green fodder plays major role in feed of all livestock. Also, into the milch animals,
green fodder providing required nutrients for milk production and health of the dairy animals.
Green fodder feeding to livestock is important for optimization of productivity. Animals
feeding and fodder production are the two important aspects for the sustainability of products
and productivity in animal rearing. Although, India is the top producer of milk in the world
but there are many challenges insufficient livestock feed, fodder is one of the constraints
affecting growth, health, production and reproduction potential of livestock. Green fodder is
the natural diet for livestock. Its production to meet the current demand has become a greatest
challenge among livestock farmers. Due to many reasons, green fodder production has been
facing a serious crisis and so the livestock productivity. Due to increased population day by
day hence agriculture land is converted into urbanization. Now days small land holdings
amongst farmers, non-availability of irrigated lands for fodder production is reduced,
unavailability of fertile land for fodder production, increasing mining and coastal line has
limited area for fodder production, deforestation, lack of scientific knowledge of feed and
fodder production among unemployed youths for fodder farming, higher labour cost and
small land holdings has left livestock as well as dairy farmer with many challenges for
animal rearing and milk production in all over the world. Also, Due to increasing intensive
system of rearing livestock, the need for green fodder is huge. As the gap between the
demand and supply of the green fodder for livestock becoming unconquerable, researchers
and farmers are in search for an alternative for green fodder or new fodder production
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method, that would restore fodder and livestock production. To overcome all these shortage
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issue of green fodder the new hydroponics technology came into exist. Hydroponics is the
www.justagriculture.in
Vol.2 Issue-3, NOV 2021 (e-ISSN: 2582-8223)

state-of-the-art technology that has revolutionised the green fodder production in the 21st
century. In India only 4.9% of cropped land area is utilized for cultivating fodder. Indian
livestock industry faces a deficit of 35.6% green fodder, 26% of dry fodder and 41% of
concentrate feed ingredients.
Table 1. Demand and supply of fodder in India (in million tonnes) over the years and
projected demand and supply.
Year Demand Supply Deficit Deficit as %
Green Dry Green Dry Green Dry Green Dry

1995 947 526 379.3 421 568 105 59.95 19.95


2000 988 549 384.5 428 604 121 61.10 21.93
2005 1,025 569 389.9 443 635 126 61.96 22.08
2010 1,061 589 395.2 451 666 138 62.76 23.46
2015 1,097 609 400.6 466 696 143 63.50 23.56
2020* 1,134 630 405.9 473 728 157 64.21 24.81
2025* 1,170 650 411.3 488 759 162 64.87 24.92
* Figures are projections.
th
Source: Based on X Five-Year Plan Document, Government of India.

Hydroponics Technology
Hydroponics technology is a science of growing plants in water or nutrients rich solutions
instead of soil and can be efficiently used to take pressure off the land to grow green fodder/
feed for the animals (Naik et al., 2015). It is also known as “controlled environment
agriculture” since raising plants hydroponically requires control of environmental factors
such as light intensity humidity, duration, temperature, pH of the solution and mineral
nutrients. Plants require three things to grow water, nutrients and sunlight. Hydroponics
technology is a straight forward way of providing all these nutrients without the need of soil
under controlled environment conditions to enhance the growth of plants. Fodder obtained
from hydroponics technology consists of grass with grains, roots, stem and leaves as
compared to only stem and leaves part in conventionally grown fodder. This technology has
been tested on various crops such as maize, barley, oats and sorghum for producing good
quality of nutritious green fodder for animals. Many of the livestock and dairy farmers are
shifted to hydroponic fodder production from conventional production methods, as the fodder
produced by this method are highly nutritious, provide sustainable fodder production round
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the year and conserve water.


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Advantages of hydroponics fodder


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Vol.2 Issue-3, NOV 2021 (e-ISSN: 2582-8223)

1. Conservation of water: It requires only 2 to 3 litres of water to produce one kg of


luxuriant green fodder, as compared to 60 to 80 litres of water to conventional system
of green fodder production. Water left over in hydroponics is recycled to grow the
fodder.
2. Reduced labour cost and need: In conventional fodder production requires
continuous presence of labour from cultivation to harvesting of the grass, but in
hydroponics labour required is 2- 3 hours / day only. hence the cost of production of
hydroponic fodder is less.
3. Land requirement for hydroponic technology: For the production of hydronic
fodder the space required for hydroponics house requires small land to build the
system. Reduction in the amount of land required for maximum fodder production is a
benefit for both regions where agriculture is difficult and densely populated areas that
lacks sufficient growing space for green fodder.
4. Reduction in growth time of green fodder in hydroponic technology: This
technology produces green fodder faster than traditional growing methods. To obtain
nutritious fodder requires only above 7 days from seed germination to fully grown
fodder of 25 –30 cm height. Green fodder won’t waste their valuable energy for
absorption of diluted nutrients submerged deep within the soil, instead of that they can
almost entirely be focused on growing and boosting the production of green fodder.
5. Minimising wastage of green fodder: Green fodder produced from hydroponics will
be fully utilised as there won’t be wastage of the fodder during feeding of animals as
compared to wastages of chopped traditional grasses during consumption by the
animal.
6. Natural feed for animals: Production of green fodder through hydroponics is
completely by natural source. In this technology no herbicide, pesticides are used in
green fodder production hence no residues of any chemicals occurred into the milk.
7. Availability of green fodder round the year: This technology is capable to make
provision for the green fodder round the year, as per demand of consumption of green
fodder of livestock. Constant supply of green succulent fodder can be organised
irrespective of season, rain, storm, sunshine (Singh et al.,2007).
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Vol.2 Issue-3, NOV 2021 (e-ISSN: 2582-8223)

8. Improvement of milk production in dairy animals: Providing regularly lush green


fodder to milch animals it can compensate the concentrate feed so as to have
economically feasible to the farmers and milk producing industry.
9. Increasing balanced, palatable, nutritive value of fodder: through hydroponics
technology it is possible to improve the nutritive value by adding additional growth
promoters, nutrients to provide balanced diet to the ensure the high productivity of
livestock.
10. Pest and disease problems can be controlled easily while weed is non-existent. Plants
grown hydroponic technology avoids soil borne pests.
Conclusion
Green fodder is an important constituent in the feed of livestock. Due to many drastic
changes in agriculture system, animal rearing and increased population there is shortage of
green fodder to the livestock. Green fodder production through hydroponics technology can
be a real beneficial alternative source to overcome the fodder deficiency in livestock sector
with many advantages.
References
Naik, P.K., Swain, B.K. and Singh, N.P. (2015). Production and Utilisation of Hydroponics
Fodder. Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition. 32 (1): 1-9.
Pandey R, Jain, V. and Singh, K.P (2015). Hydroponics agriculture: its status, scope and
limitations. IARI, New Delhi.20-29.
Singh, A. K., Baranwal, A and Singh, N. P.(2017). Hydroponics: An Alternative to
Conventional Method of Green Fodder Production. International journal of animal
and veterinary sciences.4:36-39.
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