Azolla-a nutritive feed for livestock
Neha yadav 3rd year u.g. student College of veterinary science and animal husbandry
India has vast livestock resources and this livestock provide employment to about 8.8% of population of India and livelihood to two third of rural communities.livestock contributes 4.11%GDPand 25.6%GDP of total agriculture. department of animal husbandry and dairy release the provisional data of the 20th livestock census and it showed that the livestock population increased by 4.6%from 512.06million in 2012and now the total number of livestock was pagged at around 536million.
Azolla is a free floating fern which rapidly growing on water surface and naturally in stagnant water in drains, canals, ponds, river and marshy land.
Some common names of azolla
Mosquito fern, duckweed fern, fairy moss,water fern. azolla is small, flat compact green mass.its a excellent alternative feed for livestocks.it contain 27%crud protein but carbohydrates and fat content is very low.azolla is easy to digest because it has low lignin content.it is easy and economic to grow.
Azolla has a historical role in agriculture.in south china and north Vietnam it’s recognised as a useful plant due to it’s N-fixing abilities.where it has use as a biofertilizer and green manure for the rice crops.in 18th century azolla was mentioned as a poultry feed in Peru.
Azolla can be fed to livestock eighter in a fresh or dried form,when ration was supplemented with azolla there was 20.96%milk yeild increase in cattle and 16.90%in buffalo.
Cultivating azolla as a livestock feed
1) A water body or a water filled pit is made under the shade of tree.
2) All corners of the pit should be at the same level so that a uniform water level can be maintained.
3) water body is made by silapaulinesheet,it is a polythene tarpaulin which is resistant to the ultra violet radiation in sunlight.
4)The pit is covered with plastic gunnies to prevent the roots of the nearby tree piercing.
5)10-15kg of sieved fertile soil,2kg cow dung and 30g super phosphate mixed in 10litres of water and poured into pit (pit size 2×2×0.2m )
6)more water is poured for raise the water level of about 10cm.
7)0.5to 1kg of fresh culture of azolla is placed in the water this will grow rapidly and it will fill the pit with in 10-15days , 500-600g of azolla can be produced daily. 8)1kg of cow dung and 20g of super phosphate should be added every 5days to maintain rapid multiplication of azolla. 9)1kg of cow dung and 20g of super phosphate should be added every 5days to maintain rapid multiplication of azolla. 10)also add micronutrients mixture or iron, copper, sulphur weekly to enhance the mineral content of azolla.
Precautions
take some precautions to get better result.
- Temperature- it should be kept below25°c if the temperature goes up the light intensity should be reduced by providing shade.
- pH-it should be maintained between5.5-7.
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- periodic application of cow dung slurrymicro and macronutrients for rapidly multiplication of azolla . (except-Nitrogen 4) about 5-7kg of bed soil should be replaced with fresh soil once in 30days to avoid nitrogen build up and prevent micronutrients deficiency.
5)in every six months replace the soil and bed material and inoculate new azolla. 6)to remove the smell of cow dung wash the azolla before use.
Azolla is very nutritive and cheap organic feed substitute for dairy cattle.for use as a livestock feed the fresh azolla should be mixed with comercial feed in 1:1.azolla is use as a feed for cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig, poultry and rabbit.it take a few days for the animals to get used to the taste of azolla therefore it is better to feed it with the concentrate in the initial stage.azolla is a good source of protein and may be used up to 10%level in the broiler diet for better performance.azolla meal is an unconventional feed ingredients at low price and may be used as a poultry feed to reduce feed cost.
Azollaplant is a good source of fish feed because it contains high level of crude protein and higher lysine concentration.Azola is also beneficial in integrated farming.it grow on water surface and reduce light penetration of soil surface so approx 70%of the weed germination is reduced in rice fields and also good feed for duck and fish.
Azola is also know asmosquito fern because it has ability to reduce mosquito breeding more than 95%, because it cover the surface of sluggish,still or stagnant water bodies which prevents adult mosquito from laying eggs and reduce the development of larvae.
