STEP BY STEP PROCEDURE FOR HYDROPONIC FODDER PRODUCTION

STEP BY STEP PROCEDURE FOR HYDROPONIC FODDER PRODUCTION

Dr.Rakesh kumar singh, TVO,Motihari

The word hydroponics has been derived from the Greek word, “Hydros” meaning ‘water’ and “Ponic” meaning ‘working’. Hydroponics is a technique in which growing of plants/crops in water without any soil, generally in controlled conditions/environment. Water and plant nutrients are essential for plant growth which is incorporated.

However, with the use of only fresh water green fodder can be produced. For cultivation of green fodder through hydroponic seed, water ,sunlight and added nutrients are the only inputs that are required as the green fodder is fed to the animals after about 6-8 days of plant growth. Maize, Oats, Barley, Wheat, Cowpeas, etc., are the important cultivars using hydroponics to produce high quality nutritious green fodder for dairy animals. Sorghum when fed, less than 45 days of growth causes prussic acid (HCN) toxicity so it is not preferred in hydroponic fodder production. Through Hydroponics techniques Oat, Maize, Wheat, Barley, Cow pea, etc. can be grown. However geographical and agro-climatic conditions and easy availability of seeds are the choice for hydroponics technology. In India, easy availability of seed, lower seed cost, good biomass production and quick growing habit, maize is the choice of grain for hydroponics fodder production. The grain should be clean, sound, undamaged or not insect infested, untreated, viable and good quality. For the production of hydroponics fodder, seeds are soaked in normal water for 4-24 hours, depending upon the type of seeds followed by draining and placing it in the individual greenhouse trays for growing inside the greenhouse. For maize, 4 hours soaking in normal water is sufficient. The seed rate (quantity of seeds loaded per unit surface area) also affects the yield of the hydroponics fodder, which varies with the type of seeds. Hydroponics maize fodder can be well produced with seed rate of 6.4-7.6 kg/m2 [8]. If seed density is high, there is more chance of microbial contamination in the root mat, which affects the growth of the fodder. The starting of germination and visibility of roots varies with the type of seeds. In case of maize and cowpea seeds, germination start on about 2nd and 1st day and the roots were clearly visible from 3rd and 2nd day onwards, respectively. Maintenance of clean and hygiene is very much important in the production of hydroponics fodder as greenhouse is highly susceptible to microbial contamination, particularly of mould growth due to high humidity. Inside the greenhouse, generally the grains are allowed to sprout for seven days and on day eight, these are fed to the dairy animals.

History of Hydroponics Fodder——–

The methods of hydroponic fodder production date back to the 1800s (Kerr et al., 2014), or earlier, from the ‘Hanging Gardens of Babylon’ era, when European dairy farmers fed sprouted grains to their cows during winter to maintain milk production and improve fertility (Anonymous, 2008). There is renewed interest in this technology due to shortage of green fodder in most of the Middle East, African and Asian countries. Fodder production cannot easily be increased due mainly to ever increasing human pressure on land for production of cereal grains, oil seeds and pulses. To meet this increasing demand for green fodder, one of the alternatives is hydroponic fodder to supplement the meager pasture resources. The word hydroponics is derived from two Greek words: ‘hydro’ meaning water and ‘ponos’ meaning labour i.e. water working. Hydroponic green fodder can be produced both in large, sophisticated, automated commercial systems with environmental control, or in low cost systems, where the ambient environment is suitable for fodder production. Fodder seeds utilize tap water, or nutrient-enriched solutions for plant nourishment in the absence of soil. Hydroponic fodder is also called fresh fodder biscuits, sprouted fodder or sprouted grain or alfaculture. Today, hydroponics are used in harsh climates such as deserts, areas with poor soil or in urban areas where high land costs have driven out traditional agriculture. Hydroponic fodder production is probably best-suited to semi-arid, arid, and drought-prone regions of the world, suffering from chronic water shortages or in areas where irrigation infrastructure does not exist. Hydroponic fodder production is a boon for farmers whose soil is rocky and infertile. It is a viable farmer friendly alternative technology for landless farmers for fodder production. Fodders including maize, barley, oats, sorghum, rye, alfalfa and triticale can be produced by hydroponics. Others, including cowpea, horse gram, sun hemp, ragi, bajra, foxtail millet and Jowar have also been grown successfully by the use of hydroponics (Rachel Jemimah et al., 2015).

Following are the reasons for scarcity of green fodder———

1. Rapid urbanization has caused decrease of land available for grazing and fodder cultivation.
2. Fragmentation of land reduces land holdings.
3. The farmer prefers to cultivate commercial and food crops.
4. There is a scarcity of water for irrigation, due to water label depletion.
5. Most farmers are poor and not able to fence their land which leads to free grazing cattle and wild animals enter the fields and causes menaces in the fodder field.
6. Labour shortage is an acute problems in agriculture and animal husbandry allied activities.eg cultivation of green fodder, cutting, chaffing it and feeding the same to the cattle.
7. In forest areas/coastal areas adequate land are not available for forage cultivation.
8. In diversified climate of India, the climate is not suitable for fodder production.

The electricity requirement for the production of hydroponic fodder is much lower than for traditional fodder production. Amongst different hydroponic fodders such as sprouted barley, oats, rye, triticale, and wheat, the sprouted barley has the highest forage quality (Heins et al., 2015).

Irrigation water with or without nutrient enrichment: The comparative evaluation of hydroponic barley produced by using tap water or nutrient solution revealed that sprouts grown with nutrient solution had higher crude protein and ash contents than those grown with tap water. The Ca, K, P, Mg, Na, Fe, Cu and Zn concentrations were higher in barley fodder produced using nutrient solution (Peer and Leeson, 1985; Dung et al., 2010; Fazaeli et al., 2012). However, there was no significant difference in dry matter (DM) loss and in sacco degradability of nutrients. Moreover, earlier reports indicated that the nutrient requirements of the seedlings are satisfied from the nutrients reserves in the seeds (Bewley, 1997; Dung et al., 2010). Use of nutrient solution also increases cost of fodder production. It was concluded that there was no additional advantage of using nutrient solution for producing hydroponic fodder (Dung et al., 2010; Fazaeli et al., 2012).

Advantages of hydroponic fodder

Efficiency: By providing the optimal environment the efficiency of fodder production is increased remarkably. Hydroponic systems minimize water wastage since it is applied directly to the roots and is often recycled and used several times. However, the water should be clean because bacteria and fungi proliferate during recycling during the growth cycle. It is, therefore, suggested to go for infrared filtering of the water before recycling (FAO, 2015). It has been reported that about 1.5-2 liters are needed to produce 1 kg of green fodder hydroponically in comparison with 73, 85, and 160 liters to produce 1 kg of green fodder of barley, alfalfa, and Rhodes grass under field conditions, respectively. Under hydroponic systems this equates to only 2-5% of water used intraditional fodder production (Al-Karaki and Al-Momani. 2011; Naik, 2014; Rachel Jemimah et al., 2015; Yvonne Kamanga, 2016). This is especially important in areas suffering from chronic water shortages or where the infrastructure for irrigation does not exist.

Space: Hydroponic systems require much less space and time than conventional systems, which makes the former ideal for urban dwellers with limited yard space. The plant root systems of hydroponic fodder are much smaller than in a traditionally grown fodder, which means higher numbers of plants per unit of space. It is also easy to start a hydroponic system indoors, wherein number of racks with multiple tiers (vertical farming) are used, minimizing land requirement thereby resulting in land preservation. Crop rotation is not necessary in hydroponics, the same fodder species can be grown throughout the year. Using hydroponics technology, about 600-1000 kg maize fodder can be produced daily in 7-8 days growth cycle, in only 45-50 m2 area compared with one ha required in traditional farming (Naik and Singh, 2013; Rachel Jemimah et al., 2015). Another study revealed that only one square meter space is required to produce fodder for two cows per day and the milk yield was increased by 13% (Yvonne Kamanga, 2016).

Use of pesticides, insecticides and herbicides: Traditional outdoor farming must rely on herbicides, fungicides and/or insecticides for optimum production. Hydroponic fodder is grown in a controlled environment without soil and, therefore, is not susceptible to soil-borne diseases, pests or fungi, there by minimizing use of pesticides, insecticides and herbicides. An outbreak of pests or infections in hydroponically grown fodder can be quickly controlled by spraying the crops with appropriate pesticides or fungicides. Fresh and clean water should be used for irrigation as water-borne plant diseases spread quickly.

Fodder yield: Fodder production is accelerated by as much as 25% by bringing the nutrients directly to the plants, without developing large root systems to seek out food. Plants mature faster and more evenly under a hydroponic system than a conventional soil based system . One kg of un-sprouted seed yields 8-10 kg green forage in 7-8 days (Sneath and McIntosh, 2003; Naik et al., 2013; Reddy, 2014; Anonymous, 2015; FAO, 2015; Yvonne Kamanga, 2016). The hydroponics maize fodder yield on fresh basis is 5-6 times higher than that obtained in a traditional farm production, and is more nutritious (Naik et al., 2014).

Fodder quality: The crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and Ca content increased, but organic matter (OM) and non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC) content decreased (P<0.05) in the hydroponic green forage compared with the original seed on a DM basis (Abdullah, 2001; Fazaeli et al., 2012; Kide et al., 2015; Mehta and Sharma, 2016). Hydroponic fodder is a rich source of vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, biotin, free folic acid, anti-oxidants like β-carotene (Finney, 1982; Cuddeford, 1989; Naik et al., 2015) and minerals (Bhise et al., 1988; Chung et al., 1989; Fazaeli et al., 2012). Shipard (2005) and Naik et al. (2014) found that hydroponic fodder is also a rich source of bioactive enzymes, with the highest activities in sprouts being generally between germination and 7 days of age (Chavan and Kadam, 1989). The fatty acid concentration showed a significant (P<0.05) positive relationship with the growth period. The concentrations of linoleic, linolenic and stearic acids increased (P<0.05) linearly with sprouting time (Peer and Leeson, 1985). Besides, helping in the elimination of the anti-nutritional factors such as phytate in the grains, hydroponic fodders are good sources of chlorophyll and contain a grass juice factor that improves the performance of livestock (Naik et al., 2015). The crop is free from antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, or herbicides (Naik, 2014).

Hydroponic fodder heavily infested with Aspergillus clavatus should not be fed to dairy/beef cattle. Animals may develop posterior ataxia, knuckling of fetlocks, dragging of hind legs, high stepping in the hind limbs, stiff gait, tremors, progressive paresis, hypersensitivity, recumbency, clonic convulsions, decreased milk yield and possibly death (McKenzie et al., 2004).

Consistency of feed: One of the major obstacles being faced by many beef producers is the variability/inconsistency of plant species within their pasture, due mainly to seasonal fluctuation. By feeding hydroponic fodder, one is assured of the quality and quantity of fodder that is being consumed. This consistency of feed can lead to better-tasting end products of consistent quality, which is one of the major goals of the beef producers. Similarly consistency in feed can also increase the quality of meat and other products of swine and poultry. Hydroponic fodder production is a way to substantially improve the quality of animal products (Maxwell Salinger, 2013).

Reduced carbon footprints: Hydroponics are more environmentally friendly than traditional agriculture, because fertilizers are rarely used. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions considerably (Anonymous, 2016). In traditional farming, run-off can lead to the degradation of the surrounding environment (Naik, 2014). Hydroponic systems help in reducing the fuel consumption for transportation of product from distant agricultural farms and carbon emissions in turn.

Advantage of hydroponic techniques of green fodder production——–

1. Nutritional Advantages: The green fodder from hydroponics is highly palatable, easily digestive and of better quality as compared to traditional fodder production. In comparison to conventional green fodders, Hydroponics Green Fodder (HGF) contains more crude protein (13.6% v/s 10.7%) and less crude fibre (14.1% v/s 25.9 %) as compared to traditional fodder production.
2. More Palatability: The fodder is more succulent, palatable, nutritious and intake HGF by livestock is more as compared to CGF and this results in more milk and meat production.
3. Water savings: Hydroponic techniques requires 2-3 litres of water to produce one kilogram of green fodder as compared to 55 to 75 litres of water required for the traditional Cultivation practices. No wastage of water as the available water is also recycled and utilized.
4. Wider temperature range: Temperature range of 15-35o C and 70-80% relative humidity (RH) without any fungal growth and technology is economic and environmental friendly.
5. Minimal Land requirement: only 10 m X 5 m is required to grow 600-650 kg of fodder per day whereas to produce the same quantity, one hectare of land would be required under traditional cultivation system. 20-25 adult cattle can be reared by this quantity of fodder for one year.
6. Easily Measurable: The hydroponics production can easily be measured to cater to the needs of farmers owning just two head of cattle.
7. Less labour required: Under the HGF system, just one labourer can complete the entire process in 2-3 hours per day whereas for same fodder production through tradition system requires more labour to undertake land preparation, sowing, irrigation, cutting, transporting fodder from field to cattle shed, cutting the chaff and finally feeding the cattle.
8. More fodder in Less time: Just 7-8 days is required for HGF when they are about 20 to 30 centimetre in height.
9. Biomass conversion is more: The biomass conversion ratio is as high as 6-7 times that of the CGF grown for 65 to 80 days.
10. 365 Day in a year fodder production: 365 days in year we can produce green fodder under semi-protected conditions.
11. Minimal losses: Loss is minimal because the whole portion of plant comprising of roots, leaves, grain and stem is fed to the animals.
12. Organic/natural green fodder: Due to non adding of any nutrient without using soil the green fodder is organically grown.
13. Higher growth and More Production: Green fodder production at a faster rate and result in high yield of fodder.

Major disadvantages of hydroponics

Loss in total dry matter: A number of studies reported that sprouting resulted in 7-47% loss in DM from the original seed after sprouting for a period of 6-7 days of growth, mainly due to respiration during the sprouting process (Sneath and McIntosh, 2003; Dung et al., 2005; Fazaeli et al., 2012; Putnam et al., 2013). Seed soaking activates enzymes that convert starch stored in endosperm to a simple sugar, which produces energy and gives off carbon dioxide and water, leading to loss of DM with a shift from starch in the seed to fiber and pectin in the roots and green shoots.

Availability of nutrients: Sneath and McIntosh (2003) showed that sprouted barley fodder was 3.4 times more expensive per kg of DM than the original barley grains. Similarly ME (cents/MJ), CP ($/kg DM) and FCR (feed cost/kg live weight gain) were 3.7, 2.2 and 2.5 times costlier using hydroponic fodders than the original grains, respectively (Sneath and McIntosh, 2003), confirming the earlier report of Appleman (1962) who found that hydroponic oat and barley grass may be 2.1 and 3.8 times costlier than rolled oats and barley in terms of food energy. Decades of research and farmer experience indicate that the costs associated with hydroponic fodder production are 2 to 5 times those of the original grain (Tranel, 2013).

Economics of hydroponics———-

Traditional fodder production requires a major investment for the purchase of land, in addition to investment in agricultural machinery, equipment, infrastructure required for pre- and post-harvesting, including handling, transportation and conservation of fodder. It also requires labour, fuel, lubricants, fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, and weedicides. On the other hand, hydroponic fodder production requires only seed and water as production inputs with modest labour inputs. Hydroponics minimises post-harvest losses, with no fuel required for harvesting and post harvesting processes. Moreover, in hydroponic systems it takes only 7-8 days to develop from seed to fodder while it takes 45-60 days under traditional systems. However, the initial investment required for setting up hi-tech, sophisticated, automated commercial hydroponic fodder production systems, with environmental control, plus operational costs are much higher than traditional soil-based fodder production farming. Such hydroponic systems require much more specialized equipment and technical knowledge than is required in traditional farming. Mold is highly likely and thus prevention or treatment could further involve investment. Therefore, even if there are benefits of feeding hydroponic fodder, the benefits are usually outweighed by the costs .

Economics of hydroponics

Techniques for production-——–

The HGF cultivation can be hi-tech, fully automatic or can be low cost, effective structure by using principle of the seed germinating and growing for about 7 to 8 days using only water till they are about 20 to 30 cm in height. An automatic system has chambers in which foggers or drip irrigator are installed. The relative humidity between 70 and 80% are maintained and foggers spray a fine mist of water on to the trays to keep the seeds moist. However, for the Indian farmer low cost effective sustainable system are needed as per local need of input. According to availability of raw material in local areas both scientists and ordinary farmers have modified the way hydroponics fodder production. A specially constructed frame made of GI pipes or angle bars is erected to hold plastic trays measuring 18” X 32.5” X 2”, in which 1 to 1.25 kg of seed can be placed to produce about 5.5 to 7.5 kg of green fodder. The dimensions of the trays is determined so that they can be easily managed by anyone and other standard sizes such as 41” x 41” x 7”, 53” x 53” x 7”, 29”x 53” x 7”, etc., that are available in the market can also be used. 1. To reduce the cost the netshed can be erected using bamboo, locally available pipe, wood and instead of trays, bamboo baskets can be used. 2. The shade net cloth is used to cover the entire chamber. 3. An arrangement of frame designed or drip irrigation pipes can be used to pump water from a reservoir at the bottom to pipes in which holes have been punched. The water dribbles drop by drop continuously. 4. 4 hours soaking is required to treated maize seed before cultivation. 5. In each tray about 1 to 1.25 kg of soaked maize seed is spread out. 6. At the end of 7-10 days, plants measuring about 20 to 30 cm in height. 7. About 7.0 kg and 7.5 kg of green fodder is produced in 7 to 8 days and production cost per kg fodder is Rs. 3 to 4 as per availability of seed. 8. The cost of a PVC pipe shade net HGF production unit capable of producing 30 kg fodder/day is about Rs.15,000 while that producing about 350 kg/day is about Rs.80,000 while that of a GI pipe/angle bar/MI steel shade net unit with a daily fodder production potential of 300 kg is about Rs. 60,000 increasing progressively to Rs.3,00,000 for a unit producing 1500 kg

Construction of Hydroponic fodder system

To grow good quality fodder you need to be able to control the temperature and humidity. The fodder easily grows in semi-controlled environmental conditions with the temperature range of 15-32 °C and relative humidity of 80-85%.

Also, control light is needed to grow fodder, so you need to build a small shed net or a low-cost greenhouse.

To make shed net or a low-cost greenhouse you can use bamboo log, iron rod or plastic pipe for structure construction purpose also you required shade netting or gunny bags to cover this structure.

Construction

• According to your fooder quantity demand, you can build a Hydroponic fodder system. to build this system is required a little space, mostly farmer use 10 ft x10 ft shade net to grow Hydroponic fodder, and it is better to choose shed net location near to the livestock shade because it becomes easy to operate.
• To allow ventilation to leave some open space between the roof and side walls when the shed is well ventilated and airy, you can easily maintain the temperature and humidity.
• To grow hydroponic fodder, you required a medium size tray of about 1.5 x 3 Ft. They must be made up of good plastic and strong enough to hold the weight of the fodder.
• The seeds must be kept moist so avoid metal trays because they easily rust so use only plastic trays.
• Make 15-20 small size holes in trays for draining any excess water.
• Inside the shed, you can build a bamboo rack, plastic rack or metal rack to hold these trays.
• Make three to four layers rack but take care rack should not be too high because it becomes difficult to spray water and removes the trays.
• Keep enough space between two layers so you can easily water the seeds also create slightly slope for each layer to one side of the rack this is helpful for easily and quickly water to drain from the trays.
• Make a small drainage line under the slope side of a rack to properly drain out water.

Hydroponic fodder production process

use only good qualities seed for hydroponic fodder production, never use broken or unhealthy seeds as these will not germinate and grow properly.

You can use maize, pulses, wheat, and horse gram seeds to make hydroponic fodder but do not use pearl millet and sorghum seeds because these sprouted leaves contain poison that can harm your livestock.

Mostly farmer uses Maize seeds to produce hydroponic fodder. In cold climatic condition wheat and oats seed are good while in hot climatic condition maize seeds are suitable for hydroponic fodder production.

Process

• Add a 5-7 liters warm water in a plastic bucket and seed and remove seeds are float on the water because they will not sprout also remove other impurities.
• After that add 50 -100 gm salt in water it helps to minimize chance on fungus production on sprouted seed.
• Allow this seed to soak water for around 12 hours.
• After 12 hours drain the water and then wash the seeds with clean water.
• Transfer this washed seed in a gunny bag and allow them to sprout. In a cold climate, they will take more than 24 hours to germinate while in a hot climate the seed will take about 24 hours.
• Before using tray wash them properly and check all holes if they blocked or not if there is blockage remove the blockage.
• Transfer sprouted seeds from the gunny bags to trays and evenly spread them and place this trays on the rack.
• Every day gives light water ( sprinkle) to sprouted seeds. To provide water, you can use watering cans or sprinklers system.
• In hot weather conditions give water after every two hours, and in cold weather condition after 4 hours it helps to maintain moisture.

Always maintain cleanness in the shed it helps to reduce fungus, molds development chance.

Do not disturb the sprouted seeds from the trays until they are harvest as this influences the growth of the fodder.

Within seven days from one tray containing one kilogram of maize seed, you can produce about eight kilograms of fodder.

When preparing hydroponic fodder to make the rack according to your fooder need, if you required every day five trays of fodder so for seven days prepared shade that accommodates 35 trays.

Feeding of Hydroponic Green Fodder

In six to seven day fooder ready to harvest, take out fodder slabs form the tray and cut into small pieces before feeding it to the livestock, so it is easier for the animals to eat the fodder properly.

Avoid keeping the fodder more than nine days in the trays because after nine days the nutrient value of fodder start to decrease slowly and fiber start to develop.

Give this fooder to livestock along with other food and dry fodder from the total quantity of fodder.

Give this fodder to the livestock with other food and other dry fodder. Farmer gives the combination of half a hydroponic fodder and half fodder or dry fodder.

Hydroponic fodder is very soft and nutritious and tasty, and the resulting animals enjoy it.

Greenhouse

• Green house is of 25 ft.x10 ft.x 10ft. (approx.).
• Fodders are grown in trays in 7 days cycle excluding the day for seed soaking.
• For each day, there is provision to accomodate 72 trays in two rows of racks

Procedure for green fodder production

• Maize seed is the best choice.
• Procure good quality maize seeds with at least 85% germination rate.
• Seeds should be pesticide free.
• Separate impurities from seeds by impurities-separator.
• Weigh 1.5 kg seeds and allow to soak in water for 24 hours in soaking tray.

• Transfer soaked seeds to green house tray and spread uniformly throughout it.
• Load trays on ‘ lst two rows’ of racks.
• Next day, shift ‘Ist day trays’ in `3rd and 4th rows’ of racks.

• Then, every following day, shift these ‘two rows of trays’ to their respective below ‘two rows’ of racks till they reach ‘bottom two rows’, which coincides on 7th day.
• On 8th day, ‘bottom two rows of trays’ containing optimum grown green fodder is removed for feeding dairy animals

One tray containing 1.5 kg maize seeds produces 7-9 kg green fodder with fodder height of 20-25 cm.

Yield and chemical composition of hydroponics green fodder

• It looks like a mat consisting of roots, seeds and plants.
• In comparison to conventional green fod&-rs, hydroponics green fodders contain more protein, fat (ether extract) and soluble carbohydrates (nitrogen free extract); but less fiber, total ash and acid insoluble ash.

Chemical compositions (on % DM basis) of conventional green fodder Vs. hydroponics green fodder.

Nutrient	Conventional Green Fodder(Maize)	Hydroponic Green Fodder
Protein	10.67	13.57
Ether Extract	2.27	3.49
Crude Fiber	25.92	14.07
Nitrogen Free Extract	51.78	66.72
Total Ash	9.36	3.84
Acid Insoluble Ash	1.40	0.33

Feeding of hydroponics green fodder

• Separate fodder matting into small pieces prior feeding to milch animals.
• It is highly succulent and relished by dairy animals.
• Based on protein content, it is advised to feed 7-8 kg hydroponics maize green fodder to replace one kg cocncentrate mixture.
• As it is highly sacculent, it is recommended to offer maximum 20 kg hydrponics green fodder per day per animal.
• Feeding mixture of hydroponics green fodder with other dry and green fodders to dairy animals is beneficial

Precautions for hydroponic techniques

1. Seed treated with pesticides and fungicides should not be used for cultivation.
2. The water should be replaced at every 3 days to reduce microbial contamination.
3. In order to avoid fungal growth, cleanliness, washing and cleaning should be needed to reduce contamination and fungal growth. Fungicides treatment is needed while necessary but should best be avoided as any residue may adversely affect health of animals.
4. White maize seed better as compared to yellow maize for hydroponic fodder production.
5. The quality seeds should be used for fodder cultivation.
6. The green shed net is important for proper aeration and lighting to prevent yellowing of the leaves.

Conclusion

In developed countries where there is no dearth of quality feed and fodder, the hydroponic production of fodder is less competitive than traditional fodder production when compared on per kg dry matter basis. High initial investment on fully automated commercial hydroponic systems and high labour and energy costs in maintaining the desired environment in the system adds substantially to the net cost of hydroponic fodder production. Such systems are not successful in developing countries.

Conversely, low cost hydroponic systems have been developed by utilizing locally available infrastructure where there is an acute shortage of fodder and water; local irrigation systems are not well established; transportation and fuel costs are high; and seasonal variations of fodder prices are extreme. Typical lean periods of fodder production are the norm, investment in controlling temperature and humidity are low, and so is the cost of labour. Under such situations the cost structure is often shifted in favour of hydroponic fodder production, and it may find a niche in increasing livestock production. Hydroponics fodder is nutritious, palatable and digestible and can be grown in low cost techniques with locally home grown grains. Against impeding climate change and less availability land hydroponics fodder production is an effective alternative technology for sustainable livestock production in different agroclimatic regions of India.

References-On Request