Indian FarmingJune 201926

Azolla: The super plantfor sustainable feed production

P Mooventhan1, Jagdish Kumar2, Anil Dixit3, K C Sharma4, P N Sivalingam5, AmitKumar Gupta6, Uttam Singh7, S R K Singh8, P Venkatesan9 and Pankaj Kaushal10

ICAR-National Institute of Biotic Stress Management, Baronda Raipur, Chhattisgard 493 225

Low-cost azolla cultivation under the Farmer FIRST Programme in the tribal areas of Kasdolblock in Chhattisgarh has proved to be a successful model in the villages. More than 37 azollaproduction units were set up in the backyard of the beneficiaries. Around one kg of azolla washarvested within 10 to 15 days of inoculation. Azolla serves as an excellent alternative feed andhence saves around 20% of the poultry feed of the poor farmers in the region.

Key words: Azolla, FFP, Low-cost, Poultry feed, Tribal villages

Indian Farming 69(06): 26–27; June 2019

AZOLLA is a free-floating,rapidly growing aquatic fern on

the water surface. It floats as small,flat, compact green mass. Under idealconditions it grows exponentially,doubling its biomass every threedays. There are at least eight speciesof Azolla worldwide; A. caroliniana,A. circinata, A. japonica, A. mexicana,A. microphylla, A. nilotica, A. pinnataand A. rubra. The common speciesof Azolla in India is Azolla pinnata. Itproduces more than 4 to 5 times ofprotein of excellent quality incomparison to lucern and hybridnapier. Besides this, the bio-massproduction is almost 4 to 10 timeswhen compared with hybrid napierand lucern, respectively. Hence Azollacan be rightly called the “super plant”as it is vital in improving livestockproduction (Fig. 1).

Azolla is an excellent alternative toconcentrates/fodder/feed, therebyproviding a sustainable feed forlivestock. It contains most of thenutrients which are required for allclasses of livestock, including poultryand fish. Azolla can be fed to theseanimals without any adverse effects.Various studies revealed that feedingof azolla to dairy cows increased milkproduction by 15 to 20% and alsoimproved the weight of broiler

potassium, ferrous, copper,magnesium. On a dry weightbasis , Azolla has 25-35% proteincontent, 10-15% mineral content,and 7-10% comprising acombination of amino acids, bio-active substances and biopolymers.

Focus area: Small, marginal,landless and resource-poor tribalfarmers.

Challenges: Rocky and rainfedarea lack the availability of greenfodder for livestock, mono-cropping,very low level of knowledge/adoptionof soil and water conservationtechnologies, inability to higherinvestment, resource-poor andsubsistence farming, lack of greenfodder for livestock.

chicken and increased the eggproduction in layers. Hence azollacan be used as an unconventionalhigh potential feed resource for non-ruminants. Above all, for the bestperformance diets pullet chicks canbe formulated with the inclusion ofazolla up to 10%. Azolla can be usedas an ideal source of feed for cattle,sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits and fish asan alternate source to a concentrate/feed/fodder to improve theproduction status of the animals.

Azolla is very rich in proteins,essential amino acids, vitamins(vitamin A, vitamin B12, BetaCarotene), growth promoterintermediaries and mineralsincluding calcium, phosphorous,

Table 1. Performance Indicators

Technical Observation Farmers practice Intervention

Yield (q/ha)Grain/ Azolla per unit 3.65 Quintal/unit/yearStraw First time introduced -Economic indicatorsCost of cultivation (` /unit) 620/year/unitNet income (` /unit) 3,030B:C ratio 4.88Farmers reaction • First time seen by farmers and produced for

poultry, livestock and rice field as low-cost feed.• Very less investment and management• All farmers were excited and happy to adopt this

technology, in the upcoming days it will reach tomaximum farmers

Indian FarmingJune 2019 27

Extension method adopted: Inorder to enhance the soil health, toincrease the productivity of differentcrops and to make available feed forpoultry and livestock in the villages,low-cost Azolla cultivation structurewas demonstrated to the villagers. Inthis technology, a small water tankwas constructed at the farmers’backyard and farm by digging a pit of1 × 3 × 0.20 m and covered with aplastic lining. It is then covered withfertile soil and made a thick layer.The tank was then filled with waterto a height of 10 cm and then mixedwith 3-4 kg of cow dunk slurry. Aftercompleting the tank preparation, asmall quantity of Azolla wasinoculated and spread in the tank.Around one kg of Azolla washarvested after 10-15 days ofinoculation.

Impact and lessons learnt: In a

short period of time, it becamepopular among the farmers and theyestablished more than 37 Azollaproduction units. The technologyrequires less investment andmanagement, easy to establish anddoes not require any special expertise.Now farmers are producing sufficientquantity of Azolla and feeding theircattle, goat and poultry. Most of thefarmers were economically weak andwere unable to purchase qualitypoultry and goat feed. They foundazolla as an excellent alternative feedand thereby saved 20 % cost onpoultry feed. Integration of theAzolla tank with poultry shade is avery good and successful model at thetribal villages.

Economics: Total production 1.0kg per day per pit × 365 days = 365× ` 10 per kg = ` 3650 income/year/family generated.

CONCLUSION

Production of azolla requires lessinvestment and management anddoes not require any special expertise.The technology, supported under theFFP, has proved successful to manyfarmers in the area and acted as analternative to the expensive livestockand poultry feed.

1Scientist, 2Director (Actg.), 3PrincipalScientist, 4,5Senior Scientist, 10Join Director(Research), ICAR-NIBSM, Baronda Raipur,Chhattisgarh 493 224, 6Veterinary ExtensionOfficer, Directorate of Extension EducationChhattisgarh Kamdhenu Vishwavidhyalaya,Anjora, Durg, Chhattisgarh 491 001, 7SRF,ICAR-NIBSM, 8Principal Scientist, ICAR-ATARI, Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh 482 004,9Principal Scientist, ICAR-NAARM,Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Talengana500 030. Corresponding author’s email:agriventhan@yahoo.co.in

Fig. 1. Azolla the super plant, that contents 4-5 times more protein than hybrid napier

Indian Farming

This magazine is for people interested in farming. The aim is to present scientific information in a popular styleto the progressive farmers and people interested in application of science to day-to-day problems related to Indianfarming. It has articles, book reviews, photo features, interviews, success stories and an editorial page. Specialissues are also brought every year. One in January on ‘DARE-ICAR Expectations from union Budget’ and anotheron any special occasion; accent issues are also brought out on subject of topical issues. It is the most authoritativeand popular farming magazine in India published since 1940.