The rural population of India is more than 650 million. This forms 74 percent of Indian population.  Of these 70 million households – which constitute 73 percent of the rural households - own cattle and income from cattle constitutes 20 percent of their total income. In the preceding decades, agricultural residues which used to form the major source of cattle feed has substantially reduced its share in the proportion of national cattle feed. This is because of the low straw grain ratio of high yielding varieties. The straw quality is also nutritionally low. With shrinking grazing lands and expanding cities, marginal dairy farmers have to depend more and more on commercial cattle feed or worse allow their cattle to scavenge the wastes.  Azolla an aquatic fern that hosts the blue green algae – Anabaena azollae, seems to hold the solution for this gloomy situation.  For decades Azolla has been used as bio-fertilizer in many paddy growing countries including India, Vietnam and Philippines. Nevertheless it’s potential as cattle feed has been discovered only recently. VK-NARDEP (Vivekananda Kendra’s Natural Resources Development Project) Technology Resource Centre has made a detailed study on this dimension of Azolla and has also developed a cost-effective technology to harness fully this dimension of Azolla which benefits mainly the marginal dairy farmers.

The nutrient composition of Azolla was studied by NARDEP team headed by Dr.P.Kamalasanan Pillai and has been further confirmed by CFTRI and NDDB, Anand. Azolla is very rich in proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin B12, Beta Carotene), growth promoter intermediaries and minerals like calcium, phosphorous, potassium, ferrous, copper, magnesium, zinc etc. On a dry weight basis, Azolla consists of 25 – 35% protein, 10 – 15% mineral and 7 – 10% a combination of amino acids, bio-active substances and bio-polymers. Carbohydrate and oil content in Azolla is very low. Moreover, Azolla can be easily digested by livestock, owing to its high protein and low lignin content. Trials have been carried out by VK-NARDEP, with Azolla as a feed substitute in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Trials on dairy animals showed an overall increase of milk yield by 15–20 % when 2–3 Kg of Azolla was combined with regular feed. 15 – 20% of commercial feed can be replaced with the same quantity of Azolla on dry weight basis, without affecting milk production. It was also found that Azolla feeding improves the quality of milk and the health and longevity of livestock. Along with this the high biomass potential of Azolla, a yield of 1000 MT/ hectare at the rate of   300 gm./sq.m/day, makes this ear-ring shaped green fern ideal feed.

Table: Nutritive Value of Azolla as Fodder

Source: NDDB study at Anand

In an area as little as 7 x 4.5 feet with Silpauline sheet, a few bricks and dung mixed water. The first yield comes on the seventh day followed by almost daily yield of 1 to 1.5 kilogram.  Thus while In terms of nutrition content Azolla is almost similar to Spirulina, its cost of production is only 25 paise per kilogram of biomass.  In the example below the use of silpauline sheet based Azolla cultivation is being tried as an intervention with a farmer who consented to try Azolla in his own house terrace. The aim was to see how the Azolla technology once introduced, gets integrated with the farmyard and homestead activities through sustained results. The following is the preliminary data of the results of the intervention.

Name of the farmer: Thiru.Manickavachagam

Intervention started on: 1^st Week of July 2005

Village: Kozhikodu pothai, Kanyakumari district

Owns: 3 cows and 2 calves  [Hybrid variety]

Before intervention:

Monthly expenditure on feed: Rs 3000

Medical expenditure: Rs 250

Quantity of Milk obtained daily: 15 litres

Domestic use: 1 litre

Milk sold: 14 litres at the rate of Rs 9 per litre

Monthly income generation: Rs 3780

Net profit: Rs 530

After Intervention:

Monthly expenditure on feed: Rs 2700

Quantity of Milk obtained daily: 18 litres

Domestic use: 1 litre

Milk sold: 17 litres at the rate of Rs 9 per litre

Monthly income generation: Rs 4590

Net profit: Rs 1890

Increase in profit: 2.7 times

- Aravindan Neelakandan & Rajamoni

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