Hydroponics: A sustainable way of green fodder production

Abstract

India’s fodder deficits are driving down its livestock productivity, especially in terms of milk and meat yields. Quality feeding of livestock is a major concern in our country due to the continuous shortage of green fodder and increased cost of feed ingredients; as a result, livestock owners are searching for easily accessible and affordable alternatives. The hydroponic technique is one such alternative method for growing green fodder for dairy animals. Hydroponic fodder production involves growing plants in a greenhouse or polyhouse without soil but in a water or nutrientrich
solution for a short period of time (approx. 7 days). It is gaining importance as it is used to guarantee a constant production of high quantity green forage round the year. Since hydroponics fodder is more palatable, digestible and nutritious, it improves the immune status of the animals, and augments their productive and reproductive performance. Thus, hydroponic fodder can become the best alternative to feed livestock to improve their productivity.