Low-Cost Hydroponic Fodder Production Technology for Sustainable Livestock Farming during Fodder Scarcity

Abstract

Availability of quality green fodder has always been a challenge to livestock farmers. The green fodder deficit in India is reported to be 24.81%, which is mainly due to the decline in pasture lands in the urbanization era and vagaries in monsoon 1 . Conventional fodder crops are grown in soil which involves large land area, more manpower and huge amounts of water 2 . Alternative means to ensure fodder production for feeding livestock is an urgent priority. Hydroponic fodder production is one such technology to increase green fodder production by vertical farming which requires less land, water as well as manpower. The term ‘hydroponics’ was derived from the Greek word ‘hydro’ meaning water and ‘ponos’ meaning labour. This system helps overcome the challenges of climatic change and also helps in production system management for efficient utilization of natural resources and mitigating malnutrition 3 . Hence, the present study was envisaged to assess the feasibility of low-cost techniques using six experiments in a low-cost hydroponic fodder unit for the production of hydroponic green fodder for sustainable livestock farming during fodder scarcity.