Abstract:
A research on development and evaluation of small scale hydroponic green
fodder production system was conducted in PFDC building of Kelappaji College of
Agricultural Engineering and Technology Tavanur. The objective of research work was
to develop a small scale hydroponic green fodder production system, testing of
developed system under different micro climatic condition and estimation of water use
efficiency for different water application method.
Three different water application methods mist (I 1 ), micro sprinkler (I 2 ), fogger
(I 3 ) were selected. Artificial light source of LED red (L 1 ), LED blue (L 2 ), LED red +
blue (L 3 ) and sunlight were taken for the study. Statistical analysis was conducted to
understand the significance of different treatments used in the experiment. A working
prototype with best treatments observed during the study was built and cost economics
were studied.
The highest yield was observed in treatment involving fogger irrigation and
LED red + blue (2.11 kg/tray) with the highest water use efficiency (515.43 kg/m 3 )
compared to other treatments. The results are in accordance to the results found by
Bian et al., (2018) and Kobayashi et al., (2013), who also found the highest yield under
the combination of red + blue LED. Seed to fodder ratio obtained was 1: 6. Chemical
analysis showed higher percentage of crude protein (13.56%) and crude fibre (12.59%)
in this treatment.
Higher growth of green fodder under artificial light source can be attributed to
the continuous supply of energy compared to highly varying sunlight and also the
uniform distribution of water by fogger irrigation which maintained favourable
condition for fodder growth. Results clearly shows that growing green fodder with
artificial light source (LED red + blue) and water supply with fogger can be
commended to farmers for achieving better growth of green fodder for domestic
animals.
