Evaluation of growth period and water and light requirement for optimum production of hydroponic maize and horse gram fodder

• Published in: Organic agriculture 2022-03, Vol.12 (1), p.75-80
• Main Authors: Gunasekaran, S., Valli, C., Karunakaran, R., Gopi, H., Gnanaraj, P. Tensingh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Animal sciences; Biomass; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Carotene; Corn; Environment; Experiments; Fodder; Forage; Horses; Humidity; Hydroponics; Irrigation; Life Sciences; Light; Livestock; Livestock feed; Nutrition; Original Research Paper; Plant Sciences; Seeds; Sustainable Development; β-Carotene
• ISSN: 1879-4238; 1879-4246
• DOI: 10.1007/s13165-021-00373-z

A study was conducted to evaluate the growth period and water and light requirement for optimum production of hydroponic maize and horse gram fodder using a fabricated low-cost hydroponic fodder production unit. Experiments were carried out to quantify the optimum conditions needed for production of hydroponic fodder maize and hydroponic fodder horse gram. Maximum fresh biomass yield (kg/kg of seed) was obtained when a growth period of 9 and 6 days respectively for hydroponic fodder maize (4.07 ± 0.04 kg) and hydroponic fodder horse gram (5.64 ± 0.07 kg) was adopted. Water required for production of 1 kg respectively of fresh hydroponic fodder maize and hydroponic fodder horse gram was 2.00 and 1.75 l, respectively. Additional night lighting was not required for production of both hydroponic fodder maize and hydroponic fodder horse gram as it did not influence biomass yield or beta carotene level. Thus, the growth duration, water requirement, and light required were evaluated for production of hydroponic fodder for feeding livestock.