Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Tanuvas) research farm has successfully completed trial of two technologies that will provide farmers better and cheaper fodder and also help them irrigate their farms more effectively.
Three weeks into the trials, the Hydroponic Fodder Production machine and the Mobile Multiple Sprinkler System have already found takers and are being used by farmers from different parts of the state. This is despite the fact that the technology is yet to be approved by the research approval committee.
In July, 15 farmers, mostly from Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts, have been buying the fodder at Rs 3 per kilogram as compared to the usage of conventional fodder such as paddy stray, hay and agricultural residue that costs anywhere between Rs 8 – Rs 10 per kg.
Hydroponic fodder, which means producing fodder without soil, is implemented with the help of a machine that has a capacity of producing 1,000 kg of fodder in a day and requires 300 square feet of land.
T.H. Umesh, a diary farm owner at Thalpakkam in Kancheepuram is happy with the results and says the milk production in his farm has steadily increased for the past three weeks, ever since he fed the cattle with hydroponic fodder, made of yellow maize.
“Unlike hay, grass, mix feeds and chemical feeds this fodder is showing a steadily rising milk production of at least one liter per day,” said Umesh.
“After buying 2.5 tonnes of hydroponic fodder I can easily say that this one is cheaper and safer to use than other types of fodder.”
The other big advantage farmers cite is the less usage of space, cheap labor and the continuous production throughout the year. The fodder
machine, that cost Rs 28.85 lakh, was funded by the National Agricultural Development Programme (NADP).
During the first two week of trial, the Tanuvas research farm was able to produce 7 tonnes of fodder, said P. Tensingh Gnanaraj, professor and head, Department in Livestock Technology and Farm management.
Inspired by the Israeli watering system, the Mobile Multiple Sprinkler System is mainly used to sprinkle water in agricultural lands that span more than 5 acres of land.
Tanuvas officials said that the MMSS unit that was set up 10 months back was visited by over 30 farmers in the last five months and is been implemented in the wet agricultural lands in the southern districts of the state.
“The unit that will cater to farmers who own large tracts of land can sprinkle at least 12 litres of water in a single minute as the unit can move from one place to another through a lane,” said Gnanaraj.
The sprinkler unit that has already been used for two harvesting season that span up to 90 days for yellow maize was able to produce over 2 tonnes of maize in each season, said an official at the research farm.
The biggest advantage of this technology is that re-ploughing can be done on the field and issues like rat menace can be avoided as compared to the conventional drip irrigation, he added.
