Azolla Cultivation: Azolla cultivation will solve the problem of organic manure and animal fodder
Mohammad Ayub Ali’s Azolla cultivation (Azolla Cultivation) brought him profit and inspired other farmers. It is an excellent alternative to organic manure and animal fodder.
The availability of cow dung is decreasing day by day. In such a situation, the initiative to promote organic farming may get a setback, because cow dung manure is very important for organic farming, but there is not enough cow dung manure available to meet the increasing needs of farming and it is likely to decrease further in the coming time. In such a situation, Azolla can be an excellent alternative to cow dung manure.
This small plant growing in water, which is called fern in scientific language, is an excellent organic manure and can be used as animal fodder. Mohammad Ayub Ali, a resident of Jubrajnagar, Tripura, not only earned good profit from Azolla Cultivation, but other farmers were also impressed by his success.
Why is Azolla beneficial?
Azolla can be used as organic fertilizer and green manure. It can be used for rice cultivation as well as other crops. Azolla fixes 40-60 kg nitrogen per hectare in rice crop. It is also used as feed for pigs, ducks and fish. Azolla is high in protein.
Azolla cultivation started on the advice of Krishi Vigyan Kendra
Mohammad Ayub Ali, a resident of Jubrajnagar area of Tripura, started Azolla Cultivation on the advice of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, North Tripura, Panisagar. In 2015-16, he started Azolla cultivation from home as per the instructions of Krishi Vigyan Kendra and first dug 8 pits for this. He dug the pits following all the guidelines.
Krishi Vigyan Kendra demonstrated the structure of low cost Azolla cultivation to improve soil health, increase productivity of various crops in 2015 Kharif season. He demonstrated it on the farm of Mohammad Ayub Ali. In this technique, a small water tank was constructed by digging a pit and it was covered with plastic. Progressive farmer Ayub Khan adopted this technique for green manure cultivation.
Do Azolla cultivation at home in this way
Prepare a pit 2 meters long, 1 meter wide and 20 cm deep.
Spread a polythene sheet (2.6mx6m) over it.
Mix SSP (10 gm), MOP (10 gm), dry cow dung (100 gm) and Azolla (300 gm).
Apply plaster of soil around the pit and add water upto 10 cm.
After 15 days when the crop is ready, harvest it and repeat this process again.
How to cultivate Azolla in the field
To grow it on a large scale in the field, first prepare and level the field uniformly.
Make ridges properly and ensure irrigation system and divide the field into 20×5 meters. Maintain 10 cm water level in the field
Mix 10 kg cow dung + 8 kg Azolla + 100 gm SSP per plot.
After 15 days the crop is ready for harvesting
The need of fertilizer was fulfilled by the Azolla Cultivation
Before Azolla Cultivation, Mohammad Ayub Khan could hardly meet his need of organic fertilizer, but now he is not only getting enough fertilizer, but also fodder for his cow, duck and fish. His success has also inspired rural youth to cultivate Azolla. There are three benefits of this – improvement in soil health, affordable organic manure and cheap fodder for cattle, duck and fish.
How much profit did you make
Before using Azolla as fertilizer in the paddy field, he used to get a net profit of Rs 33,451, but after using Azolla, it increased to Rs 52,113 while the cost of cultivation decreased. Ayub Khan is gradually increasing the production of Azolla. Currently, he is using Azolla in his 2-acre paddy field and is also distributing it to other farmers.
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