Low cost hydroponic fodder production for sustainable dairy farming
Low cost hydroponic fodder production for sustainable dairy farming Green fodder plays major role in feed of milch animals, thereby providing required nutrients for milk production and health of the dairy animals. The feed cost per liter of milk is 75 % of total milk cost, where in green fodder contributes 30 % of value. Continuous drought in recent years has caused shrinkage of grazing and fodder production. Due to non availability of quality green fodder throughout the year, milk producers are forced to utilize extra concentrates for optimum milk production. The fetching of green fodder in villages has become more laborious and costly due to increased labour wages, which is adding to the cost of milk production. To overcome this problem, low cost hydroponic fodder production system was developed and introduced in the adopted villages of Kurnool district during 2013-14. In this system with ...