Climate-smart hydroponic chamber for efficient green fodder production under resource deficit conditions of semi-arid region

Abstract

The green fodder deficit is the biggest bottleneck for livestock productivity in semi-arid regions, especially for resource-poor farmers. Low-cost climate-smart hydroponic chamber (CSHC) based hydroponic fodder production provides a viable solution under such an environment. A CSHC equipped with a fan pad-based evaporative cooling system, controlled drip watering system and smart air exhaust system was designed and developed at ICAR-IGFRI, Jhansi, India with the aim of modifying the inside growth environment of the chamber for improved production of quality fodder. The developed CSHC was capable of maintaining daily average temperature and relative humidity in the range of 23-28⁰C and 87-90%, respectively, with an average cooling efficiency of 78.3%. This efficient cooling was an outcome of specialized CSHC designed with an effective covering material (UV stabilized 200 µm LDPE), shade net with 70% shading efficiency, fan pad-based evaporative cooling system, controlled drip watering system, and smart air exhaust system; which enabled ambient environment conducive for optimum plant growth. Among the different treatment combinations of seed loading rates and soaking hours, the highest maize biomass yield of 2.58 kg/ft² was achieved after seven days with a seed loading rate of 300 g/ft² when the seed was soaked for 12 h. At the highest productivity of biomass, the values of dry matter, crude protein, and crude fiber contents were found as 13.51%, 13.71%, and 15.12% respectively. The benefit-cost ratio of the developed CSHC was 1.32 with a payback period of 3.12 years. The developed CSHC was found productive and profitable; hence, it can create a great impact in achieving feed security under resource deficit conditions of climate-change-affected semi-arid regions across the globe.

Keywords:

• Evaporative cooling
• fodder maize
• hydroponics
• quality
• water use efficiency

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the ICAR- Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi for providing resources during the development and evaluation of CSHC, the conduct of the experiment, data analysis, and preparation of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).