Azolla Farming Guide

What is Azolla? Well, it is nothing but a free floating water fern consisting of a short, branched, floating stem, bearing roots which hang down in the water. It's kind of green fodder grown on water surface. Why the Azolla cultivation is increasing and becoming popular? Because, Azolla has many nutrient benefits when compared to other fodders. Apart from this, it has nature of fixing Nitrogen in rice crop field. This is the reason the Azolla is being used as common bio-fertilizer and green manure in rice fields. The blue-green algae grow in symbiotic association with this fern and are responsible for nitrogen fixation in the rice crop. Where can it be grown? Well, it can be cultivated in ponds, ditches and rice fields of warm-temperate and tropical regions throughout the world. Azolla fodder is an excellent alternate feed supplement for livestock, poultry and fish. This is a boon for dairy farmers because; it drastically reduces the feed cost and results in increased milk yield. Though there are many species of Azolla, "A. pinnata" is popular among those. Read more : HERE.