Economics of hydroponic maize fodder based Total Mixed Ration (TMR) in Deccani Lambs

Introduction

Hydroponic green fodder plays a significant role in conserving soil, water and time. It requires only about 3-5 percent of the total water normally used for producing an equivalent quantity of forage under field conditions. For example, producing one kilogram of hydroponically grown maize fodder needs only 1.50 to 3.0 Liters of water (Naik et al., 2013) [4] . In contrast conventional fodder production typically requires 60-80 litters of water to obtain one kilogram of fresh green fodder. Thus, Hydroponics drastically reduces water consumption and offers an environmentally sustainable alternative for fodder production. Feed cost contributes to more than 60% of total production expenses in livestock farming. Now days reducing this cost, without affecting animal performance is one of the biggest challenges for farmers. Hydroponic maize is fast growing nutrient rich fodder that can be produced in 7-10 days with less land and water. Fresh hydroponic fodder is produced with minimal water use and without causing soil degradation or contributing to crop overcrowding. Moreover, the system eliminates the need for herbicides, pesticides and large quantities of chemical fertilizer, making it an eco-friendly and sustainable option for livestock feed production, particularly for supporting milk yield and overall animal performance. Using Hydroponic maize in a Total Mixed Ration allows partial replacement of costly concentrates while keeping the required digestible crude protein (16-18%) and total digestible nutrient (60-70%) for healthy growth. This approach is low-cost, sustainable and reduces feed wastage. There is a great nutritional benefit provided by hydroponic sprouted fodder to optimize the general heath and performance of young animals while minimizing the feed cost. Therefore, the present study evaluates the "Economics of hydroponic maize fodder based total mixed ration (TMR) in Deccani Lambs".

Materials and Methods

Twenty-four Deccani Ram lambs of 6-9 month age were selected from AICRP on Network Project on Sheep Improvement (Deccani Farm Based Unit) and Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Science, MPKV, Rahuri on the basis nearness to age and body weight. Selected experimental lambs were divided into four groups (six lambs in each group) Experiment was conducted for a period of 110 days. The experimental groups consisted of T 0 (control), T 1 , T 2 and T 3 . The average age of the lambs was six months, and the average body weights were 25.38 kg, 24.88 kg, 24.68 kg and 25.44 kg for T 0 , T 1 , T 2 and T 3 groups, respectively.

Treatments

Details of allotment of treatments in feeding trials

Groups

Results and Discussion

The present investigation evaluated the economic assessment as input cost and return obtained from feeding hydroponic maize fodder on the growth performance of Deccani lambs. The average total weight gain (kg/lamb) for 90 days experiment was for treatment groups T 0 , T [4] , who studied the effects of feeding hydroponically produced maize fodder on lactating cows' good digestion and milk output. There was a higher net profit of Rs. 12.67 per cow/d on feeding HMF. They conclude that giving HMF to lactating cows improved nutrient digestibility and milk production, resulting in a rise in net profit.

Additionally comparable to the studies and concepts by Naik et al. (2014) [4] additionally, in comparison to treatment group T 0 , treatment group T 2 , the benefit-cost ratio is larger (1.13) (1.08). Due to its larger net profit and lower overall cost when compared to the other treatment groups, treatment group T 2 has a higher benefit-cost ratio. Additionally, Bhalerao et al. (2019) [1] , who studied the Effect of Feeding HMF on the Growth Performance of Osmanabadi goats and fed treatment appropriately, observed a similar outcome. T 3 was determined to have the lowest overall cost of feeding per kilogramme of body weight growth, followed by T 1 and T 2 . In comparison to the T 1 and T 2 treatments, the 40% hydroponic maize fodder fed treatment (T 3 ) produced better and more preferable outcomes. The result provided by Jemimah et al. (2020) [3] and the current finding are comparable. When fed to Tellicherry crossbred female kids, hydroponically grown maize fodder can be substituted for concentrate at levels of 25 and 50 percent to increase weight gain while also lowering production costs per kilogramme of live weight gain The present findings are corroborated with the observation reported by Bhalerao (2023) [1] , who observed that hydroponically grown maize fodder can effectively be substituted for concentrate at levels of 20, 40, 60 and 80 percent in Sangamneri goats. Their study indicates that to increase weight gain while such substitution helps to increase simultaneously lowering the production cost per kilogramme of live weight gain in T 2 group (i.e. Rs. 174.42) and the benefit-cost ratio was highest in T 2 (i.e. 1:1.13) in compared to control group T 0 .

Conclusion

The feed cost to get one kilogram body weight gain was decreased by 26.28% when the concentrate ingredients in a TMR were replaced by hydroponic maize fodder at 40% level Based on the present investigation, it is recommended that the concentrate mixture could replace with maize hydroponic base TMR at a 40% level in the ratio of growing lambs is beneficial for better growth performance and economic profitability of Deccani lambs.

References

1. Bhalerao SB, Zinjarde RM, Atkare VG, Kadam NP. Effect of feeding of hydroponic maize on growth performance Osmanabadi goats. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. 2019;8(5):508511.
2. Bhalerao SB. Effect of feeding of hydroponic maize on growth performance, chevon quality and quantity of Sangamneri goats [Ph.D. thesis]. Rahuri (Maharashtra): Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth; 2023. Unpublished.
3. Jemimah RE, Tensingh Gnanaraj P, Siva Kumar T, Gopinathan A, Meenakshi Sundaram S. Growth performance of Tellicherry crossbred female kids supplemented with varying levels of hydroponic maize fodder. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies. 2020;8(3):81-85.
4. Naik PK, Gaikwad SP, Gupta MJ, Dhuri RB, Ghumal GM, Singh NP. Low-cost devices for hydroponics fodder production. Old Goa, India: ICAR Research Complex for Goa; 2013.
5. Naik PK, Dhuri RB, Karunakaran M, Swain BK, Singh NP. Effect of feeding hydroponic maize fodder on digestibility of nutrients and milk production in lactating cows. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences. 2014;84(8):830-883.