Introduction

About the NGO:

Kashi Sewa Sadhan Samiti, Chandauli is undertaking the work of Azolla Amrit by
spreading the benefits of Azolla among farmers, milk men, poultry owners, rice
farmers, cattle growers etc. so that they can yield high productivity by planting
Azolla Nursery nearby. They are encouraging the farmers to cultivate the azolla by
explaining the benefits of Azolla to them. They also doing certain surveys to know
how the Azolla is working. Not only near the villages of Chandauli but they also
spreading this in various states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh etc.

About the project:

Azolla is an aquatic fern, which resembles duckweed or mosses. The name Azolla
is derived from two Greek words, i.e. ‘azo’ means and ‘ollya’ means to kill.
Therefore, this name Azolla indicates an important property of the fern that it
would be killed by drought. Azolla is believed to float on the surface of the water
with roots hanging underneath. These plants have leaves which are small in size
and overlap each other. These leaves or fronds are water repellent and
sometimes red in colour. This plant is popular as ‘super-plant’ because of its great
speed of growing and doubling its biomass within 2 or 3 days. The length of the
roots for Azolla is around 1to 2 cm. The fern has a saprophytic cycle and is
generally associated which cooler temperatures. The difference in the strain and
environmental factors can alter the nutrient composition of Azolla. Azolla is
considered to have the following nutrients, which is why is greatly used as animal
or livestock feed. Dried Azolla has:
• Crude protein
• Fibre
• Ether extract
 • Ash
• Calcium
• Phosphorous
• Nitrogen Fixation
• Provide different nutrients
This Azolla cultivation report presents details about the problem identification
and cause of the problems, objectives to be achieved and steps taken to
achieve that objectives. At the end of the report discussed about effectiveness
of the project and finally conclusion

Problem identification
• High cost of animal feeding
• Cost of weed control
• High cost of fertilizers
• Nitrogen efficiency is only 20-30% in the traditional method of nutrient
management in rice field
• Declining in soil health
• Loss of nitrogen from soil due to Denitrification, High solubility, by leaching
etc.

Cause of the problem

• The cost of animal feeding is getting very high even though that feeding
was not up to the mark.
• For weed controlling, farmers are using different sprays and chemicals
which are high in price and also due to that chemicals the soil fertility is
getting down.
• The yields are not high enough to justify the high input costs.
 • And also, the nitrogen efficiency is only 20-30% in traditional method of
nutrient management in rice fields.
• Deterioration in soli health due the increasing the usage of variety
chemicals.
• The prices of fertilizers are in the hike nowadays, so farmers are getting low
profit.

Objectives to be achieve
 To decrease the cost of feeding
 To control the weed
 To increase the soil fertility
 To fix the nitrogen in the paddy field
 To reduce the cost of livestock and fertilizers use

Steps taken to achieve the objectives

Azolla cultivation procedure
• Create an artificial pond for growing Azolla
• For creating the Azolla cultivation pond, select partially shaded area
because Azolla needs 25-30% of sunlight. Too much sunlight will destroy
the plant. The area under the tree is preferable.
• Dig out the soil for pond and level the soil after that spread the plastic
sheet around the ground to prevent water loss. Make sure the pond is at
least 20 CM deep.
• Add some soil uniformly on the plastic sheet in the pond. For 2M*2M size
pond Add 10-15 kg of soil.
• Azolla needs Phosphorus to grow well so, add Super sulphate along with
cow dung slurry. Cow dung increases the available nutrients. Use, cow dung
4-5 days old.
 • Next fill the pond with water to a level of about 10cm this will allow the
short route of the azolla plant to float freely then leave the pond 2-3 days
so the ingredients can settle.
• After 2-3 days add Azolla culture in the pond by gently rubbing Azolla in
hands. It helps break Azolla in to smaller pieces for faster multiplication.

Maintenance of pond for Azolla cultivation

• For ensuring better growth of Azolla , apply 1 kg of cow dung and 100 to
120 grams of super sulphate once in 2 weeks.
• Make sure to remove any weeds formed in the pond regularly.
• The pond should be emptied once in 6 to 8 months and cultivation of azolla
has to be restarted with fresh culture and soil.
Harvesting and feeding Azolla cultivation
• Azolla will be ready for harvesting in 2to 3 weeks after stalling the culture in
the pond. Azolla can be harvested daily after its full growth.
• One can obtain an average of 1kg of fresh azolla per day.
• Harvested Azolla can be fed directly or mixed with nutrients and fed to
livestock like cattle, sheep, goat, pigs, poultry and rabbits.
• Before feeding the Azolla to livestock, clean and Azolla with fresh water.

Effectiveness of the project

We did certain surveys in some villages where the Azolla cultivation takes place
and the farmers who cultivate Azolla told various benefits about the azolla which
they observed After feeding Azolla to animals those are discussed below:
• Contains very high proteins, amino acids, vitamins (vitamin A, Vitamin B12),
and minerals, so it is excellent nutrient feed for livestock, also it has low
lignin content. So, animals easily digest.
• It is observed that feeding azolla to poultry birds improve the weight of
boiler chicken and increases the egg production of layer birds.
• And also observed that the smell coming from poultry farms get reduced
after feeding Azolla to poultry birds.
• Also, in animals it showed an overall increase of milk yield by 15-20% when
1.5 to 2kg of azolla was combined with regular feed.

Biofertilizer
Also fixes Atmospheric nitrogen and stores in leaves, therefore it is used as
green manure.
It has been observed, and well appreciated by rice farmers they cultivate azolla
in the paddy farm there is increase rice production by 25%.
Weed control
Azolla plant can form a thick layer on water surfaces, so it is uses for weed
control in paddy farm
And also, it slow water evaporation rate maintain soil moisture for a long time.
Mosquito control
Azolla has another ability Azolla restrict mosquito breeding process, and thus
azolla also called as ‘Mosquito fern’.

They are very happy when they get to know about Azolla and getting
Maximum profits around 8000 to 9000 rupees monthly for them by cultivating
Azolla. For Azolla cultivation required less amount of investment hence it a low
cost alternative for good feed and good biofertilizer.
Conclusion
Azolla cultivation is an excellent option for farmers who want to fix the nitrogen
in paddy fields. Azolla is the ideal feed for livestock. If they take good care of their
Azolla pond, they can harvest good quality Azolla every day, and it definitely
reduces their costs on livestock feed and fertilizer.