Written by: Muhammad Kamel copied
Agricultural engineer Kamal Ali Talaat Gouda explained the full details about Azolla, its chemical composition, production methods, uses, benefits, features, types of growth media, and factors that affect the use of Azolla in feeding animals and birds.
Kamal explains that Azolla, a small fern plant, lives floating on bodies of water and in shallow waters such as swamps, ditches, and lakes, where water is stagnant or slow. It was found for the first time in Asia, South and East Africa, and South America.
Azolla and blue-green algae
Kamal added to “The Green Future” that the Azolla plant is associated with a type of blue-green algae in symbiotic living. It is one of the types of blue-green algae (Annibiana algae), which lives in cavities inside the Azolla leaves. The algae works to stabilize atmospheric nitrogen by absorbing nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen from the atmospheric air, converts it into nitrogen, and supplies it to the Azolla, which uses it to build its cells and grow. In return, the Azolla supplies the moss with other nutrients that it forms as a result of the photosynthesis process. Therefore, rice farmers in Southeast Asian countries cultivate Azolla in rice fields. To provide a portion of the nitrogen necessary to grow rice in a natural, organic way.
Protein. Azolla
He added that the Azolla plant contains a high percentage of protein, ranging from 25 to 30% of its dry weight, and 12 to 24% of its wet weight, depending on the percentage of water in it, as a result of drying, as the water that accompanies the Azolla is divided into two parts, free water. Bound water: is the water that is eliminated by filtering, and bound water: which is the water contained within the plant tissues.
Uses of Azolla
Kamal explained that Azolla can be used in feed for waterfowl (whether green or after drying in isolation from sunlight and in a well-ventilated place), poultry, fish, rabbits, sheep, cattle, horses and camels, as it works to increase milk production in dairy cattle by 25%, and increase egg production. In poultry by 20%, feeding on Azolla improves the physical properties of eggs, such as: weight, yolk color, and shell thickness. It is also used in feeding fish, especially fish in which grasses represent a large percentage of their food, such as tilapia and all kinds of carp.
Therefore, Azolla represents one of the unconventional sources in the production of low-cost, high-nutritional homemade feed, and Azolla replaces high-priced imported feed raw materials.
Azolla productivity
Kamal continued by saying that Azolla is planted once, and gives continuous production. It is possible to obtain daily production of Azolla. Its quantity depends on the care and nutrition programs followed with Azolla, and that is the type of Azolla cultivated, and the productivity of one acre reaches 30 tons per month of Azolla, and an acre produces from one ton to One and a half tons per day, and in some cases the productivity of an acre reached 2 tons through special care programs.
There is a type of Azolla that was introduced to Egypt recently, “Azolla Nilotica,” or the Nile Azolla. Its native home is southern and eastern Sudan, and the Upper Nile in Africa. It is characterized by its tolerance to a wide temperature range, and the temperature ranges from 5 degrees Celsius in winter to 45 degrees Celsius in summer. It is also highly resistant to insect infections with the large size of the plant, which reaches a diameter of 15 cm per plant. It gives a much higher productivity than the Azolla genus that is widespread in Egypt and the Arab world.
Chemical composition of Azolla
Regarding the chemical composition of Azolla, Kamal says: Wet Azolla contains 94 to 96% water, 20% to 30% protein by dry weight, 2.5 to 3.0% potassium, 0.5 to 1.5% calcium, and 1.0 to 1.2% magnesium. From 3.0 to 1.5% zinc and copper, from 0.5 to 1% phosphorus, from 3 to 3.5% fat, from 4 to 5 nitrogen, from 8.0 to 10% fiber, in addition to vitamins A, B12, anti-toxins, antioxidants, growth stimulators, and anti-fungals, explaining that These percentages are average results of analyzes of dried Azolla and its components. These percentages vary depending on the level of nutrition and care that the Azolla ponds receive.
Azolla benefits
As for the benefits of Azolla, Kamal confirms that it is a good, low-cost food source for livestock, sheep, poultry, and fish. It is also used to improve the production of organic fuel and biogas by up to 25% when added to the fermentation mixture. Azolla is also a source for the production of many sugars that are used in manufacturing Bioplastics, and Azolla extracts can also be used in chemical products such as soap.
It can also be used in agriculture as a nitrogen fertilizer (green fertilizer), as it works as an improver of the quality of sandy and heavy clay soils, in addition to reducing the effect of salinity on plants, as it reduces the effect of high sodium ions. Fertilization with Azolla also leads to an increase in the beneficial microbial content in the soil. Which leads to improving the availability of nutrients in the soil to the plant, and thus reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers in agriculture. Also, the nitrogen present in Azolla tissue decomposes in the soil by 50:90% within 40 days of using Azolla as a green fertilizer.
It can also be used to purify water from heavy metal elements. Also, cultivating Azolla in waterways such as canals and drainage canals represents an obstacle to the breeding of mosquitoes in water bodies, and it can be used under special breeding conditions, as a good complementary food source for humans. He pointed out that chewing Azolla after... Drying it helps treat congestion and inflammation of the throat.
Types of growing media on which Azolla can be raised - soil
Kamal says, low-salinity soil that has previously been planted (clay-clay) is used as a source of nutrients needed for the growth of Azolla, explaining that the silt is spread over the plastic lining the agricultural beds to a height of 3 to 5 cm, then water is added to bring the height of the water over the silt to 30 cm. In the summer, it is reduced to 7 cm in the winter, pointing out that the soil, animal waste, dung, rabbit and bird waste, and compost or dung used as a source for producing the nutrients necessary for the growth of Azolla must be free of pathogens.
Peat moss and compost
Kamal continued, “A mixture of compost or manure that is free of pathogens is used as a source of nutrients necessary for the growth of Azolla by producing an infusion of these materials, free of pathogens, and using the resulting solution to feed Azolla.”
Nutrient solutions
A mixture of mineral elements and nutrients is used as a source of nutrients necessary for the growth of Azolla, as they are added to the water of the agricultural ponds that is free of pathogens, pollutants and heavy metals, in certain proportions, taking into account that nitrogen is not added to Azolla’s nutrients, as it works to form it itself from the air. Aerial through the moss found inside the cavities of Azolla leaves.
Factors affecting the use of Azolla in nutrition
Kamal revealed the necessity of feeding Azolla before it is fully mature so that it is soft and juicy, and the nutritional composition of Azolla varies according to the seasons and the method of cultivation, as an acre (4,200 square meters) of Azolla produces about 3.4 tons of dry matter per month, and from 450 to 720 kg of protein. raw .
Kamal added, the protein content of Azolla ranges between 25% and 30% of dry weight, and it is characterized by a good content of essential amino acids, and a small percentage of (lysine, methionine, and histidine), and therefore Azolla alone is not suitable as a sole source of proteins for monogastric animals ( Such as rabbits) and birds. It also contains a fiber content of 8 to 10% on a dry matter basis, while the ash percentage decreases to 20%.
Azolla culture results
The results of Azolla cultivation are the possibility of exploiting millions of acres in the desert or lands that are not suitable for traditional agriculture, as the Azolla breeding ponds do not need reclamation, in addition to the fact that the production of animal feed from Azolla leads to saving the hard currency necessary to import feed raw materials, as well as saving the area of alfalfa and its crops. With wheat to work to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat.
The spread of Azolla cultivation can also be considered one of the productive projects to employ youth, as one acre produces 1 ton of Azolla per day. Azolla does not consume water, and does not require changing the water in the ponds except every 6-8 months, so it is an alternative to the traditional source of proteins in animal diets. And poultry.
Advantages of using Azolla as a fodder
Kamal concluded that one of the advantages of Azolla is its ability to grow rapidly, as it doubles every 3 to 5 days. It is available throughout the year. It does not require complex manufacturing operations, such as grinding, chopping, or any other operations before feeding on it, because it is fragile and also... It contains growth stimulants, vitamins, antioxidants, and antitoxins.
Among its advantages is that it increases the percentage of lean production by 25% in dairy cows, and a 20% increase in egg production in laying hens, in addition to improving the specifications of the resulting eggs (yolk color, shell thickness), and reducing the percentage of dead eggs in ducks up to one week old (0 % dead), and providing drinking water to animals and birds from Azolla pond water increases immunity, improves the general health of animals and improves digestion.