What is Azolla PPT?
INTRODUCTION • Azolla /mosquito fern/ duckweed fern/ fairy moss/ water fern is a free floating aquatic ferns and is genus which belongs to family Salviniaceae. • It grows in fresh water and is naturally available mostly on moist soils, ditches marshy ponds and is widely distributed in tropical belts of India.
How does Azolla reproduce?
Its asexual reproduction is achieved simply by multiplication of fragmented fronds (fern leaves). Under ideal growth conditions, the water fern grows and reproduces (asexually) extremely fast, often able to double its weight in 2-5 d (2), making it a popular green manure species in tropical and subtropical agriculture.
How fast does Azolla grow?
Azolla can double its leaf area in seven days if conditions of high nutrient levels and water temperatures persist.
What is the importance of Azolla in agriculture?
Azolla substantially increases the amount of nitrogen fertilizer available to growing rice and it is has been used for thousands of years as a ‘green’ nitrogen fertilizer to increase rice production.
What is Azolla PDF?
Azolla is a small water fern that grows on the surface of water bodies or on moist soil. Due to the presence of the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena azollae , it fixes molecular nitrogen. This fern is used as biofertilizer for rice in millions of hectares in Asia.
What are the benefits of Azolla?
Azolla is very rich in proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin B12, Beta Carotene), growth promoter intermediaries and minerals including calcium, phosphorous, potassium, ferrous, copper, magnesium.
What type of fertilizer is Azolla?
Azolla’s traditional cultivation as a bio-fertilizer for wetland paddy (due to its ability to fix nitrogen), Azolla is finding increasing use for sustainable production of livestock feed. Azolla is rich in proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals.
How do you grow Azolla?
Growing (Production) of Azolla: Mix clean fertile soil with cow dung and water and spread across (uniformly) the pond. To cover the 6 feet X 4 feet pond, 1 kg of fresh Azolla culture is required. Apply this culture uniformly in the pond. Make sure to have the water depth at least 5 to 6 inches in the pond.
What is the best fertilizer for Azolla?
Phosphorus
Fertilize Azolla with 2.2 kg Phosphorus (P)/ha every 5 d, 4 kg K/ha every 10 d, and/or 500−1000 kg/ha farmyard manure every 5−10 d. If chemical fertilizers are unavailable, ash is substituted.
How many types of Azolla are there?
Azolla filiculoidesAzolla pinnataAzolla microphyllaMexican mosquito fernAzolla primaeva
Mosquito ferns/Lower classifications
What is the function of Azolla?
Azolla, hitherto used mainly as a green manure in paddy has tremendous potential to meet the growing demand for fodder among the small farmers taking up animal husbandry. Azolla is an aquatic floating fern, found in temperate climate suitable for paddy cultivation. The fern appears as a green mat over water.
What are benefits of Azolla?
What are the characteristics of Azolla?
Azolla plants are triangular or polygonal in shape, and float on the surface of the water, individually or in mats. They give the appearance of a dark green to reddish carpet, except Azolla nilotica that does not produce the red anthocyanin pigment.
What is Azolla and its benefits?
Azolla has enormous potential as a livestock feed due to: Its high content in proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin B12, Beta Carotene), growth promoter intermediaries and minerals. Its ability to proliferate without inorganic nitrogen fertilization.
Which season is better for growth of Azolla?
Light affects the photosynthesis and regulate nitrogenase activity in azolla and anabaena. Azolla species generally grow best in less than full sunlight except in high latitudes during spring.
Is urea good for Azolla?
Incorporation of one layer of Azolla plus application of 60% of urea-N appeared as the best combination in this study.
What nutrients does Azolla need?
Azolla requires all the essential elements that are required by other plants, plus molybdenum (an essential constituent of nitrogenase) and cobalt, which are required for Anabaena’s nitrogen fixation.
How to prepare Azolla culture?
Production of Azolla • Sieved fertile soil mixed with cow dung and water need to be spread uniformly in the pond. • About 1 kg of fresh Azolla culture is needed for a pond of 6 X 4 feet size which need to be applied uniformly in the pond. • Biogas slurry can also be used instead of dung. • The depth of water should be four to six inches.
What is the structure of Azolla?
Live symbiotically with Anabaena azollae, a nitrogen- fixing blue-green algae. A main stem growing at the surface of the water, with alternate leaves and adventitious roots at regular intervals along the stem. Azolla fronds are triangular or polygonal Float on the water surface individually or in mats.
How much Azolla can be produced from a pond?
Plastic sieves can be used to harvest the biomass from the pond’s surface. • About 800 to 900 grams of fresh Azolla (mean yield per day in a season) can be produced from an area of 6 X 4 feet. • Azolla can be fed to the livestock either in fresh or dried form. It can be given directly or mixed with concentrates.
What are the conditions for higher efficacy of Azolla?
Favourable condition for higher efficacy of Azolla Water: 10-15 cm fresh current water is necessary in multiplication pond. Temperature: the day/night temperatures ranging between 32ºC and 20ºC have found to be most favourable.