Browsing by Author "Siva Kumar, T"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
ArticleItem Open Access Growth performance of tellicherry crossbred female kids supplemented with varying levels of hydroponic maize fodder(2020-05) Rachel Jemimah, E; Tensingh Gnanaraj, P; Siva Kumar, T; Gopinathan, A; Meenakshi Sundaram, S; TANUVASA study was conducted to assess the growth performance of Tellicherry crossbred female kids fed with varying levels of hydroponic maize fodder. 24 Tellicherry crossbred femalekids aged around 4 months were randomly selected and allotted into three treatment groups namely, control (100% concentrate mixture), treatment 1 (75% concentrate & 25 % hydroponic maize fodder) and treatment 2 (50% concentrate & 50% hydroponic maize fodder) consisting of eight animals each. The study was conducted for a period of8 months.Phase feeding was followed as per NRC. During the study, initial body weight, final body weight, overall weight gain, average daily gain, body condition score, dry matter fed and intake per day and feed conversion efficiency were recorded to assess the growth performance. Economics were calculated for the entire study period.Hydroponic maize fodder supplemented groups had significantly (P<0.05) higher final body weight and total weight gain than the control group. Though the hydroponic fodder supplemented groups had significantly (P<0.01) higher total cost of feeding/animal from 4 months to 1 year of age (Rs.), numerically they had the lowest cost of production/kg live weight gain (Rs.) than the control group. No statistical differencewas noticed between the groups in terms of initial body weight, average daily gain, body condition score, dry matter fed and intake per day, feed conversion efficiency and cost of feeding per animal per day (Rs.). To conclude, the weight gain in the Tellicherry female kids can be enhanced by supplementing hydroponic maize fodder at 25% and 50% level with the added advantage of the reduced cost of production/kg live weight gain.ArticleItem Open Access Productivity and nutritional composition of maize fodder grown by hydroponic and conventional methods(2020-03) Rachel Jemimah, E; Tensingh Gnanaraj, P; Siva Kumar, T; Gopinathan, A; Meenakshi Sundaram, S; TANUVASProductivity, biomass yield and nutritional composition of maize fodder grown for the same period of duration and under same area of production both by hydroponic and conventional methods were compared in this study. Hydroponic maize fodder was produced using 3 ft wide, 4 ft long low cost hydroponic green fodder machine fabricated at TANUVAS. Maize was processed or two days and grown inside the hydroponic machine for 8 days. After 8 days of growth period in the machine the fodder was harvested on the 9th day. Four plots of 4 ft X 3 ft size were divided into two groups namely, group 1 (normal sowing rate - 40 kg / ha i.e. 5 g /plot.) and group 2 (hydroponic production method rate - 6 kg/ plot) each having two plots. All the plots were harvested at day 10 after sowing. Parameters such as total fodder yield, seed to fodder production ratio, root biomass, shoot biomass and proximate composition were studied. Hydroponic maize fodder had significantly higher (P< 0.01) total fodder yield, seed to fodder production ratio and root biomass compared to land grown maize fodder. Hydroponic maize fodder (P< 0.01) had significantly lower moisture, EE and TA; and significantly higher DM, CF, NFE and TDN compared to land grown maize fodders. CP content of hydroponic maize fodder was similar to that of land grown maize fodder (6 kg/plot) but significantly (P< 0.01) lower to land grown maize fodder (5 g/plot). To conclude, with the same growth period and area of production; hydroponic method of fodder production yields higher fodder with better nutritional quality than conventional method.