2015-16

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Design and Fabrication of Manual and Automated Systems for Hydroponic Fodder
(2016-07-21T06:56:06Z) Aneesh, Gopal; Krishna, Maruthi; Naga, Chowdary; Umakanth, B.S
On the surface, the concept of putting one kilogram of grain into a hydroponic system and producing 6 to 10 kilograms of lush green sprouts, independent of weather and at any time of year, is appealing. Though it seems like growing a lot of feed, the increase in fresh weight is due to water and most often there is a reduction in dry matter weight compared with the initial grain. Hydroponically sprouting grain is less a case of growing feed and more a case of buying in grain and spending additional, sizeable quantities of time and money to change its quality and reduce its dry matter weight. The economics and application of such a production system should be carefully examined. This report evaluates the economics of producing cereal sprouts for commercial cattle production through a hydroponic system. It looks at aspects of sprouts dry matter content and nutrient quality as well as provides methods of costing and comparing sprouts with other supplements.