Comparative performance of different wheat-grass production techniques under greenhouse condition
Paper Details
Comparative performance of different wheat-grass production techniques under greenhouse condition
Abstract
For year round supply of fodder three techniques of wheat-grass production under protected environment were compared. Hydroponics fodder provides natural way to provide nutrients for the animals and plays major role in livestock health and overall growth. Hydroponics fodder actually plays a major role in feed of the milch animals. In Pakistan year-round fodder availability is very important especially in slack period. Nutrient film technique is an improved method to grow wheat-fodder without soil by using nutrients water in channels. The process of growing wheat-fodder hydroponically allows the control of climatic conditions for optimum growth. In hydroponics agriculture, only two weeks are required for the harvesting of wheat-grass due its fast growing habit under protected environment. Keeping in view the importance of fodder, an experiment was conducted at Hydroponic Research Station Rawat, Institute of Hydroponic Agriculture (IHA), PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi. The experiment conducted for two size of re-circulating PVC pipes (7.6 and 10.1 cm dia) and steel trays (8.8 and 12.5 cm width) while their comparison was made with drip irrigation system and pasteurized soil for wheat-grass production. Five clusters were selected from each Channel and data recorded for various crop growth parameters like germination rate, cluster height, number of tillers, root length, fresh weight and dry weight was statistical analyzed by using Complete Randomized Design (CRD). It was concluded from the study that NFT proved to be a better technique as compared to drip and pasteurized soil.
Al-Karaki GN. 2011. Utilization of treated sewage wastewater for green forage production in a hydroponic system. Emirates journal of food and agriculture 80-94.
Chung TY, Nwokolo EN, Sim JS. 1989. Compositional and digestibility changes in sprouted barley and canola seeds. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition 39(3), 267-278.
Domingues DS, Takahashi HW, Camara CAP, Nixdorf SL. 2012. Automated system developed to control pH and concentration of nutrient solution evaluated in hydroponic lettuce production. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 84, 53-61.
Fenneman D, Sweat M, Hochmuth G, Hochmuth R. 2018. Production Systems-Florida Greenhouse Vegetable Production Handbook , Lay-Flat Bag and Nursery Popular Media Choices for Lay-Flat. Production Systems-Florida Greenhouse Vegetable Production Handbook, 3, 1-8. Hydroponics. Kangaroo Press. Sydney. Australia 36-43.
Khoneva MS, Rudenko OV, Usatikov SV, Bugayets NA, Tamova MYU, Fedorova MA, Mogilny MP. 2018. Optimizing technological process of hydroponic germination of wheat grain by graphic method/J. Pharm. Sci. & Res. Vol 10(2), 381-390.
Kruchkin A. 2013. IBIS World Industry Report OD4012. Hydroponic Crop Farming.
Maboko MM, Du Plooy CP. 2013. High-plant density planting of basil (Ocimum basilicum) during summer/fall growth season improves yield in a closed hydroponic system. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B-Soil & Plant Science 63(8), 748-752.
Mason J. 1990. Commercial hydroponics: How to grow 86 different plants in E. Okemwa, “Effectiveness of Aquaponic and Hydroponic Gardening to Traditional Gardening,” International Journal of Scientific Research and Innovative Technology, vol. 2, no. 2313-3759 p. 35, 2015.
Naik PK, Swain BK, Singh NP. 2015. Production and utilization of hydroponics fodder. Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition 32(1), 1-9.
Nelson PV. 2012. Greenhouse operation and management. Prentice-Hall, Upper
Resh HM, Howard M. 2012. Hydroponic Food Production: A Definitive Guidebook for the Advanced Home Gardener and the Commercial Hydroponic Grower. In Santa Bárbara, California EUA (Sixth).
Resh HM. 2013. Hydroponic Food Production: A Definitive Guidebook for the Advanced Home Gardener and the Commercial Hydroponic Grower. 7th ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Walters KJ. 2015. Quantifying the effects of hydroponic systems, nutrient solution, and air temperature on growth and development of basil (Ocimum) species.
Wetherell D. 1988. Hormonal regulation of wheat growth during hydroponic culture. John F. Kennedy space center University of central Florida Report 446.
Yvonne Kamanga (Malawi). 2016. YAP proposal #255: Hydroponic fodder: Increasing milk production and income! YAP-Youth Agripreneur Project.
Sohail Raza Haidree, Zia-Ul-Haq, Shahid Javed Butt, Talha Mehmood, Abdul Qadeer, 2019. Comparative performance of different wheat-grass production techniques under greenhouse condition. Int. J. Biosci., 15(4), 395-400.
Copyright © 2019 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.