August 14: The trend of using fertilizers like urea, DAP and potassium in farming with the aim of increasing productivity is on the rise. However, the farmers face shortage of chemical fertilizers each year due to the inability of the government to supply the fertilizers. On the brighter side, experts say that urea consumption can be reduced up to 50 percent with the use of Azolla plant technology introduced lately in Nepal.

According to the experts, the cost of production of Azolla is cheap and its use does not have a negative impact on human health. The Azolla plant technology is adopted by countries like China, India, and the Philippines. Even in Nepal, the National Food Bank Limited successfully tested this technology in Gulariya Municipality of Bardia.

According to Prof Dr Mohan Prasad Panthi of the Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, who is assisting in this work, only 50 kg of urea will be enough instead of 100 Kg urea requirement with the use of Azolla.

Azolla is a type of fern that grows in water. Panthi says that it should be sprinkled in the crop field after the paddy is planted and rooted. It takes nitrogen from air and helps other plants growing with it to take the same nitrogen. Generally, it can be used within 1 week to 12 days after planting paddy in a water-filled field.

After Azolla spreads over the entire field, the water in the paddy field should be dried. According to studies, within a few days of that, Azolla will decompose and water can be added again.

Azolla also helps in destroying other weeds growing in the paddy fields and keeping the soil moist and fertile. It can be produced by creating a water pond. Panthi says that 1 kg of Azolla plant can be produced in an easy way as the production will double within 15 days of keeping it in the pond.

According to him, Azolla can be produced at the rate of 2 paisa per kg.

“The most positive aspect of this plant is that it also plays a role in increasing the production of rice. Various researches have shown that rice production increased by 10 to 14 percent in the fields where Azolla was used,” he told New Business Age.

Prof Dr Panthi added that Azolla can be dried and used in the feed of chickens and cattle, so it is considered as a multi-purpose plant. Using Azolla in feed improves the health of chickens and also increases the production of meat and egg. By feeding Azolla to cows and buffaloes mixed with sawdust or hay, milk production can also increased by 10 percent.

Azolla is a free floating fern having 6 known species. Azolla Pinata is the most popular species in Asia. It ensures sufficient atmospheric nitrogen for rapid plant growth and also provides a source of organic nitrogen fertilizer to plants. It can be considered as an aqueous green manure. Recently, Azolla is emerging as an aspect of special interest in paddy cultivation.