©FAO/Irene Nurzia Humburg. Editorial use only. Photo credit must be given. The aquatic fern Azolla grows in symbiosis with a blue-green alga, Anabaena azollae, located within pockets in its leaves. The alga is a nitrogen fixing species, thereby providing all of the nitrogen requirements of the fern. The plant is highly productive with the ability to double its weight in 7 days. These characteristics make it attractive as a green manure, especially in rice and taro paddies, and as feed for livestock and aquaculture. It can reportedly produce 9 tonnes of protein per hectare of pond per year. Read more here about Azolla and other aquatic plants, algae and macrophytes as aquaculture feed here: www.fao.org/3/a-i1141e.pdf

2012

I. Nurzia Humburg

Alga, blue-green-, Feed (pl.: feeds), Feed ingredient, Feed, supplemental-, Feed, supplementary-, Macrophyte, Manure, green-, Rice fields

Hawaii

Oceania

United States of America