BCSIR is using wheat seeds to grow fodder in hydroponic system.
The wheat seeds have to be kept in hydrogen peroxide for six hours to free those from germs.
Wheat seeds are laid on the container bed. Around seven kilograms grass will be produced from a kg of seeds.
The minerals are supplied through water in every six hours after laying the seeds on the bed.
After laying the seeds on the bed, it takes only a week for the grasses to be ready as fodder.
A 200 square feet container with the full hydroponic system of producing 200-225 kg grass daily in it costs Tk 400,000. The price of a 400 square feet container with the capacity to produce 400-440 kg grass daily is Tk 800,000.
Five to six levels of beds can be set up in a container by controlling temperature and humidity, which allows growing more grass using less space.
The fodder produced through hydroponic system can be stored for up to 10 days.
Seven feet long grass carpets like the one showed in the photo need two kg wheat seeds to grow eight-inch grasses in a week.
BCSIR Project Director Rezaul Karim says cattle start to give 10-15 percent more milk once those are fed with hydroponically grown fodder.
Grasses produced at the research centre were distributed free among some farms recently.
The carpets of hydroponically grown fodder are also easy to roll and carry.
Hydroponically grown fodder are being loaded on a vehicle for distribution.
The grasses grown without soil are taken to a cattle farm at Berhibandh area in the capital's Mohammadpur.
According to the cattle farmers, a milch cow needs food of around Tk 300 daily while the cost drops below Tk 200 if it is fed with hydroponic fodder.
