From invasive plant to alternative animal feed

DW (English)

The high price of imported animal feed is a headache for farmers all over the world. In Egypt, some are looking into locally produced alternatives, such as the fast-growing and versatile aquatic fern Azolla.

Transcript

00:00 Azolla is an invasive plant.

00:04 On the surface of it, that's hardly a good thing. But besides growing extremely

00:09 quickly,

00:09 Azolla contains a lot of protein, which makes it ideal animal fodder.

00:14 Yet it hasn't caught on as a feed crop so far.

00:17 Mohamed Abdel Tawab only discovered the plant by chance on YouTube,

00:21 while looking for cheaper ways of feeding his household animals.

00:25 If we use the Azolla to feed cattle, we can save an average of 60 to 70 percent

00:31 of the feed costs.

00:33 For poultry, you can save an average of 40 to 60 percent, based on the bird type.

00:37 Seven years ago,

00:44 Mohamed Abdel Tawab began studying and then planting Azolla

00:47 to feed his domestic livestock with it. And soon after, he started selling it to

00:52 others.

00:53 His mother took a bit more convincing.

00:59 When Mohamed first got customers, I used to laugh at them and said to myself that

01:03 the world is full of weird, crazy people.

01:05 Then I started trying the plant with my poultry and,

01:10 honestly, I found great results. Mohamed has since decided to become a full-time

01:16 Azolla farmer and pioneer.

01:17 He grows the plants in several large tanks,

01:20 with a total area of 300 square meters.

01:25 I started about seven years ago with a very small farm.

01:28 Now we have a number of Azolla nurseries, and we've spread the idea around Egypt,

01:33 helping to grow the plant on 350 acres.

01:36 Most Egyptian farmers, like Abdullah Ali,

01:39 feed their animals on grain and soy. But the country now imports about half of its

01:44 grain

01:45 and 90 percent of its soy. And the war in Ukraine has also further pushed up

01:51 prices,

01:52 putting pressure on many farmers.

01:59 300 kilos used to cost us almost nothing,

02:02 but now they cost a lot. Today's price is 1,500 to 1,800 euros.

02:09 But my income hasn't increased, so I don't make a profit.

02:13 Azolla is much cheaper,

02:16 and growing it is simple if there's water nearby. All you need then

02:20 is sun and sometimes some phosphorus to act as a fertilizer.

02:24 The aquatic fern was long cultivated elsewhere,

02:28 for example in Peru or in rice farms in China.

02:32 But the technique has largely died out.

02:35 Mohamed Abdel Tawab is using modern means to spread the word in Egypt.

02:40 At first people were wary, and I didn't know what to do with my harvest.

02:47 Then I started using social media. I uploaded videos on my channel showing

02:51 the Azolla plant

02:52 and poultry eating it. That gained attention,

02:56 and people came to see it for themselves. I showed them the plant

02:59 and the chickens. Then people started to accept the idea.

03:03 His tanks produce some 600 kilos

03:10 each day, and he has plenty of customers.

03:13 Experts say that the plant can also play an important role in the environment.

03:18 It can purify water and provide its own nutrients.

03:22 A type of blue-green algae grows with the Azolla plant.

03:27 It absorbs nitrogen from the air and transforms it into organic nitrogen that

03:33 feeds the plant.

03:34 It also has anthocyanins that work as antioxidants,

03:38 and is a source of vitamin A, which increases the plant's nutritional value.

03:42 Azolla has also caught the eye

03:48 of Egyptian agricultural researchers. These university graduates

03:52 are producing powdered Azolla feed, and hope the plant can help farmers to become

03:57 more independent

03:58 in other ways.

04:01 We want to have a social, an environmental, and an economic impact.

04:05 I teach farmers within fertile land and water with relatively high salinity

04:09 levels how to grow the Azolla plant.

04:11 I'll buy their harvest from them, and they'll have a decent source of income.

04:15 When the test phase is over,

04:19 the young scientists want to get their product approved by the Egyptian

04:22 authorities.

04:23 In the meantime, Mohamed Abdel Tawab

04:26 has found another application for surplus Azolla. It works well

04:30 as an organic fertilizer.

04:34 (laughing)

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