An Experiment with Azolla
Azolla? What's that? the question reverberated in my mind for quite some time before I actively started searching for answers. The government, as per the latest provisions under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), had included construction of ' Azolla ' tanks along with cow sheds in villages. The search for answers led me to Google and then, some videos and blogs posted across the web. The Wikipedia suggested that Azolla ( sc. name Azolla caroliniana ), is a type of fern with very small leaves that is mostly found floating over still water bodies - lakes & ponds. Its nitrogen fixation properties make it useful as a bio fertilizer and fodder for animals. So that's where everything connected. Azolla tanks were to be constructed along with cow sheds to provide for additional fodder for the milch animals. That cleared some air about what we were trying to do. Further exploration on the internet brought me across some videos (mostly from South India)