Food potential of aquatic macrophytes [as human food, livestock feed and fertilizer; study conducted in Thailand]
1981
Edwards, P.
A review is presented of the pathways in which aquatic macrophytes may be involved in the food production process, directly as human food, as livestock fodder, as fertilizer (mulch and manure, ash, green manure, compost, biogas slurry), and as food for aquatic herbivores, such as fish, turtles, rodents and manatees. An attempt is made to identify the strategies which may have the greatest potential at present. The following research areas are suggested as worthy of attention: protein content and yield of Ipomoea aquatica and Neptunia oleracea, two vegetables which grow year round in the tropics and can be propagated from cuttings; protein content and yield of various types of duckweed in the tropics as a function of different concentrations of various organic wastes; Azolla and filamentous blue green algae as biofertilizers; composting aquatic macrophytes and the use of the compost as an organic fertilizer in fish ponds; aquatic macrophytes in biogas production and the use of the slurry as an organic fertilizer in fishponds and the feasibility of stocking herbivorous fish in irrigation systems with large aquatic macrophyte populations.
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