The cultivation and import of animal feed in particular has a negative impact on the ecological balance in animal husbandry. Locally produced feedstuffs, on the other hand, can increase the sustainability of animal feed in the long term. Duckweed has great potential in this respect.
The start of production on farms and in industrial plants is currently still hampered by unresolved issues relating to biosafety, the storability of duckweed and the utilization of liquid manure.
The use of duckweed as animal feed is already established in aquacultures around the world. Duckweed is not very suitable as feed for fish farming under Swiss conditions, as the species farmed are not herbivores.
Nevertheless, the suitability of duckweed as feed for poultry and pigs means that there are other possible uses apart from aquaculture. This fact sheet also addresses the use of duckweed as a bioenergy plant, or in the field of biomining for the remediation of heavily polluted waters.
Further information
Contact
Link
fibl.org: Fact sheet "Duckweed – a useful crop"