Design, development, and performance evaluation of a vertical hydroponic system for fodder crop production and enhanced resource-use efficiency

The study was conducted at the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-Kashmir), during 2022–2025 to design, develop, and evaluate a resource-efficient vertical hydroponic system for fodder production under the prevailing environmental conditions. The study addresses the need for compact, water-efficient, and continuously productive fodder systems through an integrated engineering–agronomic approach, which forms the novelty of this work. A seven-tier vertical hydroponic structure (14 trays) was fabricated using stainless steel and equipped with automated irrigation, LED-based supplemental lighting, and an IoT-based monitoring system. The experiment was laid out in a factorial completely randomized design with three irrigation durations (15, 10, and 5 s), two nutrient concentrations (100% and 50% Hydrogrow solution), and two light intensities (200 and 160 µmol m⁻ 2 s⁻ 1 PPFD). Maize ( Zea mays ), wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), and berseem ( Trifolium alexandrinum ) were grown for an 8-day cycle. Results indicated that irrigation duration had the strongest effect on growth, followed by nutrient concentration and light intensity. The best-performing treatment combination (I₁L₁N₁) produced consistently higher growth across all crops, with maximum shoot lengths of 23.50 cm (maize), 21.60 cm (berseem), and 14.80 cm (wheat). Fresh biomass yield reached up to 4.90 kg per tray, along with improvements in root development and NDVI. Compared with conventional control, hydroponic treatments showed significant improvements ( p ≤ 0.01). Engineering evaluation confirmed structural safety with a design load of 752.8 kg and compressive stress of 1.14 MPa, well within material limits. The hydraulic system delivered 0.35 L s⁻ 1 at a total dynamic head of 4.9 m, while energy consumption of the LED system ranged from 2.81–3.74 kWh day⁻ 1 . In conclusion, the developed system demonstrated reliable structural performance and improved fodder productivity under optimized irrigation, nutrient, and light conditions. It can be recommended as a scalable model for efficient fodder production in controlled environments.