519 
Second, the many strains of fresh-water algae are extremely produc- 
tive under intense cultivation conditions. Between April and October, 
an artificial algae culture basin 2.5 acres in size with water 10 to 
15 centimeters deep will yield about 30-50 tons of dry mass.'® 
Basins or special ponds for the artificial cultivation of algae can 
be constructed in virtually any region on the Earth, even in areas 
not suitable for agriculture such as arid or desert regions. Cultivators 
in the Soviet Union are constructed on the roofs of homes or in- 
tegrated into agricultural and industrial complexes.’ 
Microscopic algae are not only highly productive but are distin- 
guished from conventional agricultural plant forms by a number of 
features. Their most attractive characteristic is that cultivation is a 
uniquely controllable process. Complete automation of cultivation and 
harvest is possible. Moreover, given an artificial microclimate, they 
can be cultivated the year around. Another attractive feature of algae 
is that there is little waste in the yield of biomass. Only about 9-10 
percent of the body of the cell is considered to be waste product.'® 
While the nutritional potential of algae is quite attractive, there 
are a number of problems involved with utilization. First, the harvested 
algae biomass is not particularly palatable to either humans or animals 
and is rather difficult to digest. This has rendered algae an unattractive 
candidate, at least for human food. Second, their utility as an exclusvie 
animal feed is somewhat limited and they are used as an additive 
in conventional animal feeds. Considerable research is underway in 
the Soviet Union to solve these problems. In the central Asian part 
of the Soviet Union, where there is little agriculture but considerable 
fossil fuel exploitation, algae are successfully cultivated on an indus- 
trial scale and contribute substantially to the local economy. The 
Uzbek Animal Husbandry Scientific Research Institute has developed 
a device for the 24-hour cultivation of algae. It is estimated by 
scientists in that institute that 50 tons of algae suspension are sufficient 
to feed 5,000 head of cattle and 12,000 to 15,000 pigs. Another 
Soviet scientist believes that only 100 grams of Chlorella are sufficient 
to sausty the daily vitamin requirements of the average human 
body. 
Chlorella is now used for livestock and poultry farming in the 
Ukraine, Turkmenia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The feed enterprises 
of the Uzbek Ministry of Sovkhozes (state farms) were the first to 
use algae suspensions of livestock feeding. In 1972, they produced 
22,000 tons of suspension. Natural gas is being used for mass cultiva- 
tion. Byproducts from the natural gas industry in the form of heat 
and carbonic acid, the latter of which is later converted to carbon 
dioxide, have proven highly effective in the year-round cultivation 
of Chlorella in open tanks. By 1975, it was planned that more than 
40 livestock enterprises in Uzbekistan be equipped with facilities to 
cultivate, harvest, and use Chlorella as a livestock feed. Also planned 
were large cultivation complexes capable of producing 150 to 200 
tons of suspension per day. ”° 
6 Ibid. 
- Muzafarov, A.N. Chlorella, Op. cit. 
18 Uae Soviet Chlorella research. Krasnaya Zvesda (U.S.S.R.), June 7, 1973, p. 4 (FRD Ab- 
stract No. 1307). 
20 Unsigned. Burgeoning Soviet Chlorella farming. Pravda (U.S.S.R.), Mar. 28, 1973, p. 3 (FRD 
Abstract No. 1196). 
