Aquaponics is quickly changing the way a lot of people are looking at the future of food production. Aquaponics brings the potential to be able to grow healthy organic food, in areas that would otherwise not be suitable for farming. Aquaponics is a way to grow plants and fish together without soil and without a need for chemical fertilizers or large amounts of water.
Fish and plants may seem like an odd pair, but they are actually almost a perfect combination, since each one has what the other needs. Plants need plenty of water and nutrients to survive and grow. Fish need clean water. This can be a huge problem with fish farming since fish wastes tend to build up and their water will become toxic to to them over time if not changed or filtered.
When you combine fish and plants in an aquaponics system, you eliminate a lot of problems that you would have with farming plants or fish separately. The fish wastes that build up in the water are full of organic nutrients that are just what the plants want. Beneficial bacteria colonize in the water and break down the wastes into usable nutrients. When nutrient rich fish water is constantly being delivered directly to the plant roots, the results are healthier plants that produce 100% organic food.
With this type of farming, the fish, the bacteria, and the system are doing most of the garden work. At the same time, the plants are taking care of the fish by keeping the water clean. In this system, water is circulated in a closed loop and used over and over. The only water that needs to be replaced is only that which is used by the plants and a small amount that is lost through evaporation. This is much different than conventional farming where water is wasted by dumping it on the ground and most of it is never used by the plants. This is why this system only consumes around 2% of the water as farming in the soil does.
Aquaponics does not use soil. Plants are grown with their roots directly in the fish water. This can be done with a floating raft, where the roots hang freely in the grow bed full of water, or in a medium like gravel that the water circulates through. This is why it doesn’t matter what soil conditions are like in any area or if there is even soil at all.
The advantages of aquaponics are many. With concern about water and fertile land shortages, aquaponics opens up possibilities for food to be grown in places that would otherwise be unsuitable. With plenty of sun and warm temperatures, areas that are infertile barren deserts with very little water can become prime farm land. This opens up much of the world to be able to produce fresh organic vegetables and fish, where resources are scarce and without environmental damage.
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