Aquaponics as an Alternative to Conventional Agriculture

1994 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of agricultural on the environment

The greatest 21st-century challenge that humanity will face is not terrorism, disease, or warfare. It is not solely an issue of politics, inequality, or climate change. Instead, it is the kindling that fuels and exacerbates all other issues. Our greatest challenge is one of demography. The problem is that we exist, or rather, that too many of us do, and that we are running out of ways to feed ourselves.
The most pressing issue we must decide how to handle, in the face of booming population, is how to deal with our current agricultural system. This paper will present the most damaging side-effects of conventional agriculture and will show how aquaponics, a nearly entirely self-sustaining agricultural system, addresses these impacts.
Around the halfway point of the century, the UN predicts there will be 9.6 billion people on Earth (UN 2013). From now until then, we will have to produce more food than what humanity has consumed in its entire existence (Weisman 2013). Most of this demand will come from developing countries. As their economies grow, not only will these countries be able to afford more food, their preferences will also shift towards more meat, dairy, and processed foods, all of which require disproportionately large inputs and the use of intense agricultural practices to produce (Trostle and Seeley 2013).
Paradoxically, modern agriculture is both the blessing that provided us with the abundant food that allowed us to flourish, and the curse that will lead to our collapse if left unchecked. Moreover, our agricultural practices are both shaped by and shapers of our environment. However, as our population grows, we find ourselves having to increase our roles as shapers to meet food demands, often with several environment...

... middle of paper ...

... Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Various. 2012. Inefficient Use of Irrigation Water. United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Center.

Walker, R. 2013. Aquaponic nitrogen cycle.

Watkins, K. et al. 2006. Beyond Scarcity: Power,Poverty, and the Global Water Crisis. United Nations Development Programme.

Weber, C. 2011. Aquaponic Farming Operations Taking Root. Illinois: The Chicago Tribune, May 25.

Weisman, Alan. 2013. Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Island Civilization By Robert Frazier Nash

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    Once the author made his view clear, he goes on to display possible scenarios of how human existence can change within the next millennium. He proposed four possible scenarios. The first scenario that Nash discusses, the “wasteland scenario” depicts

    Read More

  • Organic Food: Hydroponics Vs. Organic Farming

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hydroponics and organic farming, both provide food but there is one difference, one could help you and one could hurt you. Did you know that some of the food you eat doesn't come from the ground? It's true, scientist have come up with a source of farming called hydroponics. Hydroponics consist of water, unnatural sunlight, and unnatural chemicals. The water replaces the soil, the unnatural sunlight replaces the natural sunlight, and the unnatural chemical replaces the nutrients that the soil usually gives off. When eating organically grown food you might start to notice changes in your weight, mood, and even your health. These things may improve because in organic and natural food, there are different kinds of nutrients that help your body

    Read More

  • Pros Of Green Revolution

    434 Words  | 1 Pages

    With the rapid growth of our global population pouring into the next millennium, we will witness an ever-growing hunger rate around the world. That is unless we call for a revolution on the global scale. The Green Revolution which already sprouted in the early part of the century only need to add a bit more momentum and we will see a bright future for the human race, a future without hunger and starvation ¡V hopefully.It is becoming increasingly difficult for the planet to support its overwhelming population. And since the amount of arable land available is becoming scarce, we must seek ways to dramatically improve crop yields of existing cropland.

    Read More

  • Ethical Issues In Gattaca

    1522 Words  | 4 Pages

    Good morning, listeners, and thanks for reading. Welcome to the Future Forum. I am Millie Shane. An exciting topic for us to discuss today is the challenges for the future. What concerns could our future generations confront?

    Read More

  • Sustainability of The Global Food System

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    In order for us to maintain our lives, we need to consume food to supply nutrient-needs for our bodies. As the global population increased, the demand for food also increased. Increased population led to mass production of foods. However, even with this mass production, in under-developed countries, people are still undernourished. On other hand, in developed and developing countries, people are overfed and suffering from obesity. In addition, the current methods of industrial farming destroy the environment. These problems raised a question to our global food system. Will it be able to sustain our increasing global population and the earth? With this question in my mind, I decided to investigate the sustainability of our current global food system.

    Read More

  • Aquaponics Advantages And Disadvantages

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    Growing food with Aquaponics is more efficient than growing food the traditional soil garden way. In a typical soil garden, growers end up spending hours of their time doing back breaking work on their garden, but not anymore, with Aquaponics the need for any tilling, digging, or weeding is eliminated. Aquaponics combines Aquaculture (Raising fish in tanks), and Hydroponics (Growing plants without soil). The outcome is a working system that provides plants with all the nutrients they need, while using a minimum of space, effort, water, fertilizers, and pesticides. Aquaponics allows farmers to use up to 90% less water than normal farming would use, so instead of watering your soil and having the majority of your water either lost by run off or evaporated by the sun, the water is recycled repeatedly through the system saving farmers hundreds of dollars on their monthly water bills. Also when growing with Aquaponics, much more food can be produced in a smaller space, in some cases growers have produced around twenty times the amount of produce in the same area a soil garden would. In addition, with the closed, controlled environment of the system, the need for the use of any pesticides a basically eliminated. Finally, Aquaponics enables growers to grow bigger, better and more quality produce.

    Read More

  • Aquaponics Essay

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Aquaponics is the combination of both aquaculture, which is fish farming, and hydroponics, which is farming without the use of soil. In aquaponics, plants form a symbiotic relationship with fish allowing for fish to get nutrients from plants, and plants get a supply clean water from the fish. With aquaponics, the plants and fish can grow faster than average due to naturally fortified water from the fish, and nutrient-rich water from the plants. Aquaponics also allows for two types of farming happening at the same time, fish and plants, if the system the fish are in is large enough. Furthermore, aquaponics allows for plants to grow anywhere, without arable land. Many countries are not able to meet the demand for food because of the climate or

    Read More

  • What Is Aquaponics Essay

    2046 Words  | 5 Pages

    The paper discusses about the art and science behind Aquaponics. Furthermore it discusses about how its forms have been practiced in the world and throughout history. And also how it if a more sustainable way of farming for the modern era.

    Read More

  • Hydroponic Farming Essay

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conventional agriculture involves the use of large portions of land and excess amounts water to grow crops. The improper use of soil and water resources for agricultural purposes leads to environmental degradation on many levels . Soil erosion and nutrient depletion have become a widespread result of improper soil care and inefficient irrigation techniques. Hydroponic farming serves as an alternative to conventional agriculture and is a resource efficient and environmentally friendly way to produce crops, in terms of both land and water conservation. This alternative farming practice has great potential to lessen the environmental impacts caused by water and soil misusage in conventional farming.

    Read More

  • Effects of Agriculture on the Environment

    2078 Words  | 5 Pages

    As agriculture has become more intensive, farmers have become capable of producing higher yields using less labour and less land. Growth of the agriculture has not, however, been an unmixed blessing. It, like every other thing, has its pros and cons. Topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, the decline of family farms, continued neglect of the living and working conditions for farm labourers, increasing costs of production, and the disintegration of economic and social conditions in rural communities. These are the cons of the new improved agriculture.

    Read More

  • The Benefits Of Sustainable Agriculture

    2176 Words  | 5 Pages

    Agriculture is one of the most ancient forms of art and science that ties human development and well-being to natural resources and ecosystems. (Fritz J. Häni, 2007) Sustainable Agriculture is the production of food, fibre, plant and animal products using farming techniques that protect the environment, public health, human communities and animal welfare. (Sustainable Agriculture - The Basics, 2015) Sustainable agriculture is an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site – specific application that over the long term will:

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Science And Agriculture

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    We aren’t only having problems worrying about feeding the next generation; we should be concerned now. Did you know, that in the last 11 years, six of those years, the population has consumed more than what was produced? The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations website, just this year, the cereal production has gone up eight percent. Imagine what will be expected in the 21st century. People are demanding more food now, than they ever have.

    Read More

  • The Global Water Crisis

    2639 Words  | 6 Pages

    "Water Crisis." World Water Council. 7th World Water Council, 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/library/archives/water-crisis/

    Read More

  • The Problem of Water Scarcity

    1538 Words  | 4 Pages

    One main causes of water scarcity is water mismanagement worldwide. Water mismanagement has become a crisis of governance that will impact heavily ...

    Read More

  • Rising Food Prices

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    The growing world population is demanding more and different kinds of food. Rapid economic growth in many developing countries has pushed up consumers' purchasing power, generated rising demand for food, and shifted food demand away from traditional staples and toward higher-value foods like meat and milk.

    Read More

More about Aquaponics as an Alternative to Conventional Agriculture

Open Document