The Benefits Of Hydroponics

1277 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Thesis on the impact of climate change on agriculture

Hydroponics are the process of growing plants in sand, gravel, or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil. Hydroponics are mainly growing soil based plants in water. There are several different types of hydroponics, such as wick systems, deep water culture, NFT, Ebb and Flow, Areoponics, and drip systems. An excellent example of hydroponics is the deep water culture which was used or our hydroponics unit. The process was brought to popular attention in the United States in 1937 by Dr. W. F. Gericke, who introduced the word "hydroponic" (from the Greek words for "water" and "work") and publicly displayed immense tomato plants cultivated by this method (encyclopedia.com). Hydroponics are very beneficial to our ecosystems because hydroponics …show more content…

“According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations’ global hunger data, more than 10% – about 800 million people – are undernourished and do not have enough food to lead healthy, active lives (Farmers Weekly). Global food shortages are a day to day issue that all organisms on Earth suffers. Biofuels are a huge part of global food shortages because it is made from the oils of plants which could be converted into food. Biofuels are produced from plants that are burned in furnaces or diesel engines. The the oil from those burned plants is mixed with petroleum, furthermore this process creates biofuels. Biofuels mainly consist of corn which could be used as food instead. Farming techniques are very important to the food shortages too. Without proper farming techniques crops wouldn’t be growing as well as the plants are today. Hydroponics can help this …show more content…

Hydroponics do not involve soil, instead the process involves water to grow the plant quicker and more effectively. Traditionally, to grow a crop for food you must live near the countryside or other rural areas. Hydroponics allow you to grow food anywhere as long as you have water. Easily hydroponics are an ideal source for producing food. “Although current food production systems are moving in the right direction, they will be unsustainable in the long-run.” -farmers weekly. It is very imperative scientist keep coming up with new hydroponics systems such as the deep water culture, to keep food coming and planting continuing. Available areas of farmland suitable for crop production are declining at tremendous rates, but hydroponics can help because the process allows the plants to be easily adapted to urban or rural

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Forget Shorter Showers By Derrick Jensen

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    As Jensen points out, farming and industry accounts for the vast majority of total water usage in the world (477). The increasingly scarce resource is a necessary ingredient when growing food. Technology continuously improves to make it easier for farmers to grow crops while using less water. Scientists at the University of Georgia utilize what they term “variable rate irrigation” to let farmers automate the current systems of irrigation to water only the crops that need it (Gies). This is an example of retrofitting current farms, but there is a new way of farming coming to cities that reuses practically all of its water and stakes claim much less acreage in the process. The future of agriculture belongs to vertical and urban farming. These types of farms reduce the use of water, chemicals (such as pesticides, herbicides and fungicides), soil and space (The Economist). These farms are so cutting edge that they are mostly in the experimental stages. Firms like Famgro farms are testing “stackable” farming systems that can scale with demand, even further reducing waste. Famgro’s stackable farms are ideal for cityscapes where land is at a premium; furthermore, reaping the added benefit of being in close proximity to the customers that they serve. Customers will enjoy high quality, fresh produce at only a slightly

    Read More

  • The Good Food Revolution Summary

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    Will began to look for sustainable growing systems. One that he found was Aquaponics, in which waste-water from fish in a tank is collected, used to fertilize plants, which filter it, and then piped back into the tank. Using this he was able to produce food in the winter. Additionally, he discovered a technology called Anaerobic Digestion where food waste is broken down and turned into both fertilizer and energy. He also worked on a vermiculture system, which uses worm droppings to create an effective

    Read More

  • The Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (USDA)

    510 Words  | 2 Pages

    Besides being able to produce food at a faster rate, technology has helped improve the health of multiple foods. As has been said previously, soybeans are currently used to create oil; however, this was only possible with improvements to technology to help extract this oil from the beans. Besides beans, leafy greens also have improvements in health. A new process known as aeroponics, a newer form of hydroponics, uses mist to provide nutrients to the plants (Gilpin, “10 Foods That Technology Has Transformed.”). This reduces water consumption. Since aeroponics occurs indoors, pesticides are not used and since the plants are grown in water rather than soil, contaminated manure is no longer a

    Read More

  • Genetically Modified Organisms Changing our Climate

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although considered faster and cheaper, this approach to providing other alternative resources to food is slowly but significantly drying up our plant and is compromising human health. Because of the increa...

    Read More

  • The Aponic System: The Benefits Of The Aquaponics System

    1853 Words  | 4 Pages

    Long before it was known as aquaponics, the system itself was practiced by the Aztec Indians dating back as far as 1000 A.D. They achieved this by raising plants on rafts on the surfaces of lakes. However, in modern times, aquaponics emerged from the aquaculture industry because fish farmers started experimenting

    Read More

  • Pros Of Green Revolution

    434 Words  | 1 Pages

    By implementing new farming techniques provided with the new technological advances in machines we can see abundant harvest in even the poorest third world countries. For example, the Green Revolution has already showed admirable progress in the northern part of India ever since it took start in 1950. By 1997, northern India increased its grain production by 37 percent. This has proven that traditional farming methods are being rendered obsolete. And because by the year 2000, there will be half the land per person in developing countries as there was in 1970, we need to apply ultra-efficient methods to sustain the growing need. Not only does the Green Revolution enhances food output, it also preserves the environment.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Garrett Hardin's The Tragedy Of The Commons

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    When discussing agriculture, he declares an extreme saying that food scarcity is a “benign trend” (Simon 24). This nanotechnology will be placed in the soil to act as receptors to relay information to farmers about the soil, such as pH levels, water levels, nutrition balances, etc. Thus, allowing farmers to never over or under water their crops. This will then lead to close to 100% efficiency in water usage, as no water will be wasted.

    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

  • Business Plan for Electricity Generation from Biomass

    1734 Words  | 4 Pages

    Energy, especially from fossil fuels, is a key ingredient for all sectors of a modern economy and plays a fundamental role in improving the quality of life in less developed economies. In 2007, India is ranked fifth in the world in terms of energy demand; accounting for 3.6% of total energy consumed, and is expected to grow at 4.8% in the future. India imports 70% of the oil it uses, and the country has been hit hard by the increasing price of oil, uncertainty and environmental hazards that are concerned with the consumption of fossil fuels. In such context, bio energy constitutes a suitable alternative source of energy for India, as large amounts of raw material are available to be harnessed.

    Read More

  • The Difference Between Organic Foods Vs. Natural Foods

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    Converting a natural farm into an organic farm is a multi-year process. To have the organic certification by USDA, it must be proven that no prohibited materials have been used in the field for at least 3 years. Organic agriculturists are required to keep up buffer zones between organic farmland and contiguous potential sources of water, substance or hereditary float to keep their yields from being spoiled by actions made on close-by farms. Organic farmers may not offer harvests developed in buffer zones as organic. These are some common organic food practices; Crop rotation, manure, compost, green manure utilization, cover cropping, avoidance of synthetic fertilizers, avoidance of synthetic pesticides, buffer areas and planting habitat corridors so that biodiversity is enhanced. Organic cultivating polishes might move forward soil and water quality. Essential soil functions for example, water-holding capacity, soil microbial activity, and nutrient cycling which are strongly influenced by the structure of soil especially the level with which it forms soil aggregates. Aggregates and the pore spaces within them are key components of the soil microbial habitat. The measure of aggregates influences soil air circulation and drainage. Over the top culturing and the

    Read More

  • Agricultural Effects of the Drip Irrigation System

    1572 Words  | 4 Pages

    14. T.L. Thompson et al., “Subsurface Drip Irrigation and Fertigation of Broccoli,” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., vol. 66, pp 178-185, Jan, 2002.

    Read More

  • Precision Agriculture Essay

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    Improvements in the socio-economic patterns in India, China, Brazil and few other developing countries have opened new channels & opportunities for precision agriculture in these countries (Mondal, P. and Basu, M., 2009)”. India is a land of agriculture with large numbers of crops cultivated and the major pulses like wheat, pulses, rice, cotton, maize within top 10 in the world. However, when you take into consideration the ranking on quality wise it does not reach high. Although crops are being grown in India, The ratio of fertilizers used per area and the nutrition needs of the plants are not met. It is almost 3-5 times lesser to what is used in developed countries. With PA, you can achieve this needs of the plants, but studying the crop, soil and terrains. With the recent advancement in ISRO (Indian Satellite Research Organization) launching GPS and the IT revolution has changed the Indian environment making inroads for new scopes in farm sectors. There is also a misinterpretation that these technologies cannot be used in small scale farms. There are few technologies like chlorophyll meter (SPAD) and leaf colour chart (LCC) hand held portable devices to determine the timing of crop and the nutrient content. Government has been supportive in encouraging growers in small community to use GIS systems, and internet to understand the

    Read More

  • The Benefits Of Sustainable Agriculture

    2176 Words  | 5 Pages

    Soil is the most important non-renewable resource on any farm. Healthy soil is key to a good

    Read More

  • Advantages And Disadvantages Of Biofuels

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    More farmers are now planting crops for biofuel, resulting to an intense drop in food production. According to experts this promising alternative energy source is seemingly causing a global decrease of food supply. As the demand for biofuels increases, more industrialized countries are offering encouragements and subsidizing farmers to grow crops for fuel rather than for food. The biofuel production method was also anticipated to be carbon neutral, as the crops would absorb the carbon dioxide released when the biofuel was burned. However crops for fuel are now grown at such a rate that they need more energy to cultivate, grow and harvest. By the time it reaches households, it would have consumed more energy and released more greenhouse causing substances than the feared fossil fuels would have. The fact that emissions are released during production, processing, fertilizer application and as a result of land use change is highly ignored. Somehow biofuels can sidetrack less harmful and clean resources like renewable energies such as solar and wind energy. Large scale cultivation of biofuel crops, unlike small scale, locally produced and biofuel owned farms are commonly challenged by problems such as severe use of water, chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides. These also often lead to pollution, depleting and degrading available water resources which can cause famines. According to contrary believe of analysts, it has also shown that there is not enough farming land on earth to produce biofuel crops to meet the huge energy needs encouraged by our current and unmaintainable ways of living. http://www.greenerideal.com/science/0516-biofuels/ &

    Read More

More about The Benefits Of Hydroponics

Open Document