Short Note on Hydroponics – A system of agriculture

Oct 16, 2023 | Blog

Hydroponics is a system of agriculture in a soil-less environment. Plants are grown in a controlled atmosphere with supplemental lighting in medium such as coconut pith, expanded clay aggregate, rock wool, etc., and get all their nutrition through a nutrient solution circulated to the plant roots.

Due to optimal growing conditions, productivity goes up by 3 to 5 times, water consumption gets reduced by 70% to 80%, and due to soil soil-less environment, pests, insects, and weeds are not prevalent, thereby reducing usage of pesticides substantially.

Hydroponics creates a sustainable food system and improves the quality of food and the environment without heavy usage of chemicals.

Any crop can be grown anywhere, but primarily this system is currently being used to grow products such as leaf lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, strawberries, green bins, basil, celery, cut flowers, etc.

One can start with a smaller area, divided into zones for growing separate crops to produce a market mix as per requirement, and the project can be replicated as the market expands. It should preferably be set up nearer to the consumption centre to reduce logistics time and cost.