subject: Maximize Organic Farming Benefits With Aquaponics [print this page] Maximize Organic Farming Benefits With Aquaponics
There are many benefits with organic farming, but conventional farming is still the method of choice for most of the agricultural products we consume. It is hard to compete with the lower cost of conventionally produced products. But a newly developing method is producing more organic farming benefits and is revolutionizing the way many farmers and home gardeners are growing food.
This method is an extreme change in how conventional and organic farming is done. Aquaponics is a whole system approach that combines two agricultural systems. It does this by creating a mutually beneficial relationship between aquaculture and hydroponics. Both of these systems can be productive and profitable alone, but they do have their challenges that make them less than ideal. But when you combine the two, you get a highly productive system that eliminates most of the problems with each of these growing systems.
Fish and plants compliment each other very well since they give each other what they need. Fish provide plants with plenty of nutrient rich water, and plants keep the water clean for he fish. Aquaponics simply uses plant grow beds as a filter for an aquaculture tank. Instead of pumping the water through a mechanical filter, it is circulated through the grow beds where the plant roots do the filtering. The plants absorb the nutrients in the fish water that comes from the fish wastes, and is returned to the tank naturally filtered.
There are many advantages to this type of growing system. Fish wastes are all organic, so you get organic produce without the hassles and expense of manure, cover crops or other forms of organic nutrients. Since there is no soil used, there is no need for fertile land or the labor involved in working with soil. Since plants are not competing for resources in the soil, you can grow more plants in less space out of this nutrient rich water. All the watering and fertilizing is taken care of, so there is no watering to do and water is not wasted by dumping it on the ground.
And that is just the plant side of the operation. You also get organically grown fish. The demand for farm raised fish is rapidly increasing. Especially if it is from a clean domestic source. Aquaponics allows you to grow fish without the expense of filtering the water or constantly adding fresh water. This system recycles the same water over and over, while using the fish wastes as a valuable commodity instead of an expense to dispose of.
Aquaponics has the potential to revolutionize the way a lot of agriculture is grown. Since it requires no soil, and uses as little as 2% of the water as conventional farming, it opens up many parts of the world to growing crops. Parts of the world with poor soil and little water can become lush farm land. This is not only a method of commercial farming, it is also becoming popular with backyard and indoor gardeners. Aquaponics are easy to build and maintain on both small and large scale.
Learn more about aquaponics and build your own system with this aquaponics how to guide.
