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harvelgreens · 4 years ago

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HYDROPONICS AS AN ADVANCE TECHNIQUE FOR CROP PRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Currently hydroponic cultivation is gaining popularity all over the world because of efficient resources management and quality food production. Soil based agriculture is now facing various challenges such as urbanization, natural disaster, climate change, indiscriminate use of chemicals and pesticides which is depleting the land fertility. Leading countries in hydroponic technology are Netherland, Australia, France, England, Israel, Canada and USA.

Hydroponics operations; benefits and limitations; performance of different crops like tomato, cucumber, pepper and leafy greens and water conservation by this technique. Several benefits of this technique are less growing time of crops than conventional growing; round the year production; minimal disease and pest incidence and weeding, spraying, watering etc can be eliminated. Commercially NFT technique has been used throughout the world for successful production of leafy as well as other vegetables with 70 to 90% savings of water. For successful implementation of commercial hydroponic technology, it is important to develop low cost techniques which are easy to operate and maintain; requires less labour and lower overall setup and operational cost.

Hydroponics is a technique of growing plants in nutrient solutions with or without the use of an inert medium such as gravel, vermiculite, rockwool, peat moss, saw dust, coir dust, coconut fibre, etc. to provide mechanical support. Most hydroponic systems operate automatically to control the amount of water, nutrients and photoperiod based on the requirements of different plants.

In the present scenario, soil less cultivation might be commenced successfully and considered as alternative option for growing healthy food plants, crops or vegetables. Agriculture without soil includes hydro agriculture (Hydroponics), aqua agriculture (Aquaponics) and aerobic agriculture (Aeroponics) as well as substrate culture. Among these hydroponics techniques is gaining popularity because of its efficient management of resources and food production.

HYDROPONIC STRUCTURES AND THEIR OPERATION

Hydroponic system are customized and modified according to recycling and reuse of nutrient solution and supporting media. Commonly used systems are wick, drip, ebb-flow, deep water culture and nutrient film technique (NFT) which are described below :

Wick System

This is simplest hydroponic system requiring no electricity, pump and aerators. Plants are placed in an absorbent medium like coco coir, vermiculite, perlite with a nylonwickrunning from plant roots into a reservoir of nutrient solution. Water or nutrient solution supplied to plants through capillary action. This system works well for small plants, herbs and spice and doesn’t work effectively that needs lot of water

Ebb and Flow system

This is first commercial hydroponic system which works on the principle of flood and drain. Nutrient solution and water from reservoir flooded through a water pump to grow bed until it reaches a certain level and stay there for certain period of time so that it provide nutrients and moisture to plants. Besides, it is possible to grow different kinds of crops but the problem of root rot, algae and mold is very common therefore, somemodified system with filtration unit is required.

Drip system

The drip hydroponic system is widely used method among both home and commercial growers. Water or nutrient solution from the reservoir is provided to individual plant roots in appropriate proportion with the help of pump. Plants are usually placed in moderately absorbent growing medium so that the nutrient solution drips slowly. Various crops can be grown systematically with more conservation of water.

Deep water culture system

In deep water culture, roots of plants are suspended in nutrient rich water and air is provided directly to the roots by an air stone. Hydroponics buckets system is classical example of this system. Plants are placed in net pots and roots are suspended in nutrient solution where they grow quickly in a large mass. It is mandatory to monitor the oxygen and nutrient concentrations, salinity and pH as algae and molds can grow rapidly in the reservoir. This system work well for larger plants that produce fruits especially cucumber and tomato, grow well in this system.

Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) system

NFT was developed in the mid 1960s in England by Dr. Alen Cooper to overcome the shortcomings of ebb and flow system. In this system, water or a nutrient solution circulates throughout the entire system; and enters the growth tray via a water pump without a time control. The system is slightly slanted so that nutrient solution runs through roots and down back into a reservoir. Plants are placed in channel or tube with roots dangling in a hydroponic solution. Although, roots are susceptible to fungal infection because they are constantly immersed in water or nutrient. In this system, many leafy green can easily be grown and commercially most widely used for lettuce production.

#hydroponics #agriculture #organicfarming #dripsystem #farmers #greenhouse

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