HYDROPONIC FOR MODERN AGRICULTURE

WHAT IS HYDROPONIC?. For me as an agronomist would say that hydroponics is a way to skip the soil, sub in a different material to support the roots of the plant, and grow crops directly in nutrient-rich water. There are multiple approaches to designing hydroponic systems, but the core elements are essentially the same. What we need include Fresh water, Oxygen, Root Support, Nutrient and Light. For me the fresh water were talking primo, filtered stuff with a balanced pH. Most plants like water with a pH level around pH6 - pH6.5. We can adjust the acidity of your water with over-the-counter solutions found at your local hardware, garden, or hydroponic store. Oxygen are importang that don’t drown our plants. In traditional farming, roots can get the oxygen needed for respiration from pockets of air in the soil. Depending on our hydroponic setup, we will either need to leave space between the base of your plant and the water reservoir, or we’ll need oxygenate our container (think of bubbles in a fish tank) in which we can accomplish by buying an air stone or installing an air pump. The root support s a must item even though we don’t need soil, our plant’s roots still need a little something to hold on to. Typical materials include vermiculite, perlite, peat moss, coconut fiber, and rockwool. Stay away from materials that might compact (like sand) or that don’t retain any moisture (like gravel). The requirement og nutrients to our plant is going to need plenty of magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, and other nutrients to stay healthy and productive just like plants growing in the ground need healthy soil and fertilizer. When we are growing plants without soil, this “plant food” must be included in the water that’s feeding your plants. While we can technically make our own nutrient solution, it’s easy to buy mixtures online and in stores. The important of light and if we growing your plants indoors, it might have to invest in some special lighting. Each kind of plant will have a different requirement for the amount of light it needs and for the placement of lights (typically referred to as Daily Light Integral or DLI). This article in "Anim Agriculture Technology" able to discuss on hydroponic in modern agriculture as reading material for all readers.

Nowadays our food production and distribution systems look disastrous nowadays. Excessive use of pesticides, fertilizers, soil sterilization and monocultural crops have a huge impact on natural ecosystems and biodiversity on Earth. Climate change and increasingly severe droughts and in turn it hinder farming and cause drastic increases in food prices. If that was not enough for about ⅓ of the food produced goes straightly to the bins and landfills and while 1 in 9 people in the world suffer from malnutrition. The situation calls for a redefinition of the agriculture as we know today. Of course, there is no simple remedy for the complicated problems of modern agriculture and food distribution. However many farmers says that hydroponics can be one of the big steps to repair them. So the best alternative are hydroponics technology that is nothing more than growing plants in water enriched with nutrients instead of soil. “Hydroponics” is not a completely uniform concept. There are currently many ways of soilless cultivation of plantsinclude the terminology known as 'Wick' where the plants are placed in a chemically inert, root stabilizing medium (e.g. expanded clay or coconut), and water with nutrients is supplied to the root zone through an absorbent ‘wick’ immersed in the tank below. Second are 'Air-Gap' at the lower part of the plant’s root system is immersed directly in water, and the upper part is above it. Other component include 'DWC and raft' or or Deep Water Cultivation in which plants are placed on a floating surface and their roots hang down in water filled with nutrients. Last component are Ebb and flow so that the plant roots are placed in the medium and water is pumped into the root zone at regular intervals. Water is allowed to flow freely through the medium into the tank. For component suh as 'Top feeder' able for the system is very similar to ‘ebb and flow’ except that the water does not flow into the tank and is pumped out of the medium. Some people mention about NFT or Nutrient Film Technique that the plants hang attached at a delicate angle over a constantly flowing, thin layer of water with nutrients. The needs of 'drain’ is a method of individual irrigation of plants in small quantities, which allows to accurately regulate the amount of water and nutrients supplied. Blog writer also aware of 'Aeroponics' in which the plant roots hang in the air, without medium or contact with the liquid  water and nutrients are supplied in the form of an aerosol.

In this case for me that hydroponics is not a new idea. Some people suggest that the famous hanging gardens in Babylon were the prototype of hydroponic systems. According to literature, hydroponics appeared as early as the 17th century in which for the first half of the last century it was already a well-known way to grow plants and increasingly valued for its economic and practical aspects. Since then application of hydroponics technology is only gaining popularity. There are many who asked why would hydroponics be better that ‘traditional’ agriculture?. For me that hydroponic systems win supporters both among amateurs and entrepreneurs in many country include Malaysia by producing plants on an industrial scale. The claim that it was quite a lot advantages over the traditional agriculture in terms of efficiency and ecology. For the first advantages a properly selected nutrients circulating in water logically are more easily available for plants. Therefore at the later stage they allow to obtain higher yields and much faster than in the case of plants cultivated in soil. The crops can be harvested throughout the year, regardless of weather or climatic conditions. However for hydroponic crops actually  there is also no problem of ‘soil fatigue’. Second advantages are the plants grown using hydroponics have much less chance of developing infections from soil diseases. A closed and well-controlled space hinders the invasion of insects and so the use of pesticides, decreases or even ceases to be necessary. When it comes to nutrients in which for the case of closed-loop cultivation are used repeatedly better do not go to the environment as so-called “runoff”.  Thanks.

By,

M Anem,

Putrajaya,

Malaysia.

(March 2021).