COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, VELLAYANI

DEPARTMENT OF VEGETABLE SCIENCE

MASTER’S CREDIT SEMINAR

ABSTRACT

SARANYA SASIKUMAR DATE: 12/10/2018

2017-12-019 TIME: 11.45 AM – 12.30PM

Aquaponic Vegetable Production

Aquaponics is the integration of recirculating aquaculture and hydroponics in one
production system (Ebeling and Timmons, 2012). In an aquaponics unit, water from the fish
tank cycles through filters, plant grow beds and then back to the fish tank. The fish waste is
removed from the water in the filters, first using a mechanical filter that removes the solid waste
and then through a biofilter that processes the dissolved wastes. The biofilter provides space for
the bacteria to convert ammonia, which is toxic for fish, into nitrate, a more accessible nutrient
for plants. This process is called nitrification. As the water containing nitrate and other nutrients
travels through plant grow beds, the plants uptake these nutrients and finally, the purified water
returns to the fish tank. This process allows the fish, plants, and bacteria to thrive symbiotically
and to work together to create a healthy growing environment for each other, provided that the
system is properly balanced. Another attraction of aquaponics is that here plants are growing
without soil, so there will not be problems related to soil born pathogen, insects and weeds
(FAO, 2014). It is a sustainable integrated system (Tyson et al., 2011).

History

Aztec Indians (14th to 16th century) used the first form of aquaponics, ‘Chinampas’. The
other evidences of this technique include rice-fish cultivation in South China, Thailand, and
Indonesia (17-18th century), floating aquaponics in China (18-19th century) and floating gardens
in Dal lake, Kashmir. In 2012 Indian Agricultural Research Institute initiated works on the
development of soilless and aquaponics technology for protected cultivation.

Components of Aquaponics

Structural Components

There are three different designs in aquaponics viz. Media Bed Method (MBM), Deep
Water Culture (DWC), and Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) where various components like fish
tank, air pumps, filters etc. are used. All types of vegetables can be grown easily due to better
anchorage of plant roots in media bed, but loss of water is less in deep water culture. Leafy
greens can be easily grown using nutrient film technique, but fruit vegetables are difficult to
grow here due to lack of enough nutrient support. Hydroponic subsystem design and water flow
have a significant effect on lettuce (Lactuca sativa) yield in the order Media Bed>DWC>NFT.
NFT systems were 20% less efficient in nitrate removal (Lennard and Leonard, 2006). Yield of
tomato was lower than lettuce under NFT because of lack of sufficient nutrient support in later
stages of tomato (James, 2007). Swiss chard was shown better performance under MBM,
followed by DWC and NFT due to better anchorage (Jessica, 2012).
Biological components

Main biological components of an aquaponic system are bacteria, crops and fish. The
Nitrosomonas group oxidise ammonia to nitrite while Nitrobacter oxidise nitrite to nitrate which
is the fertilizer for the plants. The heterotrophic bacteria metabolise the solid fish wastes and
releases nutrients (Del Giorgio and Cole, 1998., Rurangwa and Verdegem, 2015). Unwanted
bacteria include sulphate reducing bacteria, denitrifying bacteria and pathogenic bacteria like
Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. Sirsat and Neal (2013) reported that aquaponics had
significantly lower concentration of coli form (no detectable E. coli were observed), spoilage
and faecal microorganisms as compared to conventional, organic and field grown lettuce.

Leafy green vegetables like lettuce, spinach, celery, palak, sweet basil, and fruiting
vegetables like tomato, brinjal, cucumber, pea, okra, gourds, cabbage, cauliflower etc are
commonly grown in aquaponics. Savidov (2004) reported an increase of 15 % in the yield of
cucumber and tomatoes grown in aquaponics as compared to that in hydroponics. Cucumber
yielded long fruits (19-22cm) under aquaponics (Borg et al., 2011). Shanbhag (2013) conducted
study on effect of aquaponics system on fruit number and yield of polyhouse cucumber and
found an increase in fruit number and yield under aquaponics compared to soil. Lettuce had
higher yield (750-1.5 Kg/plant) under aquaponics (Enduta et al., 2014). There are two types of
design usually followed in aquaponics viz. staggered planting and batch planting. Rakocy et al.,
(2002) obtained more yield and less deficiency symptoms from staggered planting.

Surnar et al. (2017) noted significant effect of stocking density of fish on nutrient release
and plant growth in aquaponic spinach production. Baby leaves of lettuce grown in aquaponics
had higher concentrations of nitrate, calcium and magnesium, and lower concentrations of total
nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in comparison to hydroponics (Kovacevic et al., 2014). The
maximum biomass content of Taro plant was observed in aquaponic system (4.6Kg) compared
to hydroponic (350g) and soil vegetable culture (1.5Kg). Aquaponic system endorse organic
farming which could be environmental friendly (Salam et al., 2014). Plant density influenced
nitrite and nitrate content of spinach (Spinacia oleracea), grown in aquaponic conditions (Petrea
et al., 2013). Sajjadinia et al. (2010) noted better growth and development in aquaponic system due
to better eco-physiological characteristics in comparison to hydroponics.

Commonly grown fish species include tilapia, flat head mullet, carp, rainbow trout,
catfish, rohu, red belly, and pearl spot. Tilapia appears to be one of the most popular species of
fish reared in aquaponics system because they can grow in any type of water body and are
tolerant to variable water quality (Lapere, 2010). The warm temperatures for optimal growth of
tilapia are also needed for the growth of plants (Rakocy and McGinty, 1989).

Management

Water quality is very important for maintaining a healthy bacterial colony, vegetables
and fish. Generally, bacteria require good quality water with a pH of 6-8.5, temperature 17-34oC
and dissolved oxygen 4-8 mg/L. For the better growth of plants it requires a water pH of 5.5-7.5,
temperature 18-30oC and dissolved oxygen more than 3 mg/L.Tilapia require 27-30oC
temperature, >4 mg/L dissolved oxygen, 28-32% crude protein in feed (FAO, 2014).

Though macro and micro nutrients exist in solid fish waste, certain nutrients such as
potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and iron found to be limited in the system, so foliar spray with
these nutrients can be given to improve the performance of plants. Savidov et al. (2007)
conducted study on the concentration of macro and micro nutrients in aquaponics solution as
compared with standard hydroponic mixture and found that the concentration of phosphorus
iron and manganese was lower in the aquaponic solution. Roosta and Hamidpour (2011)
reported an increase in fruit number of tomato when foliar application of nutrients was given.

Bills and Arnon (2007) reported that neem based, tobacco based and pyrethrum based
products caused toxicity on fishes and foliar spray of neem based or pyrethrum based product
can be given in un avoidable situations at considerable distance away from water.

Fish require the correct balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals
to grow and be healthy. The most important way to maintain healthy fish in any aquaponics
system is to monitor and observe them daily, noting their behaviour and physical appearance.
Typically, this is done before, during and after feeding. Also maintain good water quality and
low stress condition to keep the fishes healthy.

There should be balance between amount of fish, amount of plants and size of bacterial
colony. Balancing can be explained in two levels viz. nitrate balance and plant fish balance.
Usually 20-25 leafy greens or 4-8 fruiting vegetables can be grown in 1m2 area. To get sufficient
amount of nutrients for leafy greens grown in one metre square area, have to supply a fish feed
of 40-50g daily and for fruiting vegetables it is 50-80g daily. Generally a fish will take the feed
in such a way that 1-2 per cent of its body weight. So according to the nature of plants and plant
growing area the amount of fish feed added and the biomass of fish needed to consume this
amount of feed can be determined.

Present status of aquaponics in Kerala

Nair et al. (2018) reported that out of the 220 commercial units studied, 128 units were
profitable. Further, small and medium sized units were found to be more efficient in managing
costs and realizing higher net income per unit area compared to large units. About 86 percent of
the sample farmers used media bed alone for their aquaponics system. 100% of the farmers
raised tilapia in their aquaponics system sometimes in combination with Rohu (43%), Anabas
(11%) or Pearl spot and Redbelly (1%). A wide variety of vegetable were raised by the
commercial farmers such as Cowpea, Okra, Brinjal, Pumpkin, Tomato, Broccoli, Bitter guard,
Cauliflower, Snake gourd, Green chilli, Cabbage, Ivy guard, Bottle gourd, Curry leaves,
Cucumber and Coriander. Leafy vegetables included Lettuce, Spinach, Celery, Palak, and herbs
such as, Tulsi, Mint leaves. It was found that revenue earned from fish production was higher
than revenue earned from crop production. If the farmers pay equal importance to both fish and
plant sales, they could earn more.

The Kerala State Fisheries Department initiated an aquaponics system at Cochin. They
have grown various vegetables like tomato, cucumber, cauliflower etc along with the fish
species tilapia. Marine Products Export Development Authority initiated a project in Palakkad
(Nanniyod). Various research stations of Kerala Agricultural University has initiated research
and extension activites in aquaponics.

Opportunities and Challenges

A variety of factors such as lack of training, inadequate technical guidance, ignorance of

market pricing and uncertainties about the market demand of the product, were some of the
reasons for incurring losses. These challenges can be overcome by providing technical sessions
about the working of the system and by making consumers aware about the benefits of organic
products. The success of the aquaponics farming relies upon the local markets, climatic and
geographical conditions. Due to the dynamic characteristics of the aquaculture industries, it is
expanding rapidly in recent times (Nair et al.,2018)

Conclusion

Aquaponics is the integration of recirculating aquaculture and hydroponics in one

production system. There has been a positive change in aquaponics vegetable farming as the
popularity of the system increased in last few years. Leafy green vegetables like lettuce, spinach,
celery, palak, sweet basil, and fruiting vegetables like tomato, brinjal, cucumber, pea, okra,
gourds, cabbage, cauliflower etc are commonly grown in aquaponics and Tilapia appears to be
one of the most popular species of fish reared in aquaponics system. There should be a balance
between amount of fish, amount of vegetables and size of bacterial colony for sustenance of the
system. Studies point to the fact that revenue earned from fish production was higher than
revenue earned from crop production in existing commercial farms and if the farmers pay equal
importance to both fish and vegetables sales, they could earn more. The potential of aquaponics
production is still an unexplored area of study in India and need thorough research into microbe
– nutrient – vegetable - fish dynamics for sustaining this environment friendly organic farming
technology.

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