Aquaponics is an innovative aquaculture production system which combines fish production in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) with plant production by hydroponics (the technique of growing plants without soil) in one production system. It is a sustainable and efficient farming method that eliminates the need for soil and conserves water.
The advantages of this technique are multiple:
It can be located in rural areas but also in urban and semi urban settings, including city buildings (e.g. roof tops) and industrial sites (e.g. unused sites), giving the EU regions a self-sufficiency element in providing their residents jobs as well as fresh vegetables, fish and fruits. This strategic placement not only reduces land acquisition costs but also provides space to aquaculture for producing fish closer to urban areas, thereby cutting transportation expenses and lowering the overall carbon footprint of production.
It is an ecologically responsible closed system without the use of chemicals fertilizers because it is a self-sustaining system. The water from the fish tanks is recirculated through filters to feed beds of plants, and then back to the fish tanks. Fish and plants develop a symbiotic relationship, where plants are cleaning the fish waste and fish are feeding nutrients to the plants.
It doesn’t require the use of pesticides.
It avoids the constraints of seasonality as plants and fish can be farmed all year round irrespective of the season and weather conditions.
Some of the challenges of implementing and developing aquaponics are the following:
High initial costs: setting up an aquaponics system can be expensive due to the need for specialized equipment, such as tanks, pumps, and filtration systems and high energy requirements.
Technical expertise: it requires daily maintenance and continuous testing of water quality for fish and plants and knowledge of both fish farming and hydroponic systems. Balancing the needs of fish and plants can be complex and requires ongoing learning and adaptation.
Not all plants and fish thrive in aquaponic systems: the technique is not suitable for all crops and it can be performed with limited plant and fish variety.
Profitability: currently, there are problems of scalability to produce vegetables on a massive scale at a profitable price.