Kluko, D. (2017). Home Hydroponics. Popular Mechanics, 85-88.
Living Space, Water, and food are all required by humans for survival. All these effects are not existing in endless abundance but are all derived from the biotic and abiotic sources thereby rendering the humans inherently dependent upon land area optimization and the preservation of biodiversity. Within the next 40 years, the human population is projected to increase from the current 7.0 billion to approximately 9.5 billion people (Kluko, 2017).
With such an increase, there is a direct impact on the amount of food required and therefore need to double its production so as to cater for the ever-increasing populace. The consideration of the current agricultural systems of production and the harvesting ways of fresh water spells trouble as at present, i.0 billion people are suffering from hunger while 1.2 billion are residing in areas deficient of water. Most importantly, the affluence of world is growing indicating that the consumers of the future will demand more and quality resources. With intensified harvesting of the resources, the environment and biodiversity is negatively impacted and hence the use of hydroponic agriculture.
Hydroponic agriculture aids in limiting the loss of terrestrial biodiversity through the reversion of current large tracts of farmland into fundamentally sustainable natural environments. It also does limit the loss of aquatic biodiversity through the development of distillation processes that are more cost effective. With hydroponics, there is the production of large biofuels thereby limiting abrasive which are environmentally friendly. Most importantly, hydroponics aids in the expansion of the supply of foods, fresh water and medicine and also optimize space for agriculture setting.
Giurgiu, R. M., Morar, G. A., Dumitras, A., Boanca, P., Duda, B. M., & Moldovan, C. (2014). Study Regarding the Suitability of Cultivating Medicinal Plants in Hydroponic Systems in Controlled Environment. Research Journal of Agricultural Science, 46(2), 84-92.
According to Giurgiu et al. (2014), the cultivation of medicinal plants through the hydroponic systems is developing at a faster pace. This is as a result of the ever increasing population which translates to the requirement of more medicine. With the upsurge of diseases, the consumption of herbal medicine is pervasive and increasing. Harvesting this from the wild causes habitat destruction and genetic diversity loss. Domestic cultivation, therefore, offers a viable alternative with an opportunity to overcome the inherent problems in herbal extracts; extract instability and variability, toxic contaminants and components, phenotypic and genetic variability and misidentification. The using of the controlled environments overcomes the cultivation hitches and does aid with the manipulation of various phenotypic variations in the toxins and bioactive compounds. The conventional plant breeding methods do improve the medicinal traits.
Significant advances have been made to modify the alleyways for the biosynthesis of the target metabolites with the use of genetic transformation and tissues culture. Also, the cultivation of plants in the hydroponic systems does result in higher concentration of the bioactive substances other than the ones cultivated. Difficulties are experienced in the commercialization of medicinal plants which are brought by the wrong prediction of the extracts which are most likely to remain marketable and probably the market preference of the naturally sourced extracts.
An example of the hydroponic cultures are the ancient Chinese gardens, Babylons hanging gardens and the Aztecs floating gardens. People have at different times combined plant knowledge with the available resources which are present to obtain better outcomes. Better up shots are aimed at increasing the production of aromatic and medicinal herbs as this will aid the current reeling world from the brink of extinction by diseases and also saving biodiversity.
Childress, V. W. (2002). Promising alternatives in agri-technology: aquaponics. (Resources in Technology). The Technology Teacher, (4). 17.
The use of natural resources intelligently is not only an approach that is responsive in the technological world but also is a profitable and economical business according to Childress (2002). Modern agriculture in practice is dependent on water for irrigation, chemical fertilizers and the overuse of land for crop production. Even though there are many environmental factors that are beyond the farmers control, hydroponics can manage to control some. The producer can control Temperatures, nutrient, air circulation, water, and light.
The producers of hydroponics rely heavily on the addition of the plant nutrients so as to maintain the rates of production. However, due to the overhead costs, the hydroponics operate at very narrow profit margins. Overhead cost accumulates as a result of employees handling the chemical components, purchasing of nutrients and the costs due to water treatments.
Emerging alternatives to the traditional agriculture are fish farming or aquaculture. The flounder and the catfish are two of the most popular fishes produced through aquaculture facilities. The link that exists between aquaculture and hydroponics is through the use of aquaponics. Wastes from the fishes are often the nutrients for the plants. Most hydroponic facilities are eliminating the chemical fertilizers while other are adding the fishes to serve as a nutrient provider. The higher the production of fish and plants from the facility, there is a subsequent higher need for water and nutrients. Hydroponics require extra care for the continued production of the end product.
References
Childress, V. W. (2002). Promising alternatives in agri-technology: aquaponics. (Resources in Technology). The Technology Teacher, (4). 17.
Giurgiu, R. M., Morar, G. A., Dumitras, A., Boanca, P., Duda, B. M., & Moldovan, C. (2014). Study Regarding the Suitability of Cultivating Medicinal Plants in Hydroponic Systems in Controlled Environment. Research Journal of Agricultural Science, 46(2), 84-92.Kluko, D. (2017). Home Hydroponics. Popular Mechanics, 85-88.
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