To use a cliché, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. That’s true of aquaponics—a farming system where plants are grown in water instead of soil. It is the combination of aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (farming with water instead of soil). If you don’t mind me quoting from wikipedia: “it is the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment.” Aquaponics could potentially have huge benefits for resource poor countries that face food and water shortages on a regular basis.

Here’s how it works: Aquaculture involves the cultivation of fish in a controlled environment, a process that provides over half of the fish directly consumed by humans. The fish are grown in tanks, and as they make waste, the water eventually becomes toxic for them. But what is unhealthy for fish actually has many nourishing benefits for plants—as HowStuffWorks.com puts it, “they love nothing more than to suck down some fish waste.” Plants grown in the aquaponics system sit in beds while their roots dangle down into the nutrient-rich and waste-laden water that has been transported from the fish tanks through a biofilter into those shallow beds. As the roots absorb nutrients, they naturally cleanse the water so that it is once again healthy for fish. And thus the cycle continues.

Here’s a friendly Australian guy explaining the process of aquaponics.

Why aquaponics is important:
1. It allows food to be grown year round even in harsh climates.
2. All the products are organic.
3. An abundance of food can be grown in a relatively small space.
4. Aquaponics systems are suitable for a wide variety of fish and plant species—tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce particularly benefit.
5. It’s a cheaper way to grow because one doesn’t have to buy fertilizer.
6. Because of the lack of soil, the risk of contracting soil-borne diseases from farming is eliminated.
7. Aquaponic growing centers can be built nearby places that sell food, thereby reducing the distance that food has to be transported.

You can imagine how a system that facilitates sustainable living in such a way can do wonders for communities that might otherwise find it difficult to purify water, raise fish, or grow plants. I’m hoping to see an upswing in this kind of agriculture.

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