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| Image 01 _ Indoor Farm |
Introduction
World
Population is almost 7 billion in 2017, and it was predicted as 9.7 billion in
2050. Nearly by 2050, the 80% of earth population will reside on Urban Centers.
Due to civilization, more and more people live in the city. As more land
required for development, less will available for farming. So, the concept of Vertical Farm was developed to counterattack this situation.
Due to urbanization cities growing haphazardly.
Urban Agriculture is one of the solution that perceived globally to meet the
demand of food in urban population. Urban Agriculture is the practice of
cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around a village, town or
city. It involves animal husbandry, agro forestry, aquaculture, horticulture,
etc. Urban Agriculture can be define shortly as the growing of plants and the
rising of animals within and around cities.
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| Image 02 _ Agricultural Revolution |
Indian Agricultural Scenario
India is agriculture driven
economy and agriculture has a socio-cultural impact. Agriculture in India has a
long history dating back to ten thousand years. Country’s cultivable land has
marginally fallen in 2005-06, mainly due to diversion of farm land for
non-agricultural purposes.
Total cultivable land has
declined to 182.57 million hectares in 2005-06 from 185.09 million hectares in
1980-81. During the same period, land under non-agricultural purpose went up to
24.94 million hectares from 19.66 million hectares, resulting in a marginal
fall in cultivable land.
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| Image 03 _ Population Growth of India Since 1950 to 2050 |
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| Image 04 _ The per Capita availability of Agricultural Land in India |
Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm
output. The overall growth of the Indian economy has depended much on the
performance of agriculture.
Issues with Traditional Agriculture
The certain problems and issues faced by
farmers with Traditional Agriculture are listed below:
- Overburdens of Greenhouse gases affecting the foods.
- Problems with Manures, Fertilizers and Biocides.
- Irrigation Problem
- Lack of Mechanism
- Soil Degradation
- Problems with Agricultural Marketing
- Inadequate Transport Facility
- Inadequate Storage Facility
- Scarcity of Capital
- Deforestation
- Agricultural Runoff
- Decrease in Forest Cover
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| Image 05 _ Issue with Traditional Farming |
Hydroponics
Hydroponics is, the method of growing plants without soil, using minerals nutrients solution in a water solvent. Generally Hydroponics is the Cultivation
of plant life through continuous flow of oxygenated, nutrient rich water. The
word was derived from the Greek words, HYDRO (water), and PONOS (labor),
literally “water working”.
Working Principle
Hydroponics does not use soil, instead the root
system is supported using an inert medium such as perlite, Rockwool, clay
pellets, peat moss, or vermiculite. The basic premise behind hydroponics is to
allow the plants roots to come in direct contact with the nutrient solution,
while also having access to oxygen, which is essential for proper growth.
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| Image 07 _ Working and Growing of Plants by Hydroponics System |
Advantages
Growing with hydroponics comes
with many advantages, the biggest of which is a greatly increased rate of
growth in your plants. With the proper setup, plants will mature up to 25%
faster and produce up to 30% more than the same plants grown in soil.
The plants will grow bigger and
faster because they will not have to work as hard to obtain nutrients.
A hydroponic system will also
use less water than soil based plants because the system is enclosed, which
results in less evaporation.
(Some different kinds of produce can be
grown with Hydroponics system are Lettuce varieties, Tomato varieties, Bell
peppers, Beans, Peas and Herbs. Technically by hydroponics we can grow
anything.)
Aquaponics
System of aquaculture in which the waste
produced by farmed fish supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically,
which in turn purify the water.
Aquaculture – Growing fish in a re-circulating system, ponos – The Greek word for growing
plants with or without media.
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| Image 08 _ Aquaponics Cycle and Growing of Plants by Aquaponics |
Working Principle
The designs are based on hydroponic systems, the
difference being that the water source for the aquaponics system come from the
fish tank and is eventually returned to its source of origin.
- Fish are raised in a tank.
- Water from the fish tank is pumped to the plants.
- Plants absorb the nutrient rich water.
- Filtered water is returned to the fish tank.
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| Image 09 _ Working of Aquaponics System |
Advantages
Uses a fraction of the
water, about 10% of soil growing.
No need to purchase,
store and apply fertilizer, only solid waste of fish used as fertilizer.
No soil-borne diseases, no
tilling, no weeds, high crop yield.
No pesticides or
herbicides, only fish fertilizer.
Food security,
year-round production.
Aquaponics Components
Fish Tank, Place to
Grow Plants, Water Pump(s), Air Pump, Irrigation Tubing, Filtration (Optional),
Grow light (Optional), Fish and Plants.
(Lettuce, Beans, Squash, Broccoli,
Peppers, Cucumbers, Peas, Spinach, Strawberries, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Tomatoes,
Different types of Flowers and Herbs can be grown by Aquaponics method.)
Aeroponic
Aeroponics is an indoor gardening practice in
which plants are grown and nourished by suspending their root structures in air
and regularly spraying them with a nutrient and water solution.
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| Image 10 _ Working of Aeroponics System |
Working Principle
The basic principle of aeroponic growing is to
grow plants suspended in a closed or semi-closed environment by spraying the plant's dangling roots and lower stem with an atomized or sprayed, nutrient-rich water solution. The roots of the plant are
separated by the plant support structure.
Advantages
The roots get maximum oxygen, and the plants grow more
rapidly as a result.
Aeroponic systems also generally use less water than any
other type of hydroponic system (especially true aeroponic systems).
Also harvesting is usually easier, especially for root crops.
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| Image 11 _ Traditional Farming and Indoor Farming |