agriculture review
by aditya abhishek
Hydroponics is a system of growing plants without soil in a nutrient-rich water solution that helps in supplying essential nutrients directly to the plant roots.
Farmers can get optimum yield by supplying nutrients in the recommended amount, saving up to 70% of water, controlling nutrient application and reducing chances of pests and diseases.
Hydroponics is costly, setting up a one-acre hydroponics in India costs around 50 to 60 lakhs rupees, moreover, it requires 24-hour electricity to run properly.
Hydroponics started in Israel where there are limited land resources for farmers, hence to produce food in a relatively small space hydroponics is very beneficial.
However, in India, there is no shortage of land resources for farming. India has arable land of 159.7 million hectares which is the second largest in the world.
Moreover, not all crops can be grown in a hydroponics system. Mostly leafy greens, strawberries, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. can be grown in a hydroponics system.
Most of the hydroponics farms in India are not organic. They use chemical nutrient solutions to promote the growth of the plants, however, they use them at the recommended value.
The profitability of a hydroponic farm mainly depends on the crop selection. For suppose, selecting strawberries can be profitable in areas where they can't be produced easily.
But, selecting crops such as leafy greens can be loss-making, as their shelf life is shorter and they can be easily produced on a traditional farm & sold at lower prices in the market.
However, after looking at the trends of climate change, we could predict that hydroponics could be a solution for continuous food supply to the increasing demand in the market.
In 2023, we witnessed a sudden price surge of tomatoes in the market caused due to external factors controlling farming, this could be avoided in a hydroponics farm.
thanks for reading!