Doctorial Seminar

on

“Aquaponics – Combined fish and vegetable farming” Under the guidance of

Dr.H.V.HemakumarAssociate Proffessor & Head

Department of Agricultural Structures

Presented by Ch.Apparao

BEP16-05

Aquaponics Defined

The integration of:

Aquaculture – Growing fish in a re-circulating system

Ponos – The Greek word for growing plants with or without media

Most people relate growing plants to hydroponics since both use nutrient rich water and both use soil-less media.

How Aquaponics Works1. Fish are raised in a tank

2. Water from the fish tank is pumped to the plants

3. Bacteria convert ammonia and nitrite to nitrate

4. Plants absorb the nutrient rich water

5. Filtered water is returned to the fish tank, clean

Fish are Happy!

Plants are Happy!

We get more to eat!

The world faces a number of crisis today:

Increasing population High fuel consumption Food shortages Global warming Inorganic food Consumption Water shortage

The best alternative for this is AQUAPONICS

Aquaponics is the farming of fish and plants in a single

recirculating system. The waste from the fish becomes the nutrients

for the plants, and the plants in turn remove these nutrients from the

water, purifying it for the fish.

Types of Aquaponics System:

1.Gravel Bed Culture

2.Deep Water Culture

3.Nutrient Film Technique

What is Aquaponics ?

AQUAPONICS CYCLE

Gravel Bed Culture In this the plants are rooted in coarse gravel or aggregate media.

Bacteria grow on the media and convert the ammonia excreted by the fish to nitrate.

Plants within the grow beds remove the nitrate from the water, which then returns to

the fish in a clean and healthy form .

No mechanical or biological filtration is required as the gravel beds suit both

purposes.

Deep Water Culture The water from the fish tank is filtered

mechanically and biologically to remove the solids

from suspension and convert the toxic ammonia to

nitrate.

This clean water then travels down the length of a

tank of water in which polystyrene rafts are floated.

Plants are rooted through the holes in the

polystyrene sheets and into the water below, where

the roots take up nutrients from the water.

DWC is most suited to leafy crops and there is some

discharge of water during the filtration process.

Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)

As with DWC the water is filtered prior to going to the plants, but in this case

the plants are rooted through holes in pipes.

The tip of the root touches the bottom surface of the pipe and absorbs nutrients

from a thin film of water trickling down the length of the pipe.

This method also results in the loss of water and nutrients during filter

cleaning, and is also best suited to leafy crops.

Why Aquaponics ?Why Aquaponics ?

Aquaponics is not only a most enjoyable way of producing

high quality, wholesome crops as a business or for own use, but it

also has several distinct advantages over both aquaculture and

hydroponics

. 

ADVANTAGES OF AQUAPONICS

Crop harvesting is quick and easy, regardless of the

weather outside

Crops can be grown all year-round.

Higher yields than conventional farming

Faster growth to market size due to optimal conditions

being maintained

Root temperature very stable resulting in fewer disease

issues than hydroponics

Design of small aquaponic systemS.No Components

RequiredSpecifications

1 Aquarium 55 L capacity2 Grow bed 110 L capacity3 Motor Boyo 2500 (any locally available motor)4 PVC Tube 0.5 inches, 3 inches5 Pipes 0.5 inches(length as per requirement)6 Air pump, sponge

filter For 55 L capacity

Aloe vera ,Cluster Beans ,Chilly, Ginger in an area of 0.27 meter square.Fish used: TilapiaNeem oil and tobacco mixed with water are the organic pesticides used in the system. (Rashmi et. al 2013)

DESIGN The first step is to fix siphon on the grow bed. A half inch hole was drilled on to the corner of grow bed half inch pipe is fixed on to it. the syphon specifications is size of outer tube : radius=5cm & height=35 cmsize of syphon with cap :radius=2cm & height=15cmsiphon tube(inner) radius=1 cm & height=12.5 cm Then fix nutrition tubeFill the bed with large stones.A medium pebbles at top.55 L fish tank is placed at bottom.Air pump and FilterThe fish ratio is 1fish for 10 liters

Why are Tilapia extremely popular in aquaponic systems??

•They are easy to breed.•They are fast growing.•Can withstand very poor water conditions.•Consume an omnivorous diet and are good eating.•Fish feed ratio-60-100g/m2/day

Tilapia

Why do Plants like Aquaponics?

Nutrients constantly provided

Don’t have to search for water or food

Less effort needed in putting out roots

All the energy goes into growing UP not DOWN

No weed competition

What influences the amount of available nutrients

to plants?Density of fish population

Size of fish

Temperature of water

Amount of uneaten fish feed in water

Availability of beneficial bacteria

Amount of plants in the system

Media present in system

Water flow rate

Double Recirculating Aquaponic System (DRAPS): (suhl et.al 2016)

Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of the used double recirculating aquaponic system (DRAPS). The recirculating aquaculture system (RAS; A): fish-rearing tanks (1), mechanical filter (sedimentation) (2), pump system (3) and trickling biofilter (5) and pump sump (4). Recirculating hydroponic unit (B): nutrient solution tanks (8) and plant gutters (9). Both systems are connected via a 3-chamber-pit (3-cp; 6).

Experimental set up The experiments were carried out in a new constructed research

aquaponic facility located in Abt-shagen, Germany (52◦ 31 12.025 N, 13◦ 24 17.834 E).

The total area was 196 m2 , which was divided into three areas: (i) technical room (14 m2 ); (ii) the fish farm based on RAS (43 m2 ); (iii) a Venlo-type greenhouse (139 m2 ).

The computer control system and a cogeneration unit were placed in the technical room. The RAS contained four identical glass fibre fish tanks with a total net production volume of 7.2 m3.

The water was cleaned by a mechanical filter (glass fibre sedimentation tank) with a volume of 1.3 m3 and the effluent was collected in a pump sump with a volume of 2.34 m3.

From the pump sump the water was pumped to a trickling biofilter for nitrification to convert ammonium into nitrate.

The specific surface area of the filter bodies was 120 m2 m−3. The nitrified water was collected in a reception water tank (0.4 m3) and flowed back to the fish rearing tanks.

The total volume of the whole RAS was around 12 m3. Depending on the water quality and the fish stocking density, water treated with the mechanical filter was removed one to three times a week into the 3-chamber pit (3-cp; 4.5 m3) .

The fish water removing occurred unidirectional and discontinuously. From the 3-cp it was pumped into the storage tank (1 m3 ) implemented in the greenhouse and was kept there until its use for hydroponically plant production .

Before the fish waste water was delivered to the plants, it was adjusted in the nutrient solution tank using mineral fertilizer to provide optimal nutrient concentrations for plant growth.

RESU LTSparameters Small scale aquaponic system Normal cultivation

space 13 plants were grown in a area of 0.27 meter square

13 plants need atleast 4 meter square

water 55 liters 100 litres/day

Rashmi Menon article

The following inferences were made from the observation table:1.In an aquaponic system, the space requirement is less. Also,since the ground resistance of the media filled bed is less, allowing the roots to grow straight easily, there is no requirement for the plant to develop a wide root system.2. The recirculation of water makes the water requirement for cultivation less and water compensations weekly have to be made for evaporation losses only.

METHODS WERE TESTED TO DETERMINE THE BEST METHODS WERE TESTED TO DETERMINE THE BEST SYSTEM TO GROW TARO VEGETABLESYSTEM TO GROW TARO VEGETABLE

The applied methods were T1 = aquaponics system for soilless vegetable culture in gravel bed with fish tank waste water.T2= hydroponics for soilless vegetable culture in gravel bed with tap water and T3= vegetable culture in soil media with tap water as control.

Tilapia was used as animal species in aquaponics system (T1).

The healthy and uniformed Taro seedlings were used in each method.

M.A. Salam, M. Y. ProdhanArticle

Treatments P ( ppm ) K ( ppm ) S ( ppm )Na ( ppm

)

T1 0.539 6.167 2.746 19.891

T2 0.240 2.526 1.131 16.528

T3 18.767 122.604 40.338 229.197

The nutrient analysis of the growing media revealed that the highest amount of nutrients were found in T3 followed by T1and T2 (Table 3).

Table 3: The average nutrient content of different treatments

The hypothesis are

H0: The performance of method T1 and T2 are equivalent.

H1: The performance of method T1 is greater than performance of T2

Character t-value p-value Comment

Height 3.58 0.012** T1 Significant

Stem No. 11.79 0.000* T1 Significant

Diameter of single

stem5.27 0.003* T1 Significant

Diameter of plant 4.92 0.009* T1 Significant

Leaf Area 3.77 0.003* T1 Significant

Table 4: Two sample t-test for morphological study

*, **, *** means 1%, 5% and 10% level of significance

The hypothesis are

H0: The performance of method T1 and T3 are equivalent.

H1: The performance of method T1 is greater than performance of T3

Character t-value p-value Comment

Height 1.44 0.096*** T1 Significant

Stem No. 0.00 0.50 T1 insignificant

Diameter of single

stem1.88 0.051*** T1 Significant

Diameter of plant 1.83 0.053*** T1 Significant

Leaf Area 1.67 0.066*** T1 Significant

Table 5: Two sample t-test to find out the best method between T1 and T3

*, **, *** means 1%, 5% and 10% level of significance

Figure 5: The bar chart for coefficient of variance of T1, T2 and T3

Treatment P (ppm) K (ppm) S (ppm) Na (ppm)

T1 0.539 6.197 2.746 19.891

T2 0.240 2.526 1.131 16.528

T3 18.767 122.604 40.338 229.197

The biomass content of Taro plant at final harvest

Figure 6:The biomass content of Taro plant at final harvest

Figure 7: Regression analysis of fish length and weight showed linear relationship

Double Recirculating Aquaponic System (DRAPS): (suhl et.al 2016)

Figure 8:Effects of hydroponics and aquaponics on fruit yield and quality. The values represent the mean value of total tomato yield, marketable fruit yield and non-marketable fruit yield (n = 48) produced within 28 weeks ± standard deviation. The mean yields were tested using t-test and Mann-Whitney U Test, respectively and small letters indicate significant differences.

Figure 9:Influence of fresh water (control) and fish waste water based nutrient solu-tions on fruit dry matter content, soluble solids content (SSC), sugar-acid ratio (SAR), as well as lycopene and ß-carotene content. The data represent mean val-ues and ± standard deviation (n = 9). The analysed contents were compared using t-test and represent the mean of three repetitions in three consecutive weeks

Table 6:Effects of hydroponics and aquaponics on leaf area (n = 12), number of leaves (n = 12), plant length (n = 6), and Chl NDI* (n = 192) of the first fully developed tomato leaf.

Treatment Leaf area per plant (m2

plant-1)

Number of leaves

Plant length (m) ChI NDI

Hydroponic 1.36±0.15b 21.0±0.7a 10.8±0.46a 0.56±0.19a

Aquaponics 1.15±0.16a 20.5±1.3a 10.9±0.23a 0.66±0.16b

Table 7: Nutrients in pure fish waste water, as well as in nutrient solutions based on mixture of fresh and fish waste water, respectively.

Element Pure fish waste water Nutrient solution based on

Fresh water Fish waste water

Mean (mg/l) min – max (mg/l) Mean (mg/l) Mean (mg/l)

NH4- N 24.2±20.8 0.05-64.1 0.7±0.9 7.0±9.0a

NO3-N 14.6±13.9 bld-42.7 111.3±19.4a 157.0±50.3b

P 8.0±5.0 0.06-15.8 67.2±34.9a 204.9±24.5b

K 30.2±16.7 3.2-69.1 60.0±34.9a 63.9±43.5a

Ca 89.3±20.1 54.2-119.8 165.0±21.1a 227.2±67.2b

Mg 13.9±2.4 9.2-19.3 109.9±27.7a 106.2±28.5a

S 38.5±8.9 15.3-50.4 216.8±62.5b 150.3±32.3a

Na 26.0±5.3 10.8-34.7 130.1±40.7a 126.9±38.7a

Table 8: Total yield, total fertilizer addition and fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) caused by hydroponics and aquaponics

Hydroponics Aquaponics

Total yield per treatment (kg) 677.3 626.5

Mineral fertilizer addition (kg) 15.5(100%) 11.6(74.8%)

FUE (kg kg-1) 43.7 54.0

Conclusions

Small scale aquaponic system is certainly the best solution for growing organic vegetables at homes in crowded cities as the space and water requirement for this system is less.

It is an eco-friendly technology which can be improvised and made energy efficient at an individual’s convenience and pattern of usage.

Results revealed that aquaponic system offers better results than other media. This system can enhance the organic farming which could be environmental friendly.

Double recirculating aquaponic system (DRAPS) with two independent cycles provides the opportunity to produce equal tomato yields compared to those obtained by conventionally used hydroponic systems.

By Using DRAPS fertilizer use efficiency was also improved by 23.6%.

AQUAPONIC FUTURESCOPEAQUAPONIC FUTURESCOPE All kinds of plants can be grown in this environment, though herbs

and leafy greens currently are the most common crop. 

Aquaponics is suitable for environments with limited land.

In the future, aquaponics will continue to gain increased attention as a bio-integrated food production system, an urban-friendly technology.

Suhl, J., Dannehl, D., Kloas, W., Baganz, D., Jobs, S., Scheibe, G and Schmidt, U. 2016. Advanced aquaponics: evaluation of intensive tomato production in aquaponics vs conventional hydroponics. Agricultural water management. 178:.335-344.

Rashmi, M., Sahana, G. V., Sruthi, V and Suganya, R. 2013. Small scale aquaponic system. International Journal of Agriculture and Food Science Technology. 4(10):975-980.

Salam, M. A., Prodhan, M. Y., Sayem, S. M and Islam, M. A. 2014. Comparitive growth performances of taro plant in aquaponics vs other systems. International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies. 7(3):941-946.

Santos, M. J. P. L. D. 2016. Smart cities and urban areas – aquaponics as innovative urban agriculture. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. 20:402-406.

Aquaponics Ideas Online. Nitrogen cycle from fish excretion in aquaponics system. 25 September 2014. http://aquaponicsideasonline.com/nitrogen-cycle-from-fish-excretion-in-an-aquaponics-systems.

References

“The ultimate goal of farming is not the

growing of crops, but the cultivation and

perfection of human beings”

THANK YOU…