i. Hydroponics Need for Hydroponics Economics of Hydroponics Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture ...
i.
Hydroponics
Hydroponics
is a subset of hydroculture and is a method of growing plants using mineral
nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown
with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium,
such as perlite, gravel, etc
As we all
know that food security is the major challenge we are facing today. There are
several constraints for food production such as non-availability of adequate
water resources especially ground water, land fragmentation, lower
literacy level of farmers, lack of adequate infrastructure, conversion of
agriculture land into residential projects and lack of adoption of technologies
to achieve better productivity of crops.
Moreover,
the output/unit land utilised when compared with the global average indicates
that we need to improve a lot. Keeping all this in mind, it would be a
strategic move for able entrepreneurs to start exploring the economics of grain
trade. Hydroponics is the promising practice that can help us produce yield
more than 4 to 5 times of what we are producing today.
The
capital intensive nature of this technology is the major impediment in its
early adoption by willing entrepreneurs. But the return on this practice are
proven and are long term in nature. The cost of setting up HP setup/sqm is
close to Rs 3000. With this rate the cost of setting up HP plant for 1 Acre is
close to Rs 1.5 cr.
Apart
from that it needs trained labour and proper vigilance for its successful
execution. The potential of this technology to use less water for growing crops
in a eco-friendly manner (less use of pesticides, etc), this can fetch great
returns in the market.
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