Mr. Muralee Manohar, Managing Director, Farm Tech Consultancy, Kozhikode, Kerala, discusses about developments in the field of hydroponic greenhouse farming.
Hydroponics is a topic that is gaining momentum nowadays especially after the pandemic attack. We have learnt to strive hard for attaining self-sufficiency in food production. That is why governments are promoting food business like Agri businesses. There are different types of Hi-tech farming productions like, hydroponics, aquaponics, aeroponics, greenhouse, and indoor vertical gardens and plant factory. The investors have to be choosy about what they exactly require, their targeted market, and the price of the products in the particular region and market. You can take the support of consultants or experts, but the final decision is yours based on the location and the crop you want to grow. Hydroponics is gaining momentum and is said to be the future of farming business in the world.
By 2050, our growing population may need the amount of all the food grown in the last 500 years put together as we need to feed the ever-growing population. It is a huge responsibility for the farmers, entrepreneurs, and Agri graduates, and startup companies. We may have to grow 60 to 70% more food on a smaller area of land because the Agri land is limited due to migration of people from rural areas to cities. The land is also losing its fertility, climate changes hit the world hard, salinity growing each day, and hence it is time for the Agri investors to look for hi-tech farming technologies. We should try to reduce the pressure on land, improve the technology, and try to be self-sufficient with new technologies. We have to give the earth back to the next generation with the same level of fertility.
Hydroponics under these circumstances is a profitable process. We are aware that nearly one third of food is wasted in both developing and developed countries because we produce food grains in rural areas and then transport to urban areas. So, the longer distant transportation makes higher food wastage. We produce lotplenty of things, butfood materials, but unfortunately it is not reaching the real targeted people and get damaged in the pipeline. Hydroponics is a technology and method of growing crops. This method involves nutrient enriched water where crops are grown. These crops are healthier and grow faster than the ones growing in the soil. Roots go deep into water and have easier access to the nutrients they need. NASA, in its space program, has used hydroponics for growing food in space stations. By this method, crops grow 50% faster and produce all-round the year under protected conditions. It offers higher yield, and crops can be grown in areas that cannot support cultivation in soil. it eliminates the need for heavy pesticide usage and needs only 10 to 30% water which can be reused. It does not occupy space and can be grown even in rooms.
The basic technology will remain the same irrespective of the size of the project. When it comes to commercial farming, it is important that you do a thorough follow up and monitoring of the project as hydroponic projects are capital involving projects. Since hydroponics is the method of growing plants in nutrient mixed water solution, roots are supported by inert media like perlite, rock wool, clay pellets, coco peat moss, and vermiculite. The roots absorb the nutrients from water for the plant development. Greenhouse helps in maintaining required climatic condition for each crop, and combination of hydroponics and greenhouse helps in year round production. During off season, the price of produce will be high, and it will be imported from various countries. But during season, the produce do not get premium price. To have premium price and to make farming profitable, one should have year round production and supply to clients.
When photosynthesis happens, plants prepare food using light, CO2 and water, and it gets converted to glucose and oxygen. There is no soil involved. So food is prepared in a soilless medium, in a controlled climate, with a proper supply of water and nutrients. When people having good soil, cheaper labour, and good water, go for hydroponics, it becomes a lesser profitable project and results in failure. Hydroponics is useful in bad soil, rocky patches, extreme weather conditions, and saline soil. Hydroponics helps in recycling nutrients and water which leads to water conservation by 90%. It is essential that you decide the type of technology needed for your project. You have to work on the cost of production, market price, and margin. Choosing the right type of crop is also important to get good margin by studying the market trends and fluctuations. It also helps in growing good products and make profits. You have to integrate better marketing, reduced cost of production, and better technologies to get a successful project.
It is well known that in normal cultivation the price is low, labour is cheap, and in hydroponics, the cost of production is higher, and customers are not willing to pay a higher price or willing to look at the quality too much. Hydroponics growers mostly get higher yield than conventional methods. It depends much on the expertise of growers, technology used, quality of material, and so on. It is how you are managing the technology that is important. The hydroponically grown plants have roots dipped in nutrient solution, so we can supply what is required for the plant to get higher yield. You have to make a fertiliser recipe to apply when the crop is in vegetative and generative stage for maximum result. Plants can absorb only what you supply and cannot go in search of nutrition from other parts of the soil. It is important that you provide the exact quantity of nutrients and at the right time. Since the roots of the hydroponics plants are confined to small areas, you can get more plants and more yield. Most of the time diseases can be controlled in hydroponics plants, but you need to be careful that the plants do not get any root disease which can spread fast and not easy to control.
Normally in hydroponics you supply water mixed with nutrients, and plants get light and CO2 from atmosphere and give you good yield. So growing plants in a plastic trough or grow bags and letting the nutrient solution trickle past their roots using a pump help the plants absorb the nutrients and give best results. There are a few farming technologies for hydroponics such as Deep-Water Culture, Ebb and Flow system, Drip irrigation, Nutrient Film Technique. Wick system is a tray and medium with wicks and a water tank below. So through capillary action, the water goes up, and plants get the water. It is a simple system. Deep Water Culture is where you have a trough with water and nutrients mixed. With roots floating, the plants absorb the nutrients needed. Normally lettuce is grown in this system. Ebb and Flow technique is similar to DWC, but you fill the water and nutrients to the root zone, it drains down in a particular time, and when it is filled again, it drains. So it is called Ebb and Flow.
Yet another system is Drip system where you have a dripper which supplies water and nutrients in a fixed amount at a particular time. These things can be automated, and timing can be fixed, and quantity based on the crop and stage. When we give fertilizer through irrigation, it is called fertigation. This can be done in the first stage of the crop. Tomato, capsicum, and egg plants are grown in this way or using coco peat grow bags and rock wool grow bags. NFT or Nutrient Film Technique has a thin film through which nutrients are passed to the roots. There will be a gradient, and once the nutrients drains, they come back to the solution and move up again. There is a continuous supply of nutrients. Lettuce, strawberries, microgreens, and herbs are grown this way.
Aeroponics is highly water saving. You fix the plants in a particular area; nutrients are sprayed at intervals so that the roots do not get dried and get the nutrients all the time. This is tried in space where there is a lot of water scarcity and to produce a particular vegetable where there are no other possible systems. It is a higher version of hydroponics system. But you need not use aeroponics in places where you have good water as this technology is expensive, and you cannot compete with the local market. You need to choose the right technology in the right place. There are many substrate materials used in hydroponics. Cocopeat is coconut husk which can hold the plants and useful in high temperature area. Rockwool is an inert material used mainly in Europe where there are few coconut trees. Since temperature is low there, water holding capacity is not required there. Expanded clay pellets is more popular, pH neutral, reusable, and used in Ebb and Flow technique. You can mix the growing media also like cocopeat with pellets. You should also know the exact fertiliser recipe required for the crops which varies with climate, crops, and the stages. Nitrogen rich grow formula with potassium and phosphorous is commonly used. pH control should be between 5.6 to 6.4, EC 1.2 to 3.5, and temperature between 60 to 70 degree Fahrenheit. Adequate lighting should be provided, you can use Metal Halide, high pressure sodium lamps, and LED lights.
The advantages of hydroponic and greenhouse include higher yield in smaller space, saving water and nutrients, elimination of weeds, and getting healthy and faster growth. Automation is possible with various types of machinery. The disadvantages include higher capital, choosing correct technology, labour intensive, requirement of high level of expertise, and daily attention, and risk of waterborne diseases. We have projects in Oman, Africa and other places where the cultivation conditions are not easy.
How is hydroponics economically viable in a small scale operation, and what is the minimum project cost for a small hydroponics project?
It depends on the type of crop, market price for the same. Go for market study, know the crop that will fetch premium price, and make an estimate of the cost of production. Normally, the bigger the size of the project, the lower the cost of production. The machine used in hydroponics can take up to 20 hectares. You can take the help of a specialist grower to support you.
What type of crops are most suitable for hydroponic greenhouse cultivation? What are the challenges faced when transitioning to hydroponic greenhouse system?
Tomato is largely grown all over the world, followed by herbs like basil, cucumber, capsicum, egg plants, lettuce, and strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. What you grow in your area depends on the price in the market. When there are all conducive conditions, one need not go for hydroponic system. It should be a slow transition and not a sudden decision, start with a small area first, have the technical team trained, and then go for bigger area. It is location specific and market specific. You can develop a prototype in that small area. Once you get your team ready for the technology, you can take up bigger projects. This transformation is really required, and if it fails, you can continue using the traditional method of farming and slowly convert it to hi-tech farming.
How can growers effectively manage pests and diseases in hydroponic greenhouse system?
It is actually the greenhouse that controls pests and diseases and protects the plants. It gives suitable climatic conditions and protection to the plant. Hydroponics gives proper nutrients for the good health of the plants. White flies, spider mites, and dust mites attack the plants mostly. We should also have protection with double layer insect net. Inside the greenhouse, there is a different type of pressure, and when opened, it sucks air inside allowing pests. When you use the double layer, you have a protective layer in the area. You have to control the humidity as high humidity can get more diseases. Healthy fertiliser and making plants resistant to pests and insects is important.
Are there any sustainable and organic practices that can be integrated into hydroponic greenhouse farming methods?
In hydroponics, when you do organic system with organic fertiliser and pesticide, you will not get organic certification. To get the certificate, growing plants through soil and using organic materials is needed. Since hydroponics is soilless, you will not come under organic cultivation. In hydroponics, you will get products which are better than produce from traditional practice. Aquaponics has a few projects that get certified organically. The definition of organic farming needs to amend the changes. We hope that in near future, even hydroponics product can be certified as organic when you are using organic materials.
Mr. Muralee Manohar
Email: murali@farmtechconsultancy.com
Phone:9207434065
Hydroponics is a topic that is gaining momentum nowadays especially after the pandemic attack. We have learnt to strive hard for attaining self-sufficiency in food production. That is why governments are promoting food business like Agri businesses. There are different types of Hi-tech farming productions like, hydroponics, aquaponics, aeroponics, greenhouse, and indoor vertical gardens and plant factory. The investors have to be choosy about what they exactly require, their targeted market, and the price of the products in the particular region and market. You can take the support of consultants or experts, but the final decision is yours based on the location and the crop you want to grow. Hydroponics is gaining momentum and is said to be the future of farming business in the world.
By 2050, our growing population may need the amount of all the food grown in the last 500 years put together as we need to feed the ever-growing population. It is a huge responsibility for the farmers, entrepreneurs, and Agri graduates, and startup companies. We may have to grow 60 to 70% more food on a smaller area of land because the Agri land is limited due to migration of people from rural areas to cities. The land is also losing its fertility, climate changes hit the world hard, salinity growing each day, and hence it is time for the Agri investors to look for hi-tech farming technologies. We should try to reduce the pressure on land, improve the technology, and try to be self-sufficient with new technologies. We have to give the earth back to the next generation with the same level of fertility.
Hydroponics under these circumstances is a profitable process. We are aware that nearly one third of food is wasted in both developing and developed countries because we produce food grains in rural areas and then transport to urban areas. So, the longer distant transportation makes higher food wastage. We produce lotplenty of things, butfood materials, but unfortunately it is not reaching the real targeted people and get damaged in the pipeline. Hydroponics is a technology and method of growing crops. This method involves nutrient enriched water where crops are grown. These crops are healthier and grow faster than the ones growing in the soil. Roots go deep into water and have easier access to the nutrients they need. NASA, in its space program, has used hydroponics for growing food in space stations. By this method, crops grow 50% faster and produce all-round the year under protected conditions. It offers higher yield, and crops can be grown in areas that cannot support cultivation in soil. it eliminates the need for heavy pesticide usage and needs only 10 to 30% water which can be reused. It does not occupy space and can be grown even in rooms.
The basic technology will remain the same irrespective of the size of the project. When it comes to commercial farming, it is important that you do a thorough follow up and monitoring of the project as hydroponic projects are capital involving projects. Since hydroponics is the method of growing plants in nutrient mixed water solution, roots are supported by inert media like perlite, rock wool, clay pellets, coco peat moss, and vermiculite. The roots absorb the nutrients from water for the plant development. Greenhouse helps in maintaining required climatic condition for each crop, and combination of hydroponics and greenhouse helps in year round production. During off season, the price of produce will be high, and it will be imported from various countries. But during season, the produce do not get premium price. To have premium price and to make farming profitable, one should have year round production and supply to clients.
When photosynthesis happens, plants prepare food using light, CO2 and water, and it gets converted to glucose and oxygen. There is no soil involved. So food is prepared in a soilless medium, in a controlled climate, with a proper supply of water and nutrients. When people having good soil, cheaper labour, and good water, go for hydroponics, it becomes a lesser profitable project and results in failure. Hydroponics is useful in bad soil, rocky patches, extreme weather conditions, and saline soil. Hydroponics helps in recycling nutrients and water which leads to water conservation by 90%. It is essential that you decide the type of technology needed for your project. You have to work on the cost of production, market price, and margin. Choosing the right type of crop is also important to get good margin by studying the market trends and fluctuations. It also helps in growing good products and make profits. You have to integrate better marketing, reduced cost of production, and better technologies to get a successful project.
It is well known that in normal cultivation the price is low, labour is cheap, and in hydroponics, the cost of production is higher, and customers are not willing to pay a higher price or willing to look at the quality too much. Hydroponics growers mostly get higher yield than conventional methods. It depends much on the expertise of growers, technology used, quality of material, and so on. It is how you are managing the technology that is important. The hydroponically grown plants have roots dipped in nutrient solution, so we can supply what is required for the plant to get higher yield. You have to make a fertiliser recipe to apply when the crop is in vegetative and generative stage for maximum result. Plants can absorb only what you supply and cannot go in search of nutrition from other parts of the soil. It is important that you provide the exact quantity of nutrients and at the right time. Since the roots of the hydroponics plants are confined to small areas, you can get more plants and more yield. Most of the time diseases can be controlled in hydroponics plants, but you need to be careful that the plants do not get any root disease which can spread fast and not easy to control.
Normally in hydroponics you supply water mixed with nutrients, and plants get light and CO2 from atmosphere and give you good yield. So growing plants in a plastic trough or grow bags and letting the nutrient solution trickle past their roots using a pump help the plants absorb the nutrients and give best results. There are a few farming technologies for hydroponics such as Deep-Water Culture, Ebb and Flow system, Drip irrigation, Nutrient Film Technique. Wick system is a tray and medium with wicks and a water tank below. So through capillary action, the water goes up, and plants get the water. It is a simple system. Deep Water Culture is where you have a trough with water and nutrients mixed. With roots floating, the plants absorb the nutrients needed. Normally lettuce is grown in this system. Ebb and Flow technique is similar to DWC, but you fill the water and nutrients to the root zone, it drains down in a particular time, and when it is filled again, it drains. So it is called Ebb and Flow.
Yet another system is Drip system where you have a dripper which supplies water and nutrients in a fixed amount at a particular time. These things can be automated, and timing can be fixed, and quantity based on the crop and stage. When we give fertilizer through irrigation, it is called fertigation. This can be done in the first stage of the crop. Tomato, capsicum, and egg plants are grown in this way or using coco peat grow bags and rock wool grow bags. NFT or Nutrient Film Technique has a thin film through which nutrients are passed to the roots. There will be a gradient, and once the nutrients drains, they come back to the solution and move up again. There is a continuous supply of nutrients. Lettuce, strawberries, microgreens, and herbs are grown this way.
Aeroponics is highly water saving. You fix the plants in a particular area; nutrients are sprayed at intervals so that the roots do not get dried and get the nutrients all the time. This is tried in space where there is a lot of water scarcity and to produce a particular vegetable where there are no other possible systems. It is a higher version of hydroponics system. But you need not use aeroponics in places where you have good water as this technology is expensive, and you cannot compete with the local market. You need to choose the right technology in the right place. There are many substrate materials used in hydroponics. Cocopeat is coconut husk which can hold the plants and useful in high temperature area. Rockwool is an inert material used mainly in Europe where there are few coconut trees. Since temperature is low there, water holding capacity is not required there. Expanded clay pellets is more popular, pH neutral, reusable, and used in Ebb and Flow technique. You can mix the growing media also like cocopeat with pellets. You should also know the exact fertiliser recipe required for the crops which varies with climate, crops, and the stages. Nitrogen rich grow formula with potassium and phosphorous is commonly used. pH control should be between 5.6 to 6.4, EC 1.2 to 3.5, and temperature between 60 to 70 degree Fahrenheit. Adequate lighting should be provided, you can use Metal Halide, high pressure sodium lamps, and LED lights.
The advantages of hydroponic and greenhouse include higher yield in smaller space, saving water and nutrients, elimination of weeds, and getting healthy and faster growth. Automation is possible with various types of machinery. The disadvantages include higher capital, choosing correct technology, labour intensive, requirement of high level of expertise, and daily attention, and risk of waterborne diseases. We have projects in Oman, Africa and other places where the cultivation conditions are not easy.
How is hydroponics economically viable in a small scale operation, and what is the minimum project cost for a small hydroponics project?
It depends on the type of crop, market price for the same. Go for market study, know the crop that will fetch premium price, and make an estimate of the cost of production. Normally, the bigger the size of the project, the lower the cost of production. The machine used in hydroponics can take up to 20 hectares. You can take the help of a specialist grower to support you.
What type of crops are most suitable for hydroponic greenhouse cultivation? What are the challenges faced when transitioning to hydroponic greenhouse system?
Tomato is largely grown all over the world, followed by herbs like basil, cucumber, capsicum, egg plants, lettuce, and strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. What you grow in your area depends on the price in the market. When there are all conducive conditions, one need not go for hydroponic system. It should be a slow transition and not a sudden decision, start with a small area first, have the technical team trained, and then go for bigger area. It is location specific and market specific. You can develop a prototype in that small area. Once you get your team ready for the technology, you can take up bigger projects. This transformation is really required, and if it fails, you can continue using the traditional method of farming and slowly convert it to hi-tech farming.
How can growers effectively manage pests and diseases in hydroponic greenhouse system?
It is actually the greenhouse that controls pests and diseases and protects the plants. It gives suitable climatic conditions and protection to the plant. Hydroponics gives proper nutrients for the good health of the plants. White flies, spider mites, and dust mites attack the plants mostly. We should also have protection with double layer insect net. Inside the greenhouse, there is a different type of pressure, and when opened, it sucks air inside allowing pests. When you use the double layer, you have a protective layer in the area. You have to control the humidity as high humidity can get more diseases. Healthy fertiliser and making plants resistant to pests and insects is important.
Are there any sustainable and organic practices that can be integrated into hydroponic greenhouse farming methods?
In hydroponics, when you do organic system with organic fertiliser and pesticide, you will not get organic certification. To get the certificate, growing plants through soil and using organic materials is needed. Since hydroponics is soilless, you will not come under organic cultivation. In hydroponics, you will get products which are better than produce from traditional practice. Aquaponics has a few projects that get certified organically. The definition of organic farming needs to amend the changes. We hope that in near future, even hydroponics product can be certified as organic when you are using organic materials.
Mr. Muralee Manohar
Email: murali@farmtechconsultancy.com
Phone:9207434065