12.6 Aquaponics

Aquaponics is a technique which is a combination of aquaculture (growing fish) and hydroponics (growing plants in non-soil media and nutrient-laden water). Aquaponics may also prevent toxic water runoff. It also maintains ecosystem balance by recycling the waste and excretory products produced by the fish. In India, aquaponics was started in .

Some primary methods of aquaponic gardening that are in use nowadays are as follows: (i) Deep water culture is otherwise known as raft based method. In this method a raft floats in water. Plants are kept in the holes of raft and the roots float in water. This method is applicable for larger commercial scale system.

By this method fast growing plants are cultivated. (ii) Media based method involves growing plants in inert planting media like clay pellets or shales. This method is applicable for home and hobby scale system. Larger number of fruiting plants, leafy green plants, herbs and other varieties of plants can be cultivated (Figure .

) (iii) Nutrient Film technique involves the passage of nutrient rich water through a narrow trough or PVC pipe. Plants are kept in the holes of the pipe to allow the roots to be