Aquaponics is the combination of the terms aquaculture (raising aquatic organisms) and hydroponics (growing vegetables in water).
There are several configurations for building this type of system, but mainly three elements are used: a tank for raising the fish, a place to filter the water and one for planting the seedlings.
The technique is recent in Brazil and is widely used in countries with little freshwater availability and harsh winters; it has been drawing the attention of research institutions and producers such as the São Paulo Agency for Agribusiness Technology - APTA.
In the Ribeirão Preto – SP region, a home aquaponics model was developed by animal scientist Fernando André Salles and his team. This model combines the production of leafy vegetables, aromatic and medicinal plants with the raising of a variety of lambari fish, in an integration that balances itself naturally, in which the waste of one organism becomes a source of nutrients for others.
Among the advantages of aquaponics are water savings, and it is one of the few forms of animal production that does not generate effluents (since they are reused by the plants); the vegetables are all produced without pesticides; it is easy to control some pests and nutritional deficiencies because it is small scale; the investment cost is not very high and the management is not very laborious.
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Reviewed by Silvia Cristina VieiraPublished by Leonardo Felipe Franchi
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