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Understanding the Hydroponic Agriculture

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With things to do with global warming and drought be on the rise, the future of agriculture is no longer out there in the field, Many farmers across the world have seen losses as the weather changes to adversely affect their crops as well as animals, It is true that the United Nations on Environmental Programs has set aside a huge budget to help mitigate the effects of climatic changes as well as curb global warming but their efforts are not enough.

They have done little, if any, to cushion the local farmer from the bad climatic conditions that continue to render his agricultural efforts fruitless, Understanding hydroponic is the best way to mitigate against the effect of harsh weather, In this article, we shall look at some of the reasons why hydroponic is the best agricultural solution.

How does hydroponic gardening work?

The first thing that we need to understand is the working of hydroponic agriculture, This I crucial if we are to actually appreciate the use of techno logy is agriculture, Remember that many of the local farmers depend so much on natural rains and sunlight simply because they do not have enough knowledge on the use of technology in agriculture,

Hydroponic agriculture is the art of growing crops without the use of soil, Instead, the plants are given all the nutrients they need through water, At the same time, instead of the crops being subjected to sunlight, they are given artificial light that can help them carry on their photosynthesis activities the normal way, In this agricultural system, one does not need soil to grow crops, There are many media that you can get to support the root system of the plants you are growing, and as long as the nutrient induced water keep flowing, plus the artificial light, you are good to get a good harvest,

Studies show that the number of farmers turning to hydroponic is constantly increasing, This is of course due to the many benefits that are associated with this system, Let us now examine some of the most notable benefits that this farming system can bring,

Less space required

The amount of space required for hydroponic agriculture I considerably less when compared to other forms of agriculture, According to morninghomestead.com, a land as small as quarter of the normal farming land is required for hydroponic farming, This is a crucial factor because it means there are no limitations on who can far, With the smallest land that you can ever have, with this technology, you still stand a chance of becoming a great producer of farm products, This technology has helped take farming from the rural areas to cities, This could not have been possible many years ago as there was no farming land in major towns and cities,

Less water required

It is believed that up to 70% of the water available on the earth’s surface is used for farming, This amount of water is huge, thus technology was required to find a way to reduce it, hydroponic technology, which is applied in hydroponic farming, requires 90% less water than normal farming, What this means is that one can be able to farm even in dry areas without having to worry about the source of water for his crops, Another important thing to note is that hydroponic technology can use water that has been recycled even 3 times, This means that unlike the natural farming methods that seeps water just ones, you have a chance to keep using the same water for the benefits of your crops,

Faster growth of crops

Studies show that crops in hydroponic system grow faster than the normal farming, Specifically, it is believed that crops under the hydroponic system will grow at the rate of between 30 and 50 percent faster than those of normal farming, This is important because it will help a famer be able to earn more from each season he grows the crops, Many have indeed turned this farming method into a full time employment knowing that the turn-around rate is short,

Less expensive

The cost of doing hydroponic farming is relatively cheap when compared to other methods of farming, This is in the view of the size of land required for farming as well as the inputs required, With hydroponic farming, a farmer does not have to spend a coin on fertilizers as this will not be required, Remember all the nutrients that will be required by the crops shall be supplied by the nutrients in the water,

Environmentally friendly

When you look at all the above, one can easily conclude that hydroponic farming is the best way to go when it comes to environmental conservation, Things such as soil erosion due to poor ploughing practices are unheard of in hydroponic gardening, At the same time, fertilizers that would have otherwise polluted the soil as well as water sources do not apply in this type of farming.