Hydroponics can be a harmless hobby where sunshine and cultivable land are available in plenty. This used to be the case with rural communities in days gone by and continues in some parts of the third world. However modern pressures in cities, temperature climes and amidst intensive traditional agriculture, cause us to look at alternative ways of raising crops in a sustainable way. Hydroponics offers 5 top advantages in such situations:
- We can grow plants during short periods of daylight and even in little of no sunlight.
- Arid land and precious water resources can be put to most productive use.
- Hazardous pesticides can be eliminated altogether or used very sparingly.
- Nutrients can be adjusted to enhance the most desirable characteristics of fruits.
- Rare and endangered plants can be conserved with ease.
Countries near the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and places at significant elevation above sea level have suffered traditional handicaps in terms of food security and productive agriculture. Insular communities have found it difficult to meet nutrient requirements or even to enjoy simple gardening pleasures. Hydroponics provides a level playing field for people who have to endure long winters and short photoperiods.
Large tracts of Africa, North America and Northern and Central Asia are habitually drought prone and have large tracts of land with little or no cultivable value. Command areas of dams and major water bodies are also under various ecological and social stresses and the prospects of their growth are limited. Soil fertility ceases to be a limiting factor once Hydroponics is deployed and even the most arid soil can be used for abundant plant growth and produce.
Hydroponics gives precise growing conditions of pH and nutrients. Root uptake can be tailored to give best expression to the genetic expression of plants. We can have fruits with therapeutic and sensual properties that we desire without disturbing the processes of nature. The limitations of seasonality are stretched for justifiable advantage. This is especially important for plants of medical and related value.
Biodiversity gets a protective net with the help of Hydroponics. Species of plants that are threatened by urban and industrial growth can be quickly brought to levels of critical mass before they are returned to the wild. Reserves can be built as shelters to ensure that no genetic material is lost, and we can make up for the environmental degradation of the past.
