What is Hydroponics  

Maybe you have placed a branch of a plant in a glass filled with water or in a bottle, then after a few days, roots come out in it and gradually the plant starts growing. Whereas we have seen that trees and plants are usually grown on the ground. It seems that manure, soil, water and sunlight are necessary for growing and growing trees. But the truth is that only three things - water, nutrients and sunlight are required for plant or crop production. In this way, if we provide nutrients in any other way to the plants without soil, then we can grow trees in the presence of water and sunlight without soil. Actually, Due to increasing urbanization and increasing population, when there is scarcity of land for crops and plants, this technique will be very useful for growing plants without soil. With this you can grow plants and vegetables etc. in your flat or even at home. This technique of growing plants without soil is called hydroponics. Let us know what hydroponics is, how it can be useful for us and where it is being used in our country.

What is hydroponics?

The technique of growing plants without soil only in water or in controlled climate between sand or pebbles is called hydroponic. The word hydroponic originated from the two Greek words 'Hydro' and 'Ponos'. Hydro means water, while ponos means work.

In hydroponics, plants and forage crops are grown under controlled conditions at about 80 to 85 percent humidity at 15 to 30 ° C temperature.

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Normally trees and plants take their essential nutrients from the ground, but in hydroponics technique a special type of solution is added to the plants to provide the necessary nutrients for the plants. Necessary minerals and nutrients are added to this solution for the growth of plants. Only a few drops of this solution are added to the plants grown in water, pebbles or sand, etc., once a month. In this solution, nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, magnesium, calcium, sulfur, zinc and iron, etc. are added in a certain proportion so that the plants get the necessary nutrients.

Where is the use of Hydroponics?

Hydroponics technology is being used for crop production in many western countries. In our country too, hydroponics technology is growing and growing crops without soil and soil in many areas of the country. In arid regions like Rajasthan where there are adverse climatic conditions for fodder production, this technique can prove to be a boon in those areas. Maize, Barley, at Veterinary University, Bikaner This technique is being used to grow oats and high quality green fodder crops. Scientists here have achieved success in preparing sapling grass plants using this technique in a controlled environment without soil. This will help to overcome the difficulties faced by growing salvage grass in open fields and sowing of light-seeded seeds, thus enabling rapid development of salvage pastures. It would be pertinent to mention here that in the states of adverse climatic conditions like Rajasthan, the condition of good milch breeds is becoming worrisome due to continuous depletion of pastures and lack of balanced nutritious food. In such a situation, an attempt is being made to produce green fodder by hydroponics technology. This will provide nutritious green fodder for the animals for twelve months. Similarly, potato is being grown in Punjab by hydroponics technique.

There is a shortage of land for pasture in Goa, so there is a big problem of fodder for the animals there. In view of this problem of farmers, a unit of green fodder production using hydroponics technology has been set up in Goa campus of Indian Council for Agricultural Research on behalf of Goa Dairy under National Agriculture Development Scheme of Government of India. Ten more such units have been set up in various dairy cooperative societies in Goa. Each unit has a capacity to produce 600 kg of green fodder per day.

What are the Benefits of Hydroponics?

Hydroponics techniques have many advantages over traditional plants than growing plants and crops. With this technique, plants can be grown even in areas where there is scarcity or soil is not fertile under adverse climatic conditions. The major benefits of hydroponics are as follows:

1. Plants and crops can be grown at very low cost with this technique. It is estimated that a plant with a height of 5 to 8 inches costs less than one rupee per year.

2. In this technique, to supply essential nutrients to the plants, only a few drops of essential mineral solution are required to be added only once or twice a month. Therefore with its help you can grow plants anywhere.

3. Only 20 percent of the water is sufficient for gardening using hydroponics technique as compared to traditional gardening.

4. If hydroponics technology is used on a large scale, a variety of vegetables and vegetables can be grown on a large scale in their homes and large buildings. This will not only reduce the cost of food and drink, but will also reduce the cost of transportation.

5. Since the plants and crops produced by this method have no relation with soil and soil, they reduce diseases and hence do not use pesticides in their production.

6. Since hydroponics techniques put a special solution of nutrients in plants, fertilizers and other chemical substances are not required. Which will not only benefit our environment, but it will also be good for our health.

7. Vegetables and plants grown with hydroponics techniques are more nutritious.

8. Hydroponics method can not only grow plants in homes and flats, but can also be grown in fields outside. Crops and plants grown by this method are ready in half the time.

9. This technique requires much less space than land grown plants. In this way it helps to relieve the excess pressure of the ground and the irrigation system.

10. Experiments related to maize-prepared hydroponics feed have found that conventional green fodder contains 10.70 percent crude protein, while hydroponics green fodder has 13.6 percent crude protein. But hydroponics green fodder has less crude fiber than conventional green fodder. Hydroponics green fodder produces more energy, vitamins and more milk and also improves their fertility.

One advantage of the hydroponics technique is also that with this technique the seedlings of grains such as wheat can be ready in 7 to 8 days, whereas in general it takes 28 to 30 days to prepare the plants.

Challenges of Hydroponics Technology

The question arises that when hydroponics can have so many benefits, why is its use not spreading? Actually, there are many difficulties and challenges in the way of this technique becoming prevalent; Such as:

1. The biggest challenge is the initial expenses required to use this technique. It costs more to apply it than the traditional method. It needs to be clarified here that later it becomes much cheaper.

2. Since water is reused with the help of pumps in this method, it requires constant power supply. Therefore, the second big challenge is to maintain power supply at all times.

3. The third biggest challenge is to change people's attitude. Most people think that to use hydroponics, there should be a very good knowledge about it and it requires a lot of research studies. But actually it is not so.

In the end, it cannot be denied that the minerals and nutrients required for proper growth of plants should be available in the right quantity at the right time. In hydroponics technology, we supply these elements, while the plants on the ground keep themselves.