permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

http://mashable.com/2014/02/04/aquaponics/

Aquaponics: Are Fish the Future of Organic Farming?
http://mashable.com/2014/02/04/aquaponics/

http://youtu.be/T0Go2OFInj8
*Published on Feb 4, 2014 * Using a fraction of the energy and water
required for traditional agriculture, aquaponics produces food in a closed,
completely organic ecosystem powered by fish, bacteria and other organisms.
Parcs Holman gives Mashable a tour of his aquaponics green house in Los
Angeles, Calif.

Parcs Holman speaks with a rambling conviction about the mechanics and
advantages of aquaponics. "It's totally the future," he says. "You're
growing hundreds of pounds of food a year for a fraction of the water and
power." Aquaponics, the growing of plants with roots submerged in water, is
being touted by enthusiasts as the next frontier in urban agriculture.

See also: The Future of Food: 11 Unique Urban Farming
Projects<http://mashable.com/2012/02/01/urban-farming-technology/>

The system depends on a network of tubes connecting a pond of fish with
"rafts" that hold the plants. As the fish create waste, the water
circulates to the rafts where tiny bacteria convert it into nutrient-rich
plant feed. "It's just replicating nature," Holman notes. "Except nature
has the sun, and we use a small amount of electricity."

Humans have been cultivating plants in water since ancient times. The
Hanging Gardens of Babylon are said to be an early aquaponic system, and
the Aztecs did it in the Valley of Mexico, where some communities are still
growing food in such *chinampas.* Some south Asian countries also depend on
aquaponic systems for rice cultivation.

What's different about this modern iteration is the scientific attention to
detail. "There's a really delicate balance that a system like this
requires. One tiny caterpillar can do enough damage in an afternoon to
throw off the entire chemical balance." Still, Holman suggests, it's a very
practical solution for hyper-efficient cultivation of food. "We know it's
scalable, we're just experimenting to see what works."
Topics: agriculture <http://mashable.com/category/agriculture/>,
farming<http://mashable.com/category/farming/>,
Fish <http://mashable.com/category/fish/>,
Food<http://mashable.com/category/food/>,
Tech <http://mashable.com/category/tech/>