Water shortages and flooding linked to human-induced climate change are making farming increasingly unpredictable. Hydroponics can save up to 90% of water used by conventional farming. The ancient technique could help improve food security in India.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00A kilo of these tomatoes cost 10 rupees today. Just a few months ago, they were at 200 rupees.
00:11Supply was low and demand was high. But it was more than just about the market. A part
00:15of this fluctuation is human-caused climate change. Farmers around India are struggling
00:21with water shortages or unpredictable weather. But there are now other promising ways to
00:26grow food. Meet Adarsh, who is developing hydroponic techniques.
00:33I am an engineering graduate and now I am a full-time urban farmer. We know that plants
00:39are grown in soil. But in hydroponics, they are grown in water. Here, we do NFT or nutrients
00:48film technique. In this NFT channel, we use net cups with cocopeats on it. This helps
00:55to penetrate the roots. There will be nutritious water flowing through the channel that supplies
01:02essential nutrients for the plant. And the remaining nutritious water gets channeled
01:10back to the water tank. So, there will be no water wastage.
01:19But hydroponic is old. We found evidence from the 6th century BC at the hanging gardens
01:24of Babylon. It is believed that the lush gardens survived through a pulley system of water
01:29from the river. Over time, hydroponics has also allowed rice to be grown throughout Asia,
01:35where it's still grown in flooded fields. Marco Polo was known to have spread its use
01:41in his travels across the world. More recently, NASA has been experimenting with hydroponics
01:48as a method to feed astronauts in space. It's efficient because hydroponics can actually
01:55save up to 90% of water compared to traditional farming. Since it is done in a climate-controlled
02:02environment, evaporation loss is low and hardly any groundwater is depleted.
02:08The other advantage is that crops are protected from very hot or wet summers. Commercial farms
02:14currently grow up to 50 kgs of green vegetables per day. It is still happening at a small
02:19scale with only higher income clients. We grow 25,000 plants here with about 10 varieties
02:27of leafy greens and herbs. These are completely exotic greens which are used for salad making
02:32like lettuce, kale and bok choy, which are in high demand. This setting costs around
02:3925 lakh rupees or nearly 30,000 euros and the government also subsidizes for hydroponic
02:45farming. The upfront cost is one of the biggest limiting factors of this technology, as well
02:55as a lack in technical know-how. Small or medium scale farmers cannot afford it and
03:00hydroponics is so far only available to urban enthusiasts with access to a terrace. Like
03:06D Suresh, who cultivates up to 40% of the vegetables he uses on his terrace.
03:11First, I tried a small system like NFT method and it came out well. Then I wanted to experiment
03:19with the Dutch bucket and now I have employed a grow bag technique. So everything is going
03:24and growing really well. We can grow exotic vegetables and the beauty is, it's possible
03:30in Chennai weather. You see, Adarsh is growing arugula, thyme, bok choy, spring cherry,
03:36in lettuce. He has four varieties. You know, thyme is a herb which looks like grass but
03:41it costs 2000 rupees per kg. Generally, it is quite impossible in Chennai weather but
03:46with proper greenhouse setup, in hydroponic method, it is possible. Adarsh helped D Suresh
03:53set up his hydroponics terrace farm, where the installation cost was 20,000 Indian rupees
03:58or around 215 euros.
04:01The future is going to be hydroponics and terraces. So if we start now, we can produce
04:08a lot. If this happens, there is no chance of tomatoes price to rise to 200 rupees.
04:14So establishments that have capital are more likely to invest in bigger farms. Like this
04:21pizza restaurant in Chennai that grows 50% of the vegetables that they use. Here you
04:30can see some crops like capsicum, jalapenos, which are the main ingredients for pizza and
04:35they are very expensive in the market. But with the advantages of hydroponics, they can
04:39produce this at a low cost. Larger problems of reliance on the market and the climate
04:48still loom for the rest of the state. But such solutions can make a difference especially
04:53in cities if they become more affordable.