Hydroponics, the Future  of Agriculture and Sustainable Food 

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Hydroponics is the future of agriculture and the most sustainable way of feeding the world and its ever increasing population. Hydroponics by definition is the process of growing plants without soil. This growing technique instead of soil uses a mineral nutrient solution in a water solvent, allowing the nutrient uptake process to be more efficient than when using soil. Almost anything that grows in soil has the capability of being grown in a hydroponic system including flowers, herbs and vegetables. Leafy greens such as lettuce, arugula, kale and spinach are among some of the most popular grown vegetables.

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The phenomena of desertification, salinity, erosion and acidification are all threats to arable land which is required for traditional farming.  Accelerating these phenomena are influences such as land misuse, unregulated farming practices, deforestation, mining, pesticides and fertilizers. Hydroponic growth systems are the only solution to combating increased world food demand and the reduction in available arable land. It has already surpassed traditional farming in countries such as the Netherlands and its implementation is quickly spreading across the North America and Asia.

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Hydroponics provides a number of key benefits compared to traditional farming techniques albeit with a significantly higher cost of production. Some key benefits include:

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• An Increase in Yields

• Faster Growth Rates

• Around the Year Growth

• Capability of Automation

• Food Safety and Security

• Optimized Land Usage

• Water Conservation

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The amount of arable land available for cultivating crops decreases as world population and urbanization increase throughout the world. As a result, the importance of healthy, sustainable land is vital to feeding  the world. Loss of food security is often overlooked within well developed countries however its importance is rapidly becoming noticeable, as they are more and more reliant on food imports.

The United States is the perfect example of this dangerous occurence, as it finds itself a net importer of food importing USD 5.6 billion p.a. Currently more than half of the fresh fruit and almost a third of the fresh vegetables Americans buy come from other countries.  The situation is more dire for countries in the Middle East who import up to 90% of all their food. On the opposite spectrum is the Netherlands who is the worlds second largest food exporter after China, with USD 7.3 billion export p.a. The Netherlands wide use of advanced hydroponic systems however has resulted in it exporting an astonishing 192x more than China per sq. m. of arable land.

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