Is Aquaponics the Future of Agriculture?

Summary

The video explores aquaponics, a sustainable farming method combining fish farming and hydroponics, as a potential solution to global food and water scarcity. It discusses the technique's ability to reduce water usage by 90%, its scalability, and the challenges of disease, temperature control, and profitability. Despite the hurdles, aquaponics shows promise, especially for regions lacking arable land, and could be a key to future farming.

Takeaways

• 🌱 The world faces increasing challenges in food production due to growing water scarcity and a rising population.
• 💧 Aquaponics is an ancient farming technique that combines fish farming and hydroponics, gaining recent interest for its sustainable potential.
• 🌱 By 2050, the global population is expected to reach 9.8 billion, necessitating a 70% increase in food production while facing shrinking arable land and climate change.
• 🌳 Agriculture is a leading cause of environmental degradation, having cleared significant portions of the world's forests and grasslands.
• 🐟 Aquaponics systems recycle water, reducing consumption by up to 90% compared to traditional agriculture, and eliminating the need for synthetic fertilizers.
• 🌿 The technique allows for year-round food production in a controlled environment, with plants and fish supporting each other in a symbiotic relationship.
• 📈 Aquaponics can be scaled from small home systems to large industrial operations, offering flexibility in food production.
• 🔄 The process involves a cycle where fish waste is converted into nutrients for plants, which then clean the water for the fish, creating a closed-loop ecosystem.
• 💹 Despite the environmental benefits, aquaponics faces economic challenges, with high initial costs and the need for ongoing maintenance and monitoring.
• 🌡️ Maintaining the right environmental conditions for both fish and plants can be complex, with factors like pH, temperature, and population control requiring careful management.

Q & A

What is the main challenge addressed in the video?

The video addresses the challenge of producing enough food for the growing global population while facing water scarcity and the need for sustainable farming practices.

What are the three promising farming techniques mentioned as potential solutions?

The three promising farming techniques mentioned are hydroponics, vertical farming, and aquaponics.

Why is aquaponics gaining interest recently?

Aquaponics is gaining interest because it combines the best features of aquaculture and hydroponics to create a sustainable food production technique that uses less water and space.

How does the United Nations' population prediction for 2050 affect farming?

By 2050, the United Nations predicts there will be 9.8 billion people, which will require a 70% increase in food production. This puts pressure on current farming techniques to be more efficient and sustainable.

What is the impact of current agricultural practices on the environment?

Current agricultural practices have led to the destruction of over a third of the world's forests and two-thirds of its grasslands, contributing to increased greenhouse gas emissions and a decline in biodiversity.

How does aquaponics reduce water consumption compared to traditional agriculture?

Aquaponics can reduce water consumption by 90% compared to traditional agriculture by reusing water through natural cycles within the system, eliminating the need for constant water replenishment.

What are the benefits of aquaponics for urban areas?

Aquaponics allows for year-round food production in urban areas by utilizing spaces like empty warehouses or rooftops, which can reduce transportation costs and carbon emissions.

What are the potential drawbacks or challenges of implementing aquaponics on a large scale?

The potential drawbacks include the risk of disease spreading among fish and plants, the need for precise environmental controls, high initial investment costs, and the current lack of profitability in many aquaponic systems.

How does aquaponics address the issue of monoculture in farming?

Aquaponics does not rely on monoculture as it integrates fish and plant farming, promoting biodiversity and a more natural ecosystem.

What is the role of bacteria in an aquaponics system?

Bacteria play a crucial role in converting fish waste into usable nutrients for plants, specifically by converting ammonia to nitrites and then to nitrates, which plants can absorb.

What are some of the economic considerations for starting an aquaponics farm?

The economic considerations include high startup costs, potential low profitability, and the need for diversification of revenue streams beyond just selling food products.

Outlines

00:00

🌱 Introduction to Aquaponics and Modern Farming Challenges

The video discusses the growing need for sustainable farming methods due to increasing global water scarcity and population. It introduces aquaponics as a potential solution, combining fish farming and hydroponics in a symbiotic system that could revolutionize food production. The narrator, Matt Ferrell, sets the stage by highlighting the challenges of traditional agriculture, such as deforestation, soil depletion, and excessive water usage, and emphasizes the need for innovative approaches like vertical farming and agrivoltaics to meet the food demands of a projected 9.8 billion people by 2050.

05:02

🐟 The Aquaponics System: How It Works and Its Benefits

This section delves into the mechanics of aquaponics, explaining how fish waste is converted into plant nutrients through a process involving bacteria. The video highlights the benefits of aquaponics, such as reduced water usage, no need for soil, and the ability to grow food in non-arable areas. It also touches on the scalability of aquaponics systems, from small home units to large commercial operations, and the potential for increased food production with less environmental impact. The discussion includes the advantages of aquaponics over traditional farming, such as higher plant growth rates and the efficient use of space and resources.

10:04

🔍 Challenges and Considerations of Aquaponics

The final paragraph addresses the challenges and limitations of aquaponics. It discusses the potential for disease outbreaks, the need for careful monitoring and balance of the ecosystem, and the difficulties in maintaining optimal conditions for both fish and plants. The video also raises concerns about the initial high costs of setting up an aquaponics system and the variability in profitability. It cites studies that show mixed results in the economic viability of aquaponic farms and suggests that while the technology holds promise, it may not yet be a fully mature or commercially viable alternative to traditional farming. The narrator concludes by acknowledging the potential of aquaponics for specific regions or small-scale applications and invites viewers to share their thoughts on the topic.

Keywords

💡Aquaponics

Aquaponics is a sustainable food production system that combines aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (growing plants in water). It is highlighted in the video as a potential solution to the challenges of food production in the face of water scarcity and growing population. The video explains how aquaponics works by using fish waste to fertilize plants, creating a cycle of nutrient-rich water that is reused, significantly reducing water consumption compared to traditional farming methods.

💡Hydroponics

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil, using nutrient-rich water solutions instead. It is mentioned in the video as one of the promising farming techniques that could help address the global need for more efficient food production. Hydroponics allows for year-round farming and can be used in conjunction with other methods like aquaponics to create more sustainable and space-efficient agricultural systems.

💡Vertical Farming

Vertical farming refers to the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers, often in controlled environments. The video discusses vertical farming as a technique that can be combined with aquaponics to maximize the use of space and increase food production in a small footprint. This method is particularly relevant in urban areas where land is scarce and can contribute to local food security.

💡Monoculture

Monoculture is the agricultural practice of growing a single crop species in a field at a time. The video criticizes monoculture for depleting soil nutrients and moisture, leading to soil erosion and the need for more water and fertilizer. It also points out that monoculture can harm pollinators due to the lack of diversity in the ecosystem, which is a significant issue for sustainable agriculture.

💡Water Scarcity

Water scarcity is a situation where the demand for water exceeds the available supply, often due to factors like climate change, population growth, and unsustainable use. The video emphasizes the importance of addressing water scarcity as it relates to food production, with aquaponics being presented as a method that can reduce water consumption by 90% compared to traditional agriculture.

💡Nitrosomonas

Nitrosomonas is a type of bacteria mentioned in the video that plays a crucial role in the aquaponics system by converting ammonia, which is toxic to fish, into nitrite. This process is part of the natural nitrogen cycle and is essential for maintaining a healthy balance in the aquaponics ecosystem.

💡Nitrobacter

Nitrobacter is another type of bacteria discussed in the video that further processes nitrite into nitrates, which are less toxic and can be used by plants as nutrients. This conversion is vital for the functioning of an aquaponics system, as it helps to purify the water and make it safe for both fish and plants.

💡Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR)

The Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) is a measure of how much feed is required to produce a certain amount of meat, typically expressed as a ratio. The video uses FCR to compare the efficiency of different protein sources, noting that fish like salmon or tilapia have a lower FCR than pork, making them more efficient sources of animal protein.

💡Sustainability

Sustainability in the context of the video refers to the ability to maintain agricultural practices over the long term without depleting resources or causing environmental harm. Aquaponics is presented as a sustainable farming method due to its efficient use of water and the potential for local food production, which can reduce transportation costs and carbon emissions.

💡Economic Viability

Economic viability is the concept of whether a business or practice can generate sufficient revenue to cover its costs and provide a return on investment. The video discusses the economic challenges of aquaponics, including high startup costs and the need for ongoing monitoring and maintenance. It also notes that while some aquaponic operations have been profitable, many struggle, indicating that the technology's economic viability is still uncertain.

💡Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life in an ecosystem, including the number of species and their genetic diversity. The video mentions the decline in biodiversity as a result of agricultural practices like deforestation and monoculture, which can have negative impacts on ecosystems and the services they provide, such as pollination and carbon sequestration.

Highlights

The necessity of finding new farming techniques due to water scarcity and increasing population.

Introduction of promising farming techniques like hydroponics, vertical farming, and aquaponics.

Aquaponics, an ancient technique gaining recent interest, combines aquaculture and hydroponics.

The potential of next-gen tech to bolster age-old symbioses in aquaponics.

UN prediction of 9.8 billion people by 2050 and the challenge of providing food and water.

Agriculture as the biggest driver for wilderness destruction and its impact on climate change.

The shrinking of arable land and the need to increase food production by 70% by 2050.

Monoculture's negative effects on soil health, pollinators, and water usage.

Agriculture's high consumption of drinking water and the challenges of global droughts.

How aquaponics can help address water scarcity and sustainable food production.

The process of converting fish waste into plant nutrients in an aquaponics system.

Benefits of aquaponics including reduced water usage, no need for soil, and no use of harmful fertilizers.

The scalability of aquaponics systems from small home units to large industrial operations.

Challenges of maintaining a balanced ecosystem in aquaponics, including disease control and pH management.

Economic considerations of starting and maintaining an aquaponics system.

Studies showing mixed profitability of aquaponics farms and the need for further research.

The potential of aquaponics to provide local, sustainably grown food in regions with limited access.

The future outlook for aquaponics as a commercial farming alternative.

Transcripts

A portion of this video is  brought to you by Incogni. 

To live, people need food to eat and water to  drink. That’s a simple fact. But with growing  

water scarcity around the world and an ever  increasing population, we have to find better  

ways to produce the food we all need to survive.  The solution could lie in one of several promising  

farming techniques like hydroponics, vertical  farming, or aquaponics. That last one has  

technically been around since ancient times, but  has been gaining a lot of interest recently. How  

is this old technique getting revived? Can nextgen  tech really bolster age old symbioses, and build  

a mini ecosystem that creates more food with less  water? Could aquaponics be the future of farming?

I’m Matt Ferrell … welcome to Undecided.

In past videos I’ve talked about vertical farming,  as well as agrivoltaics, and how they’re changing  

how we should look at farming in general. Using  technology in combination with different farming  

techniques can unlock a lot of potential, but  why should any of us be interested in that?

Well, by 2050 the United Nations predicts  there will be 9.8 billion of us on this pale  

blue dot. All those people need healthy food  and clean water, but our current farming and  

agricultural techniques just aren’t up to the  challenge. In fact in some cases they’re making  

it worse. Agriculture has been the single  biggest driver for wilderness destruction.  

As a species we’ve cleared over a third of the  world’s forests and two thirds of its grasslands  

just for farming. As we’ve destroyed these  carbon-sequestering biomes we’ve released more  

greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and seen  a sharp decline in our planet’s biodiversity.

On top of that arable land is shrinking.  Every year, an area about half the size  

of Britain turns to desert, and by 2050  the forces of climate change and pollution  

will have cost us 50% of all currently arable  land. And while that’s happening we’re going to  

need to increase food production by 70% to meet  the world’s appetite in 2050. Not a great combo.

Then there’s the common practice of growing  only one crop species in a field at a time,  

which is known as monoculture.  This makes it easier on farmers,  

but monocultures deplete the soil of nutrients  and moisture, causing irreversible soil erosion,  

and necessitating more water and fertilizer.  Meanwhile monoculture’s lack of diversity has been  

shown to harm pollinators like bees, which isn’t  helped by the increased reliance on pesticides.

To make matters worse, agriculture uses  an astonishing 70% of our drinking water  

in most areas. This is simply untenable when  you consider the now regular droughts across  

the world. For example, the United States  Southwest is in the middle of the worst  

megadrought in 1,200 years. Last year  Europe’s drought revealed long hidden  

“hunger stones.” These hydrological markers  were left by humans hundreds of years ago,  

warning that if the river was low enough for you  to read them, then famine was sure to follow.

That’s all grim stuff, but aquaponics  might just be able to help.

Before I get to that, I’d like to thank Incogni  for sponsoring this portion of today's video.  

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Now back to how aquaponics may be  able to help the future of farming.

Aquaponics is a portmanteau of  “aquaculture” (AKA farming fish)  

and “hydroponics” (AKA growing plants in  water), and it combines some of the best  

features of both to create an innovative,  sustainable food production technique in a  

modest footprint. But how do you actually  mix veggie and fish farming together?

There’s several subtypes of aquaponics,  like the low-maintenance deep water variety,  

space efficient vertical farming, and  the root-protecting nutrient-based beds.  

Generally speaking they all start with growing  plants in a bed and raising fish in a tank. As  

the fish thrive and grow, they make a lot  of … how should I put it … organic waste.  

Fish poop and food scraps. You don’t have to be  an ichthyologist to know that swimming around in  

their own waste isn’t good for fish. As  the waste breaks down it forms ammonia,  

which is toxic for most living things. But by  using a bacteria called nitrosomonas, that ammonia  

can be turned into nitrite. The downside is that  nitrite is actually even more toxic for fish than  

ammonia because it binds to the hemoglobin in  their blood, preventing it from carrying oxygen.  

However, this is where our next bacteria  comes into the picture, nitrobacter,  

which converts nitrites to nitrates. Now we  have water swimming with fish fertilizer and  

nitrates that we need to get rid of, and hungry  plants who love these compounds. We just pump  

the fishy water to our plants and they serve as  a biofilter – eating up all those compounds and  

purifying the water, so it’s ready for the  fish and the whole process to start again.

The beauty of aquaponics is that  it simulates a natural ecosystem,  

with plants, animals and microorganisms all  working in symbiosis to make a self-contained,  

sustainable and self-managing system (somewhat).  Just like a natural ecosystem you rarely need to  

add more water. The natural cycles at play  here mean water in an aquaponics system can  

be continually reused, which reduces  water consumption by 90% when compared  

to traditional agriculture. Since the fish are  continually filling the water with plant food,  

you don’t need to add additional nutrients to  the water as you would with hydroponics. However,  

you do get some of the big benefits  of hydroponics, like plants growing  

larger and faster than traditional soil-based  agriculture because of all the room to grow,  

fresh air, and constant access to nutrient-rich  water. And between the fish and lack of soil,  

there’s no need to use environmentally harmful  fertilizers or worry about soil-borne pests.

Another benefit of soil-less solutions like  hydroponics and aquaponics is we don’t need  

to worry about arable land. As long as  there’s room for an aquaponics facility,  

regions that aren’t otherwise suited  to agriculture can start growing big,  

nutritious fish and vegetables. This  can cut down on transportation costs  

and carbon emissions too, as spaces like empty  warehouses or rooftops in the heart of population  

centers can be converted into productive aquaponic  farms. And fish are one of the most efficient  

animal protein sources. The feed conversion ratio  (FCR) describes how much feed is required to  

produce 1 kg of meat. The most commonly eaten  animal protein on earth right now is pork,  

which has an FCR of 4:1, but fish like salmon  or tilapia clock in at around 2:1 or less.

But is this technique scalable? Well, it might  be the most scalable piece of tech we’ve ever  

explored on the channel. You could create a  small system to raise herbs and decorative  

fish on your kitchen windowsill, but it can  scale up to backyard aquaponics systems or  

all the way up industrial scale … kind of  like Superior Fresh’s 6-acre industrial  

agribusiness greenhouse. Combining your protein  and vegetable needs into the same footprint (no  

matter the size) is of course an efficient use of  water and space. Just like we touched on earlier,  

aquaponics can incorporate vertical  farming techniques to increase that  

space efficiency even further. With  more food from a smaller footprint,  

and less carbon emissions and  water-use, what’s the catch of the day?

While aquaponics boasts many of the  benefits of a functioning ecosystem,  

it also suffers from its weaknesses too. Just  like a natural ecosystem, one problem can  

cascade into catastrophe. Even though there  may be fewer pests due to a lack of soil,  

you’re still raising multiple types of organisms  that have different disease vectors. And because  

the fish and crops rely on each other to survive,  if a lucky illness manages to take out one half of  

your aquaponics set up, the other side is doomed  as well. And if bugs do get a foothold in your  

system you can’t use chemical pesticides to get  them out or you'll risk poisoning your fish too.

Have you ever had to take care of a fish?  As anyone who has kept them can tell you,  

keeping the parameters just right can be a  challenge. Most fish species prefer pH levels  

around 7-8, while plants tend to want more  acidic water with a pH of 5-6.5. Of course  

the bacteria prefer alkaline waters with a  pH of 8-9. Making sure every organism gets  

what they want leaves the caretaker with  a slim Goldilocks zone and little margin  

for error. Complicating things is the fact pH  levels oscillate all the time due to an array  

of natural factors. So while lower maintenance  than say, traditional farming or hydroponics,  

aquaponics requires near constant monitoring.  Population control presents another issue. Too  

many fish and their waste can clog your system or  overwhelm your plants and microorganisms. If fish  

feel too crowded or stressed they’ll stop growing  or just drop dead, which isn’t ideal for a food  

source. But too few fish and now your bacteria  and plants start to starve. Then there’s algae,  

who love an aquaponic ecosystem for all  the same reasons that your crops do. If  

conditions in your aquaponics tank are just  right, it can cause a suffocating algal bloom.

There’s also temperature concerns. Once again  fish, plants and microbes tend to have slightly  

different preferences here, which leaves you with  little margin for error And if your aquaponics  

system isn’t inside of a temperature controlled  structure, maintaining the correct temperature  

poses an even greater challenge. Tilapia is  considered the gold standard for aquaponics  

because it can grow to a mature size in just  8 months, it self regulates its population,  

and is very resilient to a wide range of  temperatures and water qualities. But even  

tilapia start to struggle in temperatures below  65°F(~18°C), and will die if the water temperature  

dips below 50°F(15°C). That means the gold  standard of aquaponics can’t be farmed outdoors  

all year except in very warm places. There are  of course fish better suited to cold temperatures  

like the trout used in Superior Fresh’s massive  facility, but they’re not as easy, quick, or cheap  

to raise as tilapia. Outdoor facilities face yet  more challenges in the form of increased water  

loss from evaporation, are more vulnerable to  outside pests and predators impacting your stock,  

and are subject to local weather. This doesn’t  invalidate outdoor aquaponic systems but it  

certainly makes them more challenging for the  types of communities that might need them most.

Aquaponics also may not be as sustainable as they  first appear. While we shouldn’t discount the  

water-saving benefits, keeping all that water  moving requires precious electricity, as does  

keeping the grow lights on. This can drive up fish  and produce costs compared to traditional farming.

So how does the economic side of the equation  look? The initial investment for an aquaponics  

system can be steep. Aquaponics expert Murray  Hallam puts the startup cost of even small  

aquaponic farms at about $20,000 - $50,000.  Something that size would only be capable of  

earning between $500 to $1,000 a week, but  location and market factors can cause your  

ROI to vary widely. A John Hopkins university  study of over 250 aquaponics facilities showed  

that only a third of them were profitable.  Granted, many of the aquaponics facilities  

studied were newer and expected to be profitable  the following year, but still, these aren’t the  

kinds of numbers that excite entrepreneurs or  investors. The study also found that the most  

profitable aquaponics farms didn’t just rely  on aquaponics, but diversified their “revenue  

stream by selling non-food products, services, or  educational trainings[sic].” Ultimately, the study  

concluded more research was needed. A separate  2019-2021 study reached a similar conclusion,  

noting that the most profitable aquaponics  ventures were more likely to have warmer weather,  

access to high end markets and were selling things  beyond the food they produced. And a literature  

review from Oklahoma State noted that data from  the plant side of aquaponics was promising,  

but the fish side tended to break even or incur a  net loss. Cornell’s Michael Timmons, a specialist  

in Biological and Environmental Engineering also  noted, "The aquaponics industry itself is really,  

really, really, really small… They're very,  very difficult … (and) they almost always fail."

In all these studies, it was clear that it didn’t  matter whether you’re talking about soil-based,  

aquaponic, or any other farming method, the profit  margins on farming in general are slim. And while  

the crops grew faster with aquaponics and could be  sold at higher organic-level prices, it's hard to  

keep up economically with traditional farming’s  cost advantages. Dirt and fertilizer are cheap,  

and sunshine is free. So while it's hard to  state conclusively at the moment, it does  

seem like traditional, wasteful agriculture has  the edge in profitability, at least for now..

Aquaponics has exciting, tangible potential,  but the technology isn’t mature enough for  

us to tell if it’s really a commercially viable  farming-alternative, or just another cool gadget  

for the eco-friendly, resilience-minded  hobbyist. The challenges are many,  

but if we can fully realize this technology  and bring the costs down? The benefits of  

healthy fish and veggies farmed sustainably  just about anywhere are too good to pass up.  

There’s reasons to be optimistic too. In 2020  Superior Fresh produced 200,000 pounds of salmon  

and 3 million pounds of salad greens in chilly,  landlocked Wisconsin. In traditional agriculture  

this would have taken over 100 acres of land,  but thanks to aquaponics, Superior Fresh did it  

in only 6 - and it was profitable enough that  they’re expanding their aquaponics operations.  

If their techniques prove to be repeatable,  then I’ll be very hopeful about aquaponics as a  

commercial avenue. And even if we can’t bring the  costs down, maybe the price is right for local,  

sustainably grown, high-quality food in places  that just wouldn’t have access to it otherwise.  

Aquaponics may not be the silver bullet for  the future of all farming and food production,  

but it could be a compelling solution for  specific regions of the world … or your backyard.

So what do you think? Do you think aquaponics  is something to keep investigating and that  

will impact the future of farming? Jump  into the comments and let me know. And  

be sure to check out my follow up podcast  Still TBD where we'll be discussing some  

of your feedback. If you liked this video,  be sure to check out this one on vertical  

farming. Thanks to all of my patrons,  who get ad free versions of every video,  

for your continued support. And welcome  to new Supporter+ member Will Hodges.  

And thanks to all of you for watching and  commenting. I’ll see you in the next one.