Trends in Hydroponics Practice/Technology in Horticultural Crops: A Review
Arun Kumar Vikanksha, Jatinder Singh
Abstract
Currently, hydroponics, a soilless production method, promises to deliver high quality, nutritious, fresh, residue-free crops, overcoming the problems of climate change, freshwater shortage, necessity of fertile land, and the overwhelming requirement of the expanding food demand. Hydroponics production is now garnering prominence across the world because of its effective resource management and cultivation of high value crops. Developed nations like Netherlands, Australia, France, England, Israel, Canada, and the United States are among the world leaders in hydroponic innovation/cultivation. Certain advantages of this technology include shorter crop growth times than traditional crop soil-based, year-round output, low disease, and insect attack, and removal of several labour-intensive intercultural procedures such as weeding, spraying and watering. Nutrient film technique has been successfully employed in the large-scale cultivation of leafy and other vegetables across the world with water savings of 70 to 90%. Commercial hydroponic technology must be successfully implemented, thus it's essential to devise low-cost methods that seem to be simple to use and sustain, need less manpower altogether, and have reduced installation and function costs. Therefore, hydroponics could represent a superior approach to grow various fruits, vegetables, and livestock feed in addition to fulfil the upcoming need for world nutrition.