trends & technology
INTEGRATED FOOD PRODUCTION
Integrated systems are always more than the sum of their parts . Integration , in a microfarming context , is essentially about value creation . An integrated food production system should provide for better quality , greater quantity , shorter timeframe , and lower cost . Aquaponics is the integration of fish and plants through the combination of recirculating aquaculture and hydroponics . Aquaponics is an example of integration on a small scale : the fish produce waste is converted to plant nutrients , the plants take up the nutrients and , in so doing , clean the water for the fish . Microponics is the integration of fish , plants , and microlivestock through the combination of recirculating aquaculture and other plant and animal production systems . We eat the fruit , vegetables , herbs , and fish from our aquaponics systems and the wastes from our kitchen go to the worms or black soldier fly larvae . The worms and larvae are then mixed with duckweed to become food for other microlivestock . In this simple model , there is no actual waste in a landfill sense . The so-called waste product of
one organism becomes the feedstock for another . And the scope of integration doesn ’ t stop there . We can add other small livestock ( like rabbits , chickens , quail , ducks , snails , and bees ) and water gardening for edible plants like Chinese water chestnuts and water spinach . In this extended model of integration , we get fish , quail / chicken / duck meat , and eggs , worm castings / tea , duckweed , animal protein , vegetables , herbs , rabbits , skins , and honey . We also get pollination , pest control , cultivation , and weed removal .
MICROPONICS ORIGINS
The challenge when designing small integrated food production systems is to see every output as a resource , even waste body heat and expired carbon dioxide . When I first set out to describe a concept of small-scale integrated food production several years ago , I called it integrated backyard food production ( IBFP ). Like aquaponics , IBFP is a descendant of the integrated aquaculture work of the New Alchemist Institute . With its inclusion of microlivestock , however , IBFP has retained a more direct relationship with integrated aquaculture . “ Integrated backyard food production ” became too much of a mouthful so in 2008 , it became microponics . The name suggests its own origins — the combination of micro-farming , microlivestock , and aquaponics . When it comes to fish production , aquaponics and microponics both start off in the same place . A recirculating aquaculture system ( RAS ), or micro fish farm , is at the heart of both microponics and aquaponics . The connection of a plant-growing system to the RAS creates a simple aquaponic ecosystem that , because they are in the same water column , benefits both the fish and the plants . In the past 10 years or so , we ’ ve designed and built many aquaponics systems in which we ’ ve grown jade perch , barramundi , silver perch and Murray cod . We ’ ve also experimented widely with hydroponic growing systems including nutrient film technique ( NFT ), raft culture ( DWC ), tray system , and satellite pots .
78 grow cycle