Aquaculture & Fisheries

Hydroponics: Present and Future

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Hydroponics means growing plants in water without soil. The discovery that plants can grow without soil was made long ago by several civilizations that lived in the desert. Growing crops in a desert area is difficult because the soil is poor and there is little water. People living in the deserts had to find ways to grow crops with very little water.  It seems strange that growing crops in water is the best way to use the least amount of water. In fact, plants grown using hydroponics use less water to grow than plants grown in the soil. Most of the water that is given to plants grown in soil goes through the soil and never reaches the plants. When plants are grown in water, almost all of the water goes to the plants. Scientists all over the world continue to use genetics and hydroponics to help farmers produce food crops that will feed the world’s population in the years ahead. Hydroponics will find use in medicine because many plants are responsible for producing medicines we currently use. Pharmaceutical scientists have found that they can make many of these drug producing plants release drugs through their roots. It is far easier and less expensive for companies to remove chemicals from water than it is to remove the same chemicals from soil. Pharmaceutical or drug companies will continue to work on finding ways of producing plants that can release drugs through their roots and into the water they are growing in.  Drugs produced by hydroponics will cost less money to produce and less money to the consume.