The benefits of hydroponic systems for the environment are now getting a lot of two thumbs up from many environmentalists. Some of the best hydroponic systems are being recognized from all around the world as sound best practices for agriculture. You can learn more about the best hydroponic systems from this website!

Here are a few things that many experts have highlighted as the benefits of hydroponic systems for the environment! We hope that through this article, we can convince you to change to a hydroponic system on your farm. Here are the benefits of a hydroponic system for the environment!

What is Hydroponics?

Hydroponic gardening, NASA

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil, by using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent.

1. Hydroponic systems use less land than traditional agriculture

In many places around the world, forest lands are rapidly being denuded to provide additional land areas for agriculture. This has proven to be an incredible reason for the world’s destruction of forests and jungles. Entire ecosystems are being destroyed to grow vegetables. This has led to massive extinctions of animal and plant species, as well as a contributing factor in the increasing rate of climate change. Approximately 10 million hectares of arable land is being given to agriculture every year worldwide.

Through the hydroponic system, farmers are becoming less reliant on land to grow their crops. With its capability to grow plants vertically, a hydroponic system is being proven to be the solution to the agriculture sector’s encroachment on forestlands. In fact, according to some studies, farmers can grow the same amount of vegetables in just 1/5th of the space used in traditional soil-based farming.

Hydroponic gardening, NASA
NASA researcher checking hydroponic onions (center), Bibb lettuces (left), and radishes (right). Image source: NASA Astronauts on short-term space missions can get away with packing the provisions they need to survive in space. But long-term space travel, for example, a round-trip journey to Mars, is no picnic. Astronauts would need enough food to last for several months or years, a means to clean the air and water, and some efficient way of dealing with waste. Given cost and space limitations, packing supplies on this scale may not be feasible. The best solution, then, for future deep space explorers is: Develop a green thumb using advanced techniques like Hydroponics.

2. Hydroponic system cuts down on the distance from farm to market

People do not realize that much of the produce they eat is sourced from across the world. In the past, certain products were not available in many areas of the world due to the distance of the farms where these plants grow. Strawberries do not grow in warm temperatures but they are now found even in groceries of scorchingly hot desert states like Nevada. This alone could make you think about the amount of fuel burned to travel the produce that people around the world enjoy. This is exactly one of the many complaints of many environmentalists about agriculture!

Think about this. Whenever a fruit or a vegetable is out of season in one area of the globe, this product is in season in another part. As such, the country which produces this crop can export them in crated and shipped areas that are not in season. From the farm in one part of the world to the market of another country, the transportation of food requires an immense amount of fossil fuel.

The hydroponic system allows farmers to grow vegetables just anywhere. This is very important because having the capability to plant vegetables in your locality cuts down on the distance that the products have to travel to reach your local market. In doing so, the use of fossil fuels is cut down!

3. Hydroponic system saves water

Because hydroponic gardens rely on a complex system of water to grow plants, people mistakenly think that it is wasteful of water. They are wrong. In fact, the hydroponic system saves more water than traditional soil-based gardens.

Much of the water used in agriculture used to water crops in your typical soil-based farms is not used by plants. Instead, they are wasted as runoff. This means farmers have to water their plants more often and in doing so use a lot more than your typical hydroponic system. This is unlike in a hydroponic system where no water is wasted. The water remains in the system being recycled.

Water is a finite resource. As much as two-thirds of the world’s available freshwater is used up for farms. If we use hydroponic systems to replace traditional farming, just imagine the number of natural resources we can save!

4. Hydroponic system requires minimal or even no pesticides

Pesticides can be very dangerous. In fact, just 50 years ago, the DDT found in most pesticides almost sent many of our eagles to extinction. This poison resulted in soft eggshells for many raptors causing premature breakage of their eggs. After its banning, the population of eagles started to improve. However, hundreds of chemicals used in pesticides are still not banned. These are causing serious harm to our environment!

The hydroponic system creates a controlled environment for crops. This means that pests are almost non-existent in many hydroponically equipped farms. Of course, this is by no means that pests are completely absent in a hydroponics system. Insects and fungi can still wreak havoc on your crops. However, due to the closed, controlled environment of hydroponic systems, farmers can easily introduce strict quarantining methods to prevent pest infestations. This way, the use of pesticides is completely eliminated or at least lessened.

Conclusion

A hydroponic system is growing in popularity among many environmentalists. Proponents of the environment have promoted hydroponic gardening as an important practice to keep our environment pristine and healthy. Hopefully, the benefits of the hydroponic system for the environment mentioned in this article have actually convinced you to transition from traditional soil-based farming to a hydroponic system!

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