A sustainable food source for the future water conserves and resources

Azizah, Endut (2012) A sustainable food source for the future water conserves and resources. In: International conference on Arts, Science and Technology (ICAST) 2012, 01 January 1970, Penang.

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Abstract

Developing sustainable food sources to meet the demands of a growing population is a challenge. The current and escalating extent of soil degradation, water scarcity and climate-related challenges plaguing agricultural productivity, demands for re-evaluation the way of food production. Aquaponics is a concept relatively new to modern food production methods and can contribute to food security. The technology combines the aquaculture and hydroponics to yield a method of food growing that greatly reduces the use of water resources and produces fresh and nutritious crops in the form of vegetables and fish. This study was carried out at an average inflow rate of 1.28 m/day to evaluate the performance of aquaponics recirculation system (ARS) on nutrients removal and growth and production of African catfish as well as water spinach. A special design of ARS was used to provide nitrification of fish wastewater, where combination of sands and gravels in hydroponics trough, providing both surfaces for biofilm growth and cultivation area for plants. Removal efficiencies for 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total suspended solids (TSS), total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), nitrite-nitrogen (NO2-N), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), and orthophosphate (PO43-) were 82%, 89%, 93%, 94%, 81%, and 80%, respectively. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) and specific growth rate (SGR) of African catfish was 1.08 and 3.34% day-1, respectively. The average water spinach production was 3.56 kg per m2. This study showed that ARS is a method of producing crop along with a healthy protein source and among the best alternatives for achieving economic and environmental sustainability.

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