A team of researchers from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), led by Amit Gross, director of the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, has been working for the past decade on aquaponic systems.
Aquaponics is the plant and fish cultivation system that combines traditional aquaculture, which is the breeding of aquatic animals such as fish, crabs or shrimp, with hydroponics, which is the cultivation of plants in water.
In these systems, the aquaculture water, which here functions as a subsystem, feeds the hydroponic system, in which waste is decomposed into nitrites and, subsequently, into nitrates by nitrifying bacteria, later used by plants as nutrients.
But unlike traditional systems, the BGU's innovative design treats fish solid waste through anaerobic digestion, recovering energy and nutrients, allowing for a nearly waste-free operation. This is why less energy is used and more is produced.
After more than two years of testing, the system proved to be 1.6 times more productive on plant growing area and use 2.1 times less water.
Gross explained that “feeding more than 8 billion people while reducing greenhouse gas emissions requires innovative technologies. “Combining fish farming with vegetable production and preventing waste is a solution that benefits everyone.”
In a dual-purpose trial, I grew tilapia in a reservoir and high-quality onion. In half a hectare, I grew 801 48-kg bags of red onion. I can share experience with great pleasure.