aeroponic overview
TRANSCRIPT
AGRIC TECHNOLOGY
AEROPONICS
AGENDA
1) Introduction
2) Benefits
3) Increased Efficiency and Yield
4) List of Crop
5) How it works
6) Gallery
7) Thank you
INTRODUCTION
The current global economy is beset by several challenges. Key among them isthe slow down of the commodities sector. For any country and sub-saharan Africa at large, which are heavily dependant on resourceextraction and export to fuel growth, this portends immediate danger fortheir respective economies.
Diversification is the key to ameliorating the current economic situation wefind ourselves in. Agriculture can be a key driver of economic growth goingforward.
Merging agriculture with technology is the key to increased efficiency in thesector. Increased efficiency will lead to food self-sufficiency and in turnwill create excess which can be exported, generate foreign exchange, andbolster our economy.
Aeroponics, is one of the most recent agricultural technologies. Plants can beplanted in the air without soil and applying minimal water usage. We havemanaged to refine this technology and have successfully tested it on over200 different plants/crops.
INTRODUCTION
Scenario 1: Growing in the soil which has been the conventional method
There are frequent situations whereby the soil might be infected with pathogens orlack the essential nutrients due to over-use
Plants compete with fellow plants for limited nutrients and oxygen to the detrimentof the plants.
Even when nutrients are applied in the form of fertilizer, it often doesn’t havemaximum impact as it tends to wash away with the onset of the rains.
Plants also tend to get injured during the weeding process, as they compete withweeds for space, oxygen and nutrients,
Pests are also a significant issue as plants are often plagued by insects and pestsinfestations.
Scenario 2:Growing in the air without soil
An adequate amount of nutrients and essential oxygen are received.
No pathogens
The technology is not constrained by weather or seasons and planting and harvestingcan be carried out year round.
There is no need to apply pesticides as the technology is deployed in a coveredspace.
The strenuous and delicate process of weeding isn’t applicable with this technologyas plants are grown in the air
Aeroponics technique has the followingcrucial benefits:
Faster and healthier growth since it has enoughoxygen (in the root region)
Increased harvest rate. 45 – 70% faster thanconventional agricultural techniques.
Studies has shown that plants grown via theaeroponic system have an increase in flavonoids
What are flavonoids?
Flavonoids are one of the largest nutrient familiesknown to scientists, and include over 6,000 already-identified family members
The unique nutrient richness of every whole, naturalfood can be showcased in a variety of ways, butthere is no better way to highlight the uniquenutrient richness of foods than to focus on theirflavonoid content!
The system ensures you can grow your own plantsanywhere; whether it be inside your kitchen orgarden space. You can have a cherry tomatoes plantin the parlour for both ornamental purpose andnutritional value. Thanks to aeroponics system, wecan increase our life span and improve our health,thus giving us a better quality of life.
BENEFITS TO THE FARMER ECONOMIC BENEFITS
Eliminates the necessity of fertile land and soil!The Aeroponics system ameliorates the currentchallenges faced in the agriculture sector.
Not as labor intensive as conventional farming, thusreducing significant costs to the farmer. The systemprevents the need for pesticides.Farmers that decide to use fertilizer in the system arealso able to save costs due to the low level offertilizer needed to run the system effectively
The cost of deploying the Aeroponics system is a onetime initial cost rather than attracting large sums ofcost on a regular basis which is the current norm in thesector.
Increases speed of harvest which thus greatlyincreases profit. Harvest rates are often between 45%and 70% faster when using this method compared toconventional farming.
Can be applied on various scales which allows for smallmedium and large scale farming, making thistechnology available for all demographics
Increased profit allows for reinvestment andexpansion.
A surplus of food will ultimately lead to us exporting,which in turn will bring in foreign exchange into oureconomy and in turn bolster the value of our localcurrency
Eliminate seasonal dependency due to controlledclimate within the green house/and or screen house
Increased supply of food in the market reduces thecurrent high cost of food
BENEFITS
BENEFITS TO THE FARMER ECONOMIC BENEFITSSubstantial expansion creates more jobs and raisesthe standard of living
Allows for farmers to have more control over theirprices
Eliminates waste of crop during harvest caused bybacteria (algae and mould)
Allows rural communities to transform into thrivingagrarian hubs to the benefit and recourse of itsinhabitants
Makes farming easier to manageEliminates waste of crop during harvest caused bybacteria (algae and mould)
Drastically reduces the amount of water by 95% dueto the recycled water structure put in place. Harvesting labour is made easier and faster
An increase in food sufficiency and harvest also leads to anincrease in jobs and provides for further employmentopportunities
BENEFITS
GREATER EFFICIENCY & YIELD
RICESeed to harvest
% of survival
from seed
Harvest from 1
acre of land
Soil 3 – 4 months 97 900ib
Aeroponic 2 months 100 12,000ib
TOMATOStalk to harvest
% of survival
from stalk
Harvest from 1
acre of land
Soil 70-80 days 75 5 – 10 tons
Aeroponic 30 days 95 180 tons
YAMVine to harvest
% of survival
from vine
date to last
harvest
Harvest from 1
acre of land
Soil 8 months 45-60 8 months 3,000ib
Aeroponic 5 months 80 3 years 15,000ib
Lending institutions in Nigeria traditionally tend to be risk averse when it
comes to lending to the agriculture sector. Financial institutions find it
challenging to lend to the agricultural sector due to the following
reasons:
Inconsistent weather patterns
Crop disease
Fluctuating yield
Maximum yield is not attainable due to traditional agriculture methods;
cultivation of crops is limited to the ground.
Fluctuating market prices
Aeroponics is not dependent on weather and seasons, you can grow all year
round. Due to the controlled and enclosed environment the risk of
diseases is mitigated alongside accurate yield predictions, therefore
financial institutions can build proper projects and dole out capital.
FINANCING
LIST OF CROPGROUP A
Spinach
Saint Leaf
Bitter Leaf
Pumpkin
Lettuce
GROUP B
Bean
Rice
Wheat
Maize
GROUP C
Egg Plant
Tomato
Pepper
GROUP D
Yam
Irish Potato
GROUP E
Onions
Carrots
Ginger
Garlic
HOW IT WORKS There are various ways and structures the technology can be
applied in with the same principle
Green House with controlled
temperature
8m x 24m Economic Screen House
with natural climate and protection
from insects
Commercial Designs of Screen House
Commercial Designs of Aeroponic
Potato Farming
Commercial Designs of Aeroponics
This is used for vegetable propagation and this system can generate 500,000
leafy vegetables monthly
Commercial Designs of Aeroponics
Aeroponics Farming. 660m x 330m screen house with installed
artificial lightening, for massive leafy vegetable propagation
Commercial Designs of Aeroponics
Tomatoes grown on aeroponics system with over 1,000,000
fruits at a single harvest
Commercial Designs of Aeroponics
Vertical aeroponics units inside a screen house
Commercial Designs of Aeroponics
Aeroponics system used for production of seed yam in International Institute
of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Yam Improvement for Income and Food
security in West Africa (YIIFSWA), Ibadan, Nigeria
Training staff from NRCRI Umudike
Commercial Designs of Aeroponic
Potato Farming
