Aquaopinic system for small-scale food production. (#891)

Authors

Álvarez Bermúdez, María Eugenia

Zerpa, Manuel

Crispo, Catherine

Bohórquez, Gustavo

Abstract

Aquaponics is a symbiotic system between fish, plants and bacteria used as an alternative to agriculture, which combines hydroponics with aquaculture, in which the waste of animal species (fish) provides the nutrients necessary for the growth of plants and these, for their part, are responsible for keeping the water purified. The objective of this work was to design, build and evaluate a small-scale aquaponic system, with a cultivation area of ​​1 m2. It was selected to use the culture bed configuration with substrate, combining green chard (Beta vulgaris var.cicla) with white stem and nilotic tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). After 63 days of cultivation, the productivity of the system was determined by measuring the leaf length (20.7 cm), height (36.6 cm), the number of leaves (9.9) and the total biomass (3450 g ) of the chard, in addition to the final mass of the fish (13.08 g) and their length (8.48 cm). The results show that the proposed system is an alternative for food production capable of reducing environmental impact and enhancing productivity, with similar performance, in terms of plant growth and development, as traditional soil cultivation.