Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Aquaponics - History

The principles of aquaponics have been used from a long time ago, but there is much discussion about when does this technique started.

The Aztecs build agricultural islands know as chinampas, and for many people those are the first form of aquaponics in history. These islands were created in lagoons and normally were fixed to the bottom of the water body, but in some occasions were left to drift freely.

The plants growing on this islands were fed with the nutrients available in the lagoon, and were an important component of the Aztec nutrition.


At the south part of China and Thailand the rice farmers grew rice in flooded fields mixing the rice and fish. This is another of the early aquaponics systems. This type of system extended to many regions of Asia, and were used to supplement the meals of farming villages.


In recent times, the development of aquaponics as it is being used in present times, is mostly because of the works of the New Alchemy Institute, and the work of Dr. Mark McMurtry et al. at the South Caroline University.

Dr. James Rakocy and his colleagues at the Virgin Islands University began in 1997 the development of deep water beds for hydroponics using an aquaponics commercial development.

At the island of Barbados there was an initiative to create acuaponic systems in houses, as a way to reduce the dependency of imported food at the island.

But one of the channels that have contributed the most to divulge the aquaponic system, and to be able to exchange opinions and experiences is the internet. Many user groups are active around the world, and many communities are working in which you can get a lot of information about aquaponics.

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