Hydroponics: A Review on Revolutionary Technology for Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

India's economy heavily relies on agriculture, with the majority of the population depending on it for sustenance and livelihood. However, the rapid development of regions has resulted in severe issues affecting soil quality and cultivation practices. Additionally, factors such as natural disasters, climate change, and excessive use of chemicals have further deteriorated soil fertility. The scarcity of usable water for agriculture exacerbates the problem, leading to reduced food production and widespread hunger and malnutrition. Consequently, there is a critical need to embrace agricultural technologies that can conserve water, enhance food production, and ensure its availability. “Hydroponics” is one such methodology that can be adapted to counter all these problems. Hydroponic cultivation generally yields higher-quality produce with superior taste and nutritional value compared to traditional soil-based farming methods. Hydroponics offers numerous advantages compared to conventional soil-based crop cultivation. These benefits include shorter crop growing cycles, year-round production, reduced susceptibility to diseases and pests, and the elimination of labour-intensive intercultural tasks such as weeding, spraying, and watering. In the future, hydroponics has the potential to emerge as a prominent method for supplying food to the global population.