UK: Hydroponic internships available in South Wales

Hydroponic agriculture has significant potential to deliver impact in food production. The pressures on conventional agriculture, the increase in urban populations and the need for sustainable food with shorter supply chains all highlight the need for new ways to grow crops. It is therefore timely to consider what makes a successful hydroponic crop and how can we improve the agronomy of hydroponics to maximise the yield, efficiency of production and crop quality.

A studentship is available to work with Phytoponics (http://phytoponics.com/) and Aberystwyth University. Phytoponics is a hydroponic company in South Wales that developed the Hydrosac, a novel device for growing plants hydroponically that expands the range of applications of hydroponics. The Hydrosac opens up the opportunity to develop novel agronomy for large scale hydroponics and to develop varieties that are specifically selected for use in hydroponic agriculture.

The project will grow a diverse population from a range of potential salad crops in Hydrosacs. The experiment will identify suitable variation available to improve plant growth for hydroponic systems and will identify what characteristics are associated with superior performance to establish the characteristics that define a successful hydroponic crop. A major outcome will be to identify the potential impact of new breeding programmes specific for hydroponic agriculture.

The compact modular design of the Hydrosac permits a different approach to linking crops that either have complementary growth characteristics or that utilise nutrients differently. We will seek to identify and test combinations of crops with the aim of identifying a system that through multicropping optimally utilises space and extracts and utilises nutrients to minimise waste.

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