Harnessing the wonder of water with hydroponics

magine being able to grow healthy, nutritious foods in a nutrient-laden liquid instead of in traditional soil. There would be no soil-borne pests, insects or diseases to worry about, which would eliminate the need for potentially harmful chemical pesticides and herbicides. And imagine this technique could be used almost anywhere in the world, with crop success not having to rely on uncontrollable, external factors such as rainfall, sunshine and temperature. Sound like futuristic space-age fantasy? It’s called hydroponics, and it dates back millennia.

Built about 600BC, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are thought to have been grown according to hydroponic methods. The Aztecs are known to have cultivated floating gardens more than a thousand years ago using hydroponics, while similar floating gardens are described in Marco Polo’s journals on his visit to China in the 13th century.

It took another 500 years or so before the term hydroponics was coined (it’s derived from the Greek “hydro”, meaning water, and “ponos”, meaning labour), but this age-old practice is steadily taking root in the modern-day UAE and has the potential to revolutionise how fresh food is cultivated in adverse growing conditions, such as the arid Middle East.

Click here to read the complete article at thenational.ae.