Aquaponics: What's That?

The search for more sustainable, environmentally-friendly farming methods has been well underway within the agricultural community, further motivated by growing concerns about food security amidst the looming threat of both climate change and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. One promising concept that has been shyly popping up in recent discussions is aquaponics.

Aquaponics is essentially a practice combining both aquaculture and hydroponics. The idea is to create a symbiotic relationship by growing both fish and plants in the same space—fish manure fertilises the plants with nutrients beneficial for growth; in turn, the plants purify the water which is then pumped back into the fish pond. Aquaponics thus presents an interesting avenue for sustainable, eco-friendly farming, especially in areas where the resources required for more traditional agriculture activities are limited.

Due to the absence of soil, much of the benefits reaped from an aquaponic environment is similar to that of its hydroponics or aeroponics-based cousins, with possible added bonuses. Crop yield and productivity from soilless cultivation systems, for example, are generally higher than their soiled counterparts, with aquaponics having the added advantage of a more natural source of nutrients courtesy of the fish (Trees.com, 2021; Agritecture, 2019; Gashgari et al., 2018).

Pak choi at the Kundasang Aquafarm (Kundasang Aquafarm, 2018)

Still, aquaponics is not the most popular agricultural practice out there, probably owing to factors such as the relatively expensive and complex start-up. However, some places in the world have turned to aquaponics farming as a continuous, sustainable source of fresh produce: an aquaponics lab in Berkshire County, Massachusetts plays a dual role of providing the community with almost 1,000 heads of lettuce a week and as an educational site for inmates; the Malaysian farming scene is seeing a rise in aquaponics spearheaded by small companies/projects such as The Urban Farm, E-Farm, Kundasang Aquafarm, Homegrown Goodness, and Aquaville Asia; German-based desert-tech company Desertfoods International has partnered with Integrated Aquaculture Ltd to establish South Africa’s largest aquaponics facility, which aims to generate 200 tonnes of fish and vegetables annually.

Greenhouse Farming Booming in China Amidst Age of Pandemic

The coronavirus outbreak brought to light another unexpected practice: greenhouse farming. Disruptions to farming caused by the pandemic has spurred several areas in China to turn to more modern farming practices in effort to strengthen its food security whilst ensuring safety and quality. Chongming Island is one such example, where glass greenhouses equipped with high-end technology have been set up by professional greenhouse operators FoodVentures to produce sustainable vegetable crops.

Greenhouses are not new in the Chinese agricultural scene—Shouguang, a city in northern China, are pioneers of greenhouse farming and have seen the use of greenhouses since the late 1980s as a way to guarantee a continuous supply of fresh vegetable throughout winter, while Jiuquan has greenhouses covering 1,666 hectares of land in 2019 to combat its cold desert climate. What the pandemic appears to have done is further accelerate the development in the modern agricultural technology; this, coupled with a growing middle class willing to pay more for better quality produce, has reportedly led to a 28% increase in glass greenhouse use in 2020.

Antimicrobial Resistance: Part #1 - The General Gist

There is a growing danger as big as, but lesser known than, the looming threat of climate change: antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Defined by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) as “micro-organisms—bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites—[evolving] resistance to antimicrobial substances, like antibiotics”, AMR adversely affects food safety and security by rendering medicines much less effective or useless when it comes to treating infections. While it is difficult to quantify the full economic and health impact of AMR, the FAO estimates that global GDP will decrease by 2 to 3.5%, equivalent to USD100 trillion, by 2050, with up to 10 million human lives lost each year.

Generally, antimicrobials in agriculture are used by farmers in the livestock production and fish farming industries to treat sick animals, to prevent future disease from spreading amongst livestock, and to stimulate growth, usually via the feed and water provided to the animals. In plant agriculture, antibiotics are usually sprayed onto plants as a fine mist, although direct antibiotic application on crops is much more modest compared to its use in livestock (McManus et al., 2002); however, it should be kept in mind that indirect applications could still happen via the use of manure and wastewater already contaminated (Zhang et al., 2017).

The amount of animal consumption of antibiotics is rather eye-opening—in the United States throughout 2012 alone, 72.5% of the use of medically important antibiotics were found to have been for animals, with only 27.5% used by humans; in absolute figures, animal consumption of antibiotics was 8.9 million kg compared to human consumption of 3.4 million kg (FDA, 2012; IMS Health, 2012).

“When we have a flock and there’s a lot of sick chickens in that flock, the quickest way to get an antibiotic in them is to put it in the water. We do that through a system that proportions that water out uniformly through all of these water lines so that every drink, every drop has the correct amount of antibiotics.”

The same practices were later adopted in aquaculture, the difference being that antibiotic doses may be proportionally higher than doses in livestock (O’Neill, 2015). Residue from antimicrobials as well as undigested food and faeces containing unabsobed antimicrobials usually remain in the water and the surrounding sediments for an extended amount of time, with some studies further suggesting that 70 to 80% of antibiotics administered to fish are excreted into the water (Cabello et al., 2013; Burridge et al., 2010).

Pathways of AMR genes from closed and open aquaculture systems into the water and its surrounding environment (Watts et al., 2017).

In comparison, the antibiotic use for crops is relatively low, comprising only 0.36% of total agricultural antibiotic consumption (Smalla and Tiedje, 2014). While this resulted in much less attention given to antibiotic use in plants, the potentially extensive use of fungicide may be a source of concern since fungal diseases presents significant threat to crops (O’Neill, 2015).

It is quite undeniable that the issue of AMR is an increasingly alarming one. With news of bacteria developing new resistance to antibiotics and increasing resistance in animals such as dolphins, it is clear that, quoting author and journalist Maryn McKenna in her book Big Chicken, AMR is becoming “an overwhelming threat, created over decades by millions of individual decisions and reinforced by the actions of industries.” It would be interesting to see further developments in this area.

This is the first article of a multi-part series on the topic of antimicrobial use in the agri-food sector by Khor Reports.

SCMP: The India-Malaysia Palm Tiff and the Return to Agriculture

It’s been a bit of a busy month for Khor Reports. One of the several things lined up include contributing comments to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on a couple of issues that cropped up recently.

The first concerned the trade tensions between Malaysia and India, which significantly impacted palm oil trade between the two countries:

“Last year, Indians and Malaysians waged rival boycott campaigns on social media and although it is unclear how much traction these movements garnered, Khor, the economist, said it was unusual to see such discussions about the palm oil online “as it doesn't involve end consumers”. “But having tens of thousands of mentions of Malaysian palm oil online is a clear sign of issues, meaning that after that episode the level of mentions was 80 per cent higher than previously which gives us some insight into domestic angst,” Khor said.

The second was about policy suggestions for Malaysia to return to agriculture, following a RM50 billion (USD12.3 billion) food import bill in 2019.

“The good agricultural practices of Malaysian farmers should be well established, and be held in high regard, to establish a loyal domestic market,” Khor said. “Pro-farmer and food-security efforts may be needed. Imports can flood the market in an unpredictable way and that has to be considered.”

Click on the links above to read the full SCMP articles.