Aquaponics system history
“Soil-free” techniques and fish farming have a long history. The first forms of aquaponics in agriculture for a large-scale farming date back to the Aztecs. Chinampas is the name of Aztec “floating gardens”, which were artificial islands (stable or sometimes mobile) in shallow waters. The aquaponic system called Chinampas represents one of the most successful cultivation techniques in history, allowing an extraordinary plant production with many harvests per year.
New experimentation with this aquaponic system, carried out in Costa Rica, the United States, and Mexico, confirmed the remarkable advantages of this method of cultivation as compared to traditional farming:
30% less energy required
40% less work
50% faster growth
90% water savings
500% more productivity compared to land crops
The aquaponic system was also used in the past in southern China and throughout Southeast Asia.
13th Century Chinese agricultural manuals describe floating wooden rafts used to cultivate rice; these techniques were used since the 6th century. Currently, in China, floating aquaponic agriculture is still used for the cultivation of rice and to a lesser degree other crops. Aquaponics is used in ponds with polychrome fish. The aquaponic installations in China exceed 2.5 hectares.
... we develop solutions and technologies to rapidly carry out similar projects:
Beirut, Wonder Forest
Beirut is a concrete jungle, with green areas that represent only 3% of the territory, and with roads travelled by very old cars that emit high levels of carbon dioxide. The result is poor air quality, lack of vegetation, and other environmental problems.
The “Wonder Forest” project was born from the original idea of the architect Wassim Melki. It consists in planting trees on the rooftops of almost every building in Beirut, transforming the entire city into a hanging garden. The project involves about 80% of the city’s rooftops (an estimated 15,000 roofs have an adequate area for the project), and it requires the participation of the entire population of Beirut, without which the project would fail. For this reason, there will be incentives for residents, in the form of tax cuts or other benefits, for those who set up and care for a rooftop garden.
This project has many benefits: gardens are inexpensive, easy to maintain, and have many uses. Gardens improve oxygen levels. Moreover, the shade provided by the trees keeps apartments cooler during the warmer months of the year, which, in turn, results in lower energy consumption.