Sustainable farming practices increase the resilience of farmland and global biodiversity. The agriculture industry is frequently in the news for its environmental impact even though sustainable farming practices are available for farmers to adopt. Not all practices are equally friendly to the environment, however, and comparing the eco-friendliness of these can be difficult.
That’s why we put together this blog. Here, we’ll analyze the sustainability of hydroponic systems, how they compare to traditional soil-based farms, and what growers can do to ensure that their farms produce healthy food while ensuring a sustainable agriculture system exists for the next generation of farmers.
rends Behind the Adoption of Sustainable Farming Practices
Numerous trends influence the adoption of sustainable farming practices. The demands of a growing global population, estimated to reach a peak of $10.4 billion in the 2080’s, will need to be met even though the share of global land used for agriculture peaked in 2017. Part of this is due to expanding urban areas, called “urban sprawl”, as suburban neighborhoods and developments overtake once-rural real estate.
That means more food must be grown on a shrinking percentage of arable land. As a result, we need to adopt sustainable farming practices to better preserve the farmland that’s left. According to Farmland Partners, America lost 4.3 acres of farmland per minute between 2000 and 2022. To preserve that farmland, we have a responsibility to steward the land that remains.
Sustainable farming practices ensure:
- Natural habitats are protected
- Farmers profit enough to expand operations and keep farming the next growing season
- Consumers have affordable, nutritious produce that is safe and free from contamination
But what if growers could use sustainable farming practices to cultivate crops away from farmland? Could farmers grow crops in urban areas, commercial centers and other places that are closer to consumers?
Green Farms: Hydroponics vs. Traditional Agriculture
If you’re not familiar with the practice of hydroponics, the art of growing crops without soil, check out our blogs on the topic. There’s a lot of things to consider when comparing the eco-friendliness of hydroponics and traditional agriculture.
We’ll reference a study conducted by Guilherme Lages Barbosa, Et al. that was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
The study examines the differences between resource needs of hydroponic and conventionally grown lettuce in Yuma, Arizona. It explains the science behind why hydroponics promises more sustainable growing and highlights where it requires more development.
The Water Conservation of Hydroponic Farms
Water conservation plays a huge role in future sustainable farming practices. Approximately 70% of global freshwater goes to traditional agriculture, which makes the industry a key focus for water conservation efforts.
Meanwhile, water savings is one of the biggest benefits from hydroponic cultivation. According to the Yuma study, hydroponic lettuce consumes 13 times less water per yield than conventional agriculture.
Let’s take a closer look at this. A lot of the water waste from growing lettuce on conventional farm’s development of lettuce comes from percolation. This is the process of water moving downwards through the soil. Lettuce has shallow roots, which means that a lot of water used on conventional farms is wasted because their roots reach their maximum absorption level quickly.
In hydroponics, plants absorb only as much water as they need. Plus, because the system is contained, unabsorbed water is collected and reused instead of going to waste.
The Space Efficiency of Hydroponic Farms
Productivity is another part of sustainable agriculture practices to consider. Conventional agriculture can’t grow vertically, like hydroponics, so cultivation is limited to stretches of fertile land.
Conversely, you can place hydroponic farms inside warehouses, greenhouses and even insulated containers, growing produce in barren and urban areas. This is promising for the growth of urban agriculture, allowing farmers to cultivate highly efficient farms closer to city centers, instead of in the countryside. By freeing up land that would otherwise be used for farming, hydroponics aids habitat restoration efforts that return cultivated land back to a natural state.
Hydroponic farms’ climate-controlled growing environments allow for year-round crop cultivation, which increase the total yield of crops produced in a year. The conditions make crop cultivation faster compared to outdoor development, although this advantage comes at a cost: power intake.
The Power Use of Hydroponic Farms
The power requirements of hydroponic systems are a key area of improvement when it comes to the development of sustainable farming practices.
Hydroponic systems get their production advantage from the system’s climate control, but these climate control systems require significant amounts of power, depending on how closely the interior climate resembles outside conditions. A container farm in a chilly area will require more heating than a container farm in the tropics, for example.
Therefore, it’s important to note that the increased yield and water savings of hydroponics comes at the cost of a higher power demand.
Tips for Adopting Sustainable Farming Practices for Hydroponics
Because power usage can be a stain on the sustainable farming practices of hydroponic crop cultivation, it should be a focus for further research and development in the industry. As a hydroponic grower, you should know where your power comes from, as well as the environmental impact of your power source. If possible, you should look to power your system with renewable energy, like solar panels, to reduce your system’s carbon emissions.
A majority of hydroponics’ power demands comes from climate control systems and lighting systems. Future developments in lighting research could lead to improved energy efficiency.
Additionally, the widespread adoption and implementation of renewable energy would greatly increase the environmental sustainability of hydroponic cultivation.
Summary
It’s clear that hydroponic cultivation has many clear benefits for the development of sustainable farming practices. However, there’s one large exception: Climate controlled hydroponics requires large amounts of energy for peak efficiency. Where that energy comes from determines the sustainability of the practice. Currently, oil, coal and natural gas form the majority of the world’s energy sources. That is expected to change.
As stakeholders around the world pressure for low-carbon alternatives, and the cost of low-carbon energy systems continues to decline, hydroponics will look additionally promising as a way for growers to cultivate food for the global population.