Farming without soil?

It’s possible and can be lucrative, especially with government support, according to Senator Imee Marcos.

Marcos has filed Senate Bill 1805 or the Soilless Agricultural Production Act that seeks to promote the use of agriculture technologies such as aeroponics, hydroponics and aquaponics for the production of high value fish, crops and vegetables.

She said such methods are in use in Japan, the United States, India, South Africa and the United Kingdom, which produce tons of agricultural products to enhance food security.

Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium; hydroponics is the cultivation of plants by placing the roots in liquid nutrient solutions rather than in soil; and aquaponics combines aquaculture and hydroponic plant production in a closed-loop water system that simultaneously grows both plants and fish.

“Despite the advances in modern agriculture, high-tech farm mechanization, modern irrigation system and advanced controlled environment agriculture, food production in the country remains at the mercy of nature and is subject to various destructive elements of the changing climate,” read the bill’s explanatory note.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources promoted aquaponics at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Naga City, Camarines Sur and Tuguegarao City, Cagayan for instance, beneficiary communities received aquaponics units in 2021 for them to plant fruits and vegetables and grow fish.

The bill said that with the increasing population and huge demand in food supply, the country must utilize advanced systems to grow more food while conserving limited resources.

“We must devote more research and development to the use of state-of-the-art technologies aimed at improving agricultural production and ensuring food security and safety,” the bill stated.

The measure mandates the Department of Agriculture, in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology, to conduct research and promote the use of aeroponics, hydroponics, and aquaponics technologies as instruments to further improve the production of fish, crops and vegetables.

Idle government lands, either owned by the national or local government, and other land resources in state universities and colleges shall be considered for fish fanning and growing crops using aeroponics, hydroponics or aquaponics technology.

Aeroponics, hydroponics and aquaponics technologies, as used in agricultural production, shall likewise be integrated in the academic curriculum of public and private academic institution’s secondary and tertiary level students who are studying Agriculture, Practical Arts, Home Economics and other subjects related to agriculture. (PNA)