1 million pounds of food on 3 acres

**openbook** · 09-30-2011, 01:31 AM

I've never heard of aquaponics before but stumbled on this video on youtube.

What a completely innovative technology!

**Lady Hobbs** · 09-30-2011, 03:41 AM

Really a neat system isn't it? In the southern states, even heating would be no problem.

**Super Chris** · 10-02-2011, 06:55 AM

And aeroponics is even cooler. Then use LED lighting - besides being power efficient, you can farm in a multi-level building and so use more vertical space than horizontal, and you can tailor the spectrum output to the plant's particular needs. Combine those with genetically modified crops and cloned meat, and I don't think it is unreasonable to imagine a not-to-distant future where food is mass produced year round, and where it would be possible to feed 14 billion people using only a fraction of the farmland that is used today.

**smaug** · 10-02-2011, 03:25 PM

Oh heck yeah! Then we could put houses on what little remaining farmland we have left and REALLY overpopulate the planet

excuse the sarcasm,,,,,,,,,,or dont

**openbook** · 10-07-2011, 03:15 AM

Originally Posted by smaug

Oh heck yeah! Then we could put houses on what little remaining farmland we have left and REALLY overpopulate the planet

excuse the sarcasm,,,,,,,,,,or dont

haha

I was thinking the only limiting factor with large scale production would be pest management. Since most insecticides are harmful to aquatic life how would they control a pest outbreak without contaminating the fish?
Maybe you would need genetically modified pest resistant plants. But I think those were outlawed. Stupid, we would rather use pesticides on plants than eat frankinpotatoes.

**openbook** · 10-08-2011, 02:51 AM

I almost think if you built your greenhouse adjacent to a small pond you could farm the fish in your pond and use the water for your plants. Then if you needed to use pesticides you could stop using the pond for a while and just use a resevoir in the greenhouse. That should protect your fish if you are careful.

I'd love to own a small hobbyfarm to try this someday. I think I'd try and have a small apple orchard, a pumkin patch and maybe a petting zoo.

My dad has a hobbyfarm with a pond and a barn but they are far too busy to keep animals or do anything with the land. They've been building on to the house for years. The place is huge, it's like they built a bigger home around their old one.