Presented by,
Gagan SV(1MJ17CH011)
An Autonomous Institute Harsha B(1MJ17CH012)
Jagadish SM(1MJ17CH014)
A project Presentation on “A Prototype of a Shrikanth O(1MJ17CH036)
Vertical Soil-less Plant Culture based on a Guided by,
Trickle Bed Concept”
Chaitra D
Affiliated to VTU, Belagavi, Assistant Professor,
Approved by AICTE, New Delhi, Department of Chemical Engineering,
Recognised by UGC with 2(f) & 12 ( B) MVJCE, Bangalore
Accredited by NBA & NAAC 1
CONTENT OUTLINE:
1) Abstract
2) Introduction
3) History
4) Literature Review 1
5) Literature Review 2
6) Literature Review 3
7) Detail construction of the Project
8) Result and Discussion
9) Conclusion
10) Reference
Affiliated to VTU, Belagavi, Approved by AICTE, New Delhi, Recognised by UGC with 2(f) & 12 (B), Accredited by NBA & NAAC 2
An Autonomous Institute
ABSTRACT
With the advent of civilization, open field/soil-based agriculture is facing some
major challenges; most importantly decrease in per capita land availability. In
1960 with 3 billion population over the World, per capita land was 0.5 ha but
presently, with 6 billion people it is only 0.25 ha and by 2050, it will reach at
0.16 ha. Due to rapid urbanization and industrialization as well as melting of
icebergs (as an obvious impact of global warming), arable land under
cultivation is further going to decrease. Again, soil fertility status has attained a
saturation level, and productivity is not increasing further with increased level
of fertilizer application. Besides, poor soil fertility in some of the cultivable
areas, less chance of natural soil fertility build-up by microbes due to
continuous cultivation, frequent drought conditions and unpredictability of
climate and weather patterns, rise in temperature, river pollution, poor water
management and wastage of huge amount of water, decline in ground water
level, etc. are threatening food production under conventional soil-based
agriculture.
Affiliated to VTU, Belagavi, Approved by AICTE, New Delhi, Recognised by UGC with 2(f) & 12 (B), Accredited by NBA & NAAC 3
An Autonomous Institute
INTRODUCTION
Hydroponics is a technique of growing plants in nutrient
solutions with or without the use of an inert medium such as
gravel, vermiculite, rockwool, peat moss, saw dust, coir dust,
coconut fiber, etc.
Hydroponics is a form of gardening that uses no soil, but instead
grows plants in a solution of water and nutrients.
A hydroponic system can grow plants and vegetables faster than
growing outdoors in soil.
Affiliated to VTU, Belagavi, Approved by AICTE, New Delhi, Recognised by UGC with 2(f) & 12 (B), Accredited by NBA & NAAC 4
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HISTORY
Hydroponics became popularized by the news media in the 1920s when
a scientist named Dr. William F. Gericke of the University of California.
When he put laboratory experiments in plant nutrition on a commercial
scale. So he termed these nutri-culture systems HYDROPONICS.
The word was derived from the Greek words, HYDRO (water), and
PONOS (labor), literally “water working”.
During 1960s and 70s, commercial hydroponics farms were developed
in Arizona, Abu Dhabi, Belgium, California, Denmark, German, Holland,
Iran, Italy, Japan, Russian Federation and other countries.
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LITERATURE REVIEW 1
Title of the paper Hydroponics as an advanced technique for vegetable production
Year, Journal Name 2018, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Methodology • Commonly used systems are wick, drip, ebb-flow, deep water culture and nutrient film technique (NFT)
• Wick System: Plants are placed in an absorbent medium like coco coir, vermiculite, perlite with a nylon wick
running from plant roots into a reservoir of nutrient solution. Water or nutrient solution supplied to plants
through capillary action.
• Ebb and Flow system: Nutrient solution and water from reservoir flooded through a water pump to grow bed
until it reaches a certain level and stay there for certain period of time so that it provide nutrients and moisture to
plants.
• Drip system: Water or nutrient solution from the reservoir is provided to individual plant roots in appropriate
proportion with the help of pump.
• Deep water culture system: Roots of plants are suspended in nutrient rich water and air is provided directly to the
roots by an air stone.
Technology
Issues It is important to develop low cost hydroponic technologies that reduce dependence on human labour and lower
overall startup and operational costs.
Conclusion In recent years hydroponics is seen as a promising strategy for growing different crops. As it is possible to grow short
duration crop like vegetables round the year in very limited spaces with low labour, so hydroponics can play a great
contribution in areas with limitation of soil and water and for the poorer and landless people.
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LITERATURE REVIEW 2
Title of the paper Environmental impacts of urban hydroponics in Europe: a case study in Lyon
Year, Journal Name 2018, Elsevier B.V
Methodology • This work’s goal is to evaluate the environmental performance of a high-yield vertical hydroponic farm, and to
compare it to conventional agriculture.
• The selected functional unit is one kg of leafy greens delivered to the retailer. To be able to perform the comparison
between hydroponic and conventional agriculture, we assumed that: lettuce and leafy greens can be considered
substitutes, given their almost overlapping function.
• For conventional agriculture, we considered two scenarios: the production and delivery of lettuce grown in heated
greenhouses (scenario S2) and the production and delivery of open field cultivated lettuce (scenario S3).
• The considered representative of the main potential impacts of agriculture: climate change (CC), freshwater and
marine eutrophication (respectively FE and ME), freshwater ecotoxicity (FT), agricultural land occupation (ALO),
water depletion (WD) and fossil depletion (FD).
Technology Sensitivity analysis
Data quality and limitations of the study
Issues When the needs of external inputs are satisfied using fossil based resources, the environmental performance decreases.
Conclusion Renewable sources are used, the high yields and efficiency make vertical hydroponic the best production system in the
considered climatic area. the ability to grow local food without agricultural land occupation is for sure an added value of
vertical hydroponics, representing a less environmentally harmful way to supplement the vegetable demand of urban
populations.
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LITERATURE REVIEW 3
Title of the paper HYDROPONICS
Year, Journal Name 2010. Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Methodology • Hydroponic systems can either be liquid or aggregate. Liquid systems have no supporting medium for the plant
roots; whereas, aggregate systems have a solid medium of support. Hydroponic systems are further categorized
as open (once the nutrient solution is delivered to the plant roots, it is not reused) or closed (surplus solution is
recovered, replenished, and recycled).
• Commercial hydroponic growers need a more accurate control of the components in a nutrient solution to
achieve commercial success.
Technology
Issues The major disadvantage of a closed system is the difficulty of nutrient management.
Initial and operational costs are higher than soil culture.
Skill and knowledge are needed to operate properly
Conclusion Hydroponics may be used in underdeveloped countries for food production in limited space. It is even feasible to
grow hydroponically in areas of poor soil conditions such as deserts. The desert sand serves as a good growing
medium and seawater can be used to mix nutrient solution once the salts have been removed. The popularity of
hydroponics has increased dramatically in a short period of time leading to an increase in experimentation and
research in the area of indoor and outdoor hydroponic gardening. .
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DETAIL CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROJECT
HYDROPONIC COLUMN:
4 columns of 7 feet (2 meter) each is cut from the 45-foot length PVC pipe and markings 20cm apart are
made on each column using measuring tape.
The circumference of the 6” PVC pipe is 50.4cm, The circumference is divided into 4 parts of each 12.6cm.
4.5cm cut is made on each 12.6cm portion using hacksaw.
The cuts are heated using CHESTON heating gun (1200w) to widen and to smoothen the surrounding
surface the cut.
The 1.5” PVC pipe is cut into elliptical shape for easier penetration and perfect shape hole to fit the basket.
After creating a hole in an elliptical shape, the hydroponic basket is placed inside.
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COLUMN BASE AND TOP:
Left over 6” PVC pipe is then cut into 8 pipes of length 50cm each.
The base and top of hydroponic system is designed a square manner such that, each column will be placed at the corner of the
square.
The base and top is constructed in such way that base acts as a reservoir and top frame acts as tank.
Volume of the base and top frame is 45 liters.
One of T will be placed at the middle of one of the 50cm section pipe in order to lift the water at the base and to collect at the top.
The base frame is located at a place where sunlight is easily accessible.
The 4 columns with the hydroponic baskets placed in them is fixed to the 4 T’s at the base with the 5” PVC end cap for each
column.
Now the filling is done for all the columns with coco peat, coco husk, coco fibre and sponge.
After the filling the top of the columns is sealed with a help of 5” PVC endcap.
Small pores are made on the end cap for the water to flow.
Then followed by placing the top section of PVC to store water is fixed.
Now the 1” PVC pipe is cut and fixed with elbows and is fit to the water pump.
The electric wire is connected to the pump.
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Now the total count of plants in the prototype is 160.
All the medicinal plants were opted and those plants are:
1. Hemigraphis alternata (Tincture plant).
2. Mentha (mint plant)
3. Eclipta prostrata (Bhringraj plant).
4. Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi plant).
5. Centella asiatica.
6. Strawberry.
Each plant is placed in each hydroponic cup with some filling for the support.
The nutrient used here is NPK.
It is soluble in water, the nutrient is added at the base and is the dissolved in water. Further the water is
pumped to the top storage frame and the trickles down through all the 4 columns and is collected back
to the bottom storage frame of PVC.
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RESULT AND DISCUSSION
• If you do choose to go with hydroponics, you should evaluate the
advantages and disadvantages of each type of production system for
your crop of interest. For short term crops such as lettuce, the common
choice is recirculating NFT or flood and drain gravel channels. For
longer term crops or those very vulnerable to root disease, the common
choice is nonrecirculating, media-based systems.
• During recent years, there have been an increasing number of
companies offering a range of turn-key packages. They sell a total
package of protected structure, hydroponic and support systems, and
often include consulting and marketing agreements.
Affiliated to VTU, Belagavi, Approved by AICTE, New Delhi, Recognised by UGC with 2(f) & 12 (B), Accredited by NBA & NAAC 12
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CONCLUSION
The growing awareness of environment and ecosystem among the people
make hydroponics technology most ideal to protect the degradation of
natural resources. This technology requires no soil, less water for culture,
less area, free of disease and pest and highest food production. It plays vital
role in developing areas with water scarcity, small arable land area,
environmental concerns in controlling pollution and quality of groundwater
and problem of food security. It can effectively be exploited as a tool in
backyard farming and house top agriculture practices. In urban atmosphere
with limitations of soil accessibility, hydroponics could serve as best means
to earn livelihood through continued growth of vegetable and even flowers
on a limited scale under given local environment.
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REFERENCES
• Arteca, R. N and J. M. Arteca. 2000. A novel method for growing Arabidopsis thaliana
plants hydroponically. Physiol. Plant, 108: 188–193.
• Jones, J.B. 2005. Hydroponics: a practical guide for the soilless grower. CRC Press.
Boca Raton. Fla.
• Savvas,D. and H. Passam. 2002. Hydroponic production of vegetables and ornamentals.
Embryo Publications. Athens, Greece.
• Harris, A. 1974. Hydroponics, growing without soil: easy-to-follow instructions for the
flat dweller, modern gardener and commercial grower. Newton Abbot : David &
Charles, publishers.
• P. D. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “World Urbanization
Prospects: The 2014 Revision, Highlights (ST/ESA/SER.A/352),” 2014.
• J. Schmidhuber and F. N. Tubiello, “Global food security under climate change.,” Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., vol. 104, no. 50, pp. 19703–8, Dec. 2007.
• Resh, H.M. 2004. Hydroponic food production: A definitive guidebook for the advanced
home gardener and the commercial hydroponic grower. Newconcept Press, Inc. New
Jersey.
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