• M. Kamakshi Kanchana

Hydroponics is a technique to grow plants and food without soil using water and nutrients to sustain plant growth. Hydroponics uses less water to produce the same quantity of food when compared with traditional soil-based farming. Water culture and growing plants is a technique discovered four hundred years ago and hydroponics is an extension and evolution of this principle. Space scientists have done extensive research to grow plants in space for future space exploration and human settlements in space and on other planets. There is an increased interest in hydroponics as a contending concept for the next green revolution to grow food with limited resources and space. Hydroponic farms are being built as a proof of concept. In desert areas, countries are encouraging hydroponic farms to achieve local food security to reduce dependence on food imports. Hydroponics is a viable option to grow food in cities using limited space. Rapid urbanization has pushed farms far away from cities. Food miles- the average distance that food has to travel to reach from farms to consumers makes it expensive. Fuel used for the transportation of food from growing areas to consumption centers is contributing to global warming and climate change. Hydroponics is a promising technology to build vertical farms and grow food in urban areas reducing the food miles. This paper presents the current techniques adopted by commercially successful farms and proposes low-cost techniques to adopt the technology to grow plants at home and in kitchen gardens. The designs proposed in this paper are based on locally available materials in India. Prototypes are built and plants are grown using water and nutrients and results are reported. Detailed drawings are given to build hydroponic containers with low-cost material available in the market so that a small home garden, kitchen garden, or balcony garden is built without soil.

Food miles, Food security, Hydroponics, Kitchen garden, Vertical farming

"Low-Cost Hydroponic Techniques for home and kitchen gardens", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.9, Issue 12, page no.e368-e375, December-2022, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2212451.pdf

"Low-Cost Hydroponic Techniques for home and kitchen gardens", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.9, Issue 12, page no. ppe368-e375, December-2022, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2212451.pdf