Plant Tissue Culture PPT

Aquaponics is a plant cultivation system that incorporates aquaculture in conjunction with hydroponics. Aquaculture deals with raising aquatic life forms like fish, prawns and snails in a water tank. Hydroponics is the art of cultivating plants in water. Aquaponics combines these two cultivation techniques to form a micro-eco system where both subsystems mutually benefit each other.

The aquatic life forms raised through aquaculture generate sufficient effluents that can be used as nutrients for the plants. The plants on the other hand, absorb the effluents and return clean water back for aquaculture. While fresh water fish are mostly used in these systems, salt water creatures are also raised depending on the type of system used.

The effluents produced in the aquaculture tank consist of uneaten food and excreta from the aquatic life forms. If left to accumulate over a period of time, the water could turn toxic and pose a threat to the creatures in the tank. The effluents are therefore cleared from the water using two agents - plants and bacteria.

Although the plants cultivated through the hydroponic system can absorb ammonia from the water, they can assimilate nitrates much more readily. Therefore, it is necessary to first convert the ammonia into nitrates. This is where bacteria come into the picture. Two types of bacteria are normally used for converting ammonia to nitrates. The first kind is called Nitrosomonas bacteria and this type converts ammonia into nitrites. The second type is called Nitrobacter bacteria which finally convert the nitrites into nitrates, which plants can readily assimilate. Therefore, the conversion of ammonia into nitrates takes place in two stages through two different kinds of bacteria.

The action of the bacteria on the effluents produces a rich supply of nitrates to the plants in the hydroponic system. The plants then completely absorb the nitrates from the water and return pure water back to the fish tank. This completes the circuit and the entire cycle repeats over and over again.

The Aquaponics system therefore contains three different life forms. The first are the aquatic animals which produce the effluents that are required for the plants' nutrition. The second life forms are the bacteria which convert the effluents into a form that the plants can readily assimilate. The third are the plants in the system which filter nitrates from the water and return clean water back to the aquaculture unit.

By using three interdependent subsystems, the Aquaponics method facilitates the cultivation of plants and aquatic life forms in a confined space using purely organic methods.

Aquaponics is the new way of modern farming. It is the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. That means you can grow plants and fishes on one aquaponics system. If you want to build your own Aquaponics System, you can read more about the advantages of Aquaponics systems at http://diyaquaponicshowto.info/build-your-own-aquaponics-system/ You will get a lot of advantages from this system if used correctly.

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