Establishment of Soilless Culture (Hydroponics) closed system under Protected Agriculture

Abstract

Soil is the most available growing media and plants normally grow on it. Soil main functions are to provide anchorage, nutrients, air and water to the plants rooting system. However, soils do pose serious limitations for plant growth, at the time. Presence of disease causing by soil organisms and nematodes, unsuitable soil reaction, salt accumulation due to irrigation, unfavorable soil compaction, poor drainage, degradation due to erosion, etc. are some of them. In greenhouses, agricultural practices in soil will increase the soil-born pathogens such as Nematodes and accumulate salinity. Moreover, the present conventional growing system in soil, wastes a lot of fresh water due to run off and deep percolation. In arid countries, rapid evaporation from the soil surface may also lead to salinity problems. To address such problems, ICARDA developed, simplified and introduced soilless culture techniques which are applicable at the growers’ field in the Arabian Peninsula.