By Victoria Hanson
Nigerians have been urged to embrace Hydroponic farming in order to cultivate more food in the country.
Hydroponic Farms Limited in conjunction with Institute for Hydroponic Farming and Research Canada made this known on Tuesday in Lagos.
Briefing newsmen, the Chairman Board Of Director, Hydroponic Limited ,Mr. Philip Okpala said that Hydroponic Farming is the cultivation of plants using water and nutrient solutions rather than soil.
In a hydroponics system, Okpala stated that the nutrients which plants normally derive from the soil are dissolved into water, and depending on the type of hydroponic system used.
‘’Hydroponic is commonly used for the production of vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, kale and peppers but it is mostly for leafy vegetables and herbs. It uses no soil, rather plant roots are suspended in specially formulated clay pellets and bathed with liquid nutrients’’ Okpala explained
For Nigerians to be competitive in the International market, The Chairman noted that there is need to adopt this kind of farming to boost the growth of agriculture, even as he emphasized that the price of vegetable will deflate.
Stressing the advantage of hydroponic farming , he hinted that is its ability to grow in a controlled environment and grow larger yielding crops in a shorter amount of time, pesticide and herbicide free.
Hydroponic farming according to researchers, Is on its way to becoming a viable future for agriculture and farmers around the world and Nigeria cannot be left behind.
Although the practice has been around far before the term became coined and more widely used in the 1930’s, today this farming is quickly talking off in the realms of agriculture, urban development and business. It is highly productive, technologically sound and friendly to the environment.
He called on Nigerians to avail themselves on this opportunity by registering for a seminar which will be held in April 2017 in various States.
