There is a new buzzword in the agri-sector, “Hydroponics”, that people are taking great interest in, and why not? I mean growing their supply of pesticide-free veggies has taken people by storm.

The sheer joy of eating fresh juicy herbs and greens, straight from the plants was enough to lure people’s interest during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Although this technology of soil-less agriculture has been around for decades, its popularity is on exponential growth in the last five years, with several model urban farms becoming operational in tier-1 Indian cities, viz. Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai.

The market opportunity is huge as India's hydroponics market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.53% between 2020 and 2027.

Hydroponics has many advantages over traditional farming techniques which when coupled with modern electronic infrastructure, increases the annual yield 10 times while reducing the human effort to a bare minimum.

Despite having its pros and cons, with pros weighing slightly more than cons, the question that I get asked most often is "Why Won’t Hydroponics Turn Out To Be Just Another Buzzword, Like Gobar-Gas Was A Decade Ago ?" Now, this scepticism is expected because however beneficial it is, farming in an artificial environment is a challenging task, that requires a certain level of understanding of science and technology. Small and medium farmers find it a costly exercise and quite difficult to set up and maintain such precision farms.

The Data paints a contrasting picture to the above notion.

Hydroponics, with all its merits and demerits, is being adopted with open arms by people in India and that is reflected in the number of Start-Ups that have mushroomed all around India. According to an article on entrepreneur.com, “The increased demand for fresh and chemical-free food in cities has led to a boom in urban farming in India.”.

Is it too complicated ?.

For instance, we know plants use more nitrogen throughout the green growth phase when the plant is young, and increase the amount of phosphorus throughout the flowering and fruiting stage. Additionally, plants will tend to do whatever they need to survive when they are in less than desirable conditions. These less desirable conditions reduce the growth and tend to seriously affect the product quality and flavour of the plant. But they have healthier benefits. Plants grown hydroponically are generally healthier than their soil-grown counterparts because they receive an almost perfectly balanced diet and rarely come in contact with soil-borne pests and diseases. Since hydroponic systems reduce water and nutrient stress to the plants, they grow faster and can be grown closer together without starving each other. Healthier plants also produce higher yields. Perfect plant conditions result in perfect plant production.

Its never too late to start, Hydroponics is easy if anyone understands the basic plant science and a bit of curiosity to learn and unlearn.