Growing Notes--Integrating Aquaculture and Hydroponics on the Small Farm
As an organic farmer for 25 years and an avid tropical fish hobbyist for nearly 40 years, I’ve long been intrigued with the idea of somehow combining these two interests into an integrated production system with commercial potential. In 1990, I came across an article in a trade publication that briefly described a research project at North Carolina State University called the Integrated Aqua-Vegiculture System (IAVS) which used nutrients in fish waste to fertilize crops growing in sand beds that then provided biofiltration for the fish. This type of system is also called “aquaponics”--a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. I subsequently visited with the IAVS designer, Ph.D. candidate Mark McMurtry, and I later invited him here to northwest Arkansas to participate in a workshop on “Integrated Greenhousing.”
After learning more of McMurtry’s work, I began exploring the possibility of integrating an IAVS into my farming operation to provide year-round production and to diversify from my main crop, organically grown blueberries. The system seemed too experimental for me to risk the large investment necessary to build a commercial-scale facility, so instead I built a small experimental prototype to further test the design and assess the local market for Tilapia and Pacu, two food-fish species that were unknown in my region. I completed construction of a 22x14 ft attached IAVS greenhouse for production of fish and winter fruits and vegetables in early October 1997.
