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History

Aquaponics has Ancient Roots, although there is some debate on its first occurrence:

 

  • The Aztecs cultivated agricultural islands known as Chinampas in a system considered by some to be the first form of aquaponics for agricultural use where plants were raised on stationary (and sometime movable) islands in lake shallows. Waste materials dredged from the Chinampa canals and surrounding cities were used to manually irrigate the plants.

  • South China, Thailand, and Indonesia who cultivated and farmed rice in paddy fields in combination with fish are cited as examples of early aquaponics systems. These polyculture farming systems existed in many Far Eastern countries and raised fish such as the oriental loach swamp eel, common and crucian carp, as well as pond snails in the paddies.

 

The development of modern aquaponics is often attributed to the various works of the New Alchemy Institute and the works of Dr. Mark McMurtry et al. at the North Carolina State University. Inspired by the successes of the New Alchemy Institute, and the reciprocating aquaponics techniques developed by Dr. Mark McMurtry et al., and other institutes soon followed suit. Starting in 1997, Dr. James Rakocy and his colleagues at the University of the Virgin Islands researched and developed the use of deep water culture hydroponic grow beds in a large-scale aquaponics system.

The first aquaponics research in Canada was a small system added onto existing aquaculture research at a research station in Lethbridge, Alberta. Canada saw a rise in aquaponics setups throughout the ’90s, predominantly as commercial installations raising high-value crops such as trout and lettuce. A setup based on the deep water system developed at the University of Virgin Islands was built in a greenhouse at Brooks, Alberta where Dr. Nick Savidov and colleagues researched aquaponics from a background of plant science. The team made findings on rapid root growth in aquaponics systems and on closing the solid-waste loop. They found that owing to certain advantages in the system over traditional aquaculture, the system can run well at a low pH level, which is favored by plants but not fish.

 

Island Aquaponics is the 4th SUPA module setup by the companies founder. 

SUPA 1 - Mitzpe Ramon, Negev Israel 

SUPA 2 - Midreshet Sde Boker, Ben-Gurion University, Dept of Hydrology and Microbiology 

SUPA 3 - Panaewa, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Dept. of Agriculture 

SUPA 4 - Orchidland Estates, Island Aquaponics and Tilapia Hatchery ( IATH) 

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