Urban Farming with Hydroponic System Becomes Profitable Business

Have you heard the term urban farming? In recent years the trend of urban farming has become increasingly in demand by people living in major cities. Yes, urban farming is a concept of moving conventional agriculture into urban agriculture. One form of practice is with hydroponic systems.

Originally the concept of gardening on limited land was formed by a group of environmentalists who move independently. Until now, this concept is known as a suitable lifestyle and easy to do by anyone. Urban farming is considered to support the desire of the city community to lead a healthy life.

As the name implies, hydroponics is an agricultural system that is carried out using water planting media. Usually this is done to get around the limited planting land in the yard. The harvest from urban farming is also considered healthier because the concept of farming is implementing an organic planting system.

What is Hydroponic Concept?

In the study of hydroponic language is a concept of cultivation of planting by utilizing water without using soil that emphasizes on fulfilling nutritional needs for plants. Hydroponics uses water more efficiently, so it is suitable to be applied to areas that have a limited water supply.

In a journal it is mentioned that hydroponics comes from two words, namely hydro which means water and phonic which means workmanship. From these two words, it can be interpreted that hydroponics is a system of planting or cultivating plants without using soil media, but rather using water media containing nutrient soluti on.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Hydroponic Concept

Just like other suitable planting concepts, hydroponics also has advantages and disadvantages of practical funds.

Advantages :

• It can be cultivated in narrow areas, such as the roof of a house or a side yard.
• The risk of drought or flooding is very small.
• Some plants can be cultivated in the off-season.
• Plant hygiene is more maintained.
• The yield is higher if it is well-grounded.
• The planting process has standardization.
• It doesn't take much manpower.
• The success of plants to grow is more guaranteed than other suitable planting systems.
• Easy maintenance.
• Efficient in the use of fertilizer.
• The selling price of hydroponic plants is higher than non-hydroponic plants.

Disadvantages :

• Requires expensive initial investment, considering hydroponic planting media using water so that special tools are needed as well.
• Requires special skills to weigh and concoct the chemicals used.
• The availability of hydroponic equipment is quite difficult.
• Requires high accuracy because to calculate the nutritional levels of hydroponic plants can not be done indiscriminately.
• With water planting media, it is high risk for rapid crop harvesting due to the presence of water substrate cultures that are smaller than soil.

Types of Plants Suitable for Hydroponic Systems 

In practice, hydroponic systems are widely carried out on a small scale as a hobby among the city community. For the scale of commercial business, the selection of cultivated plant types should be considered because not all types of plants are economically valuable.

The following are the types of plants that are of high economic value when using hydroponic systems:

• Vegetable Crops: Watercress, spinach, mustard, broccoli, kale, basil leaves and celery leaves.
• Fruit Crops: Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, strawberries, chilies, eggplants and pare.

How to Plant with Hydroponic System

1. Aeroponic System

Aeroponic systems are the most advanced hydroponic systems and may also deliver the best and fastest results. This is possible because this nutrient solution is given or sprayed in the form of fog directly to the roots, so that the roots of plants more easily absorb a nutrient solution that contains a lot of oxygen. While plants are in desperate need of nutrients and oxygen in their growth.

2. Drip System

Drip system is a hydroponic system that is often used for now. The operating system is simple by using a timer to control the pump. By the time the pump is turned on, the pump drips nutrients into each plant. In order to stand upright, plants are supported using other planting media such as cocopit, grilled husks, ziolit, sand, and so on in addition to soil.

3. Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)

This NFT system is the most popular way in hydroponic terms. This NFT system continuously drains nutrients dissolved in water without using a timer for the pump. This nutrient flows into the gully through the roots of plants and then back to the water reservoir, so on.

4. EBB and Flow System

The Ebb & Flow system works by temporarily flooding growth containers with nutrients to a certain extent, then returning those nutrients into shelters, so on. This system requires a pump connected to the timer.

5. Water Culture System

Walter Culture is a simple hydroponic system. Containers that support plants are usually made of styrofoam and float directly with nutrients. The air pump pump pumps air into the water stone which creates bubbles as oxygen supplies to the roots of the plant.

6. Wick System

It's one of the simplest hydroponic systems and is usually used by beginners. This system includes passive, because there are no moving parts. Nutrients flow into the growth medium from within the container using a kind of axis.

Hydroponic System Result Crop Marketing Opportunities

Agricultural businesses with hydroponics systems are increasingly popular. If you're interested in the business, here are some marketing techniques to keep in mind.

1. In cooperation with Farmer Groups

You can join a cooperative farming group with a list first. With this cooperative, the marketing efforts of hydroponic products will be easier because you can sell products without any amount restrictions. The drawback may be that the purchase price is not as good as the one on the market.

2. Supplying Agricultural Products to Restaurants or Catering Businesses

The needs of vegetables and fruit in the catering business are sustainable. You can take advantage of this opportunity to provide a fresh supply of vegetables and fruits. In demand it does look a little, but this effort has a great opportunity to be done on an ongoing basis.

3. Sell it directly to the Market

Finally, you can market hydroponic products to traditional markets or sell them directly through social media. This opportunity is given that more and more people are starting to realize the importance of consuming fresh fruits and vegetables every day.

After knowing how urban farming uses hydroponic systems in making profitable businesses, the fatal mistake that occurs in entrepreneurship is the absence of neat financial management. Financial management is very important for any business field.

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