Vijayakumar Narayanan says ‘aquaponics’, a system of cultivation, is the future of agriculture

The premise that one needs ground for a garden does not hold water anymore. Not if you are into aquaponics! And to help you take to it as a duck to water is Vijayakumar Narayanan.

“Aquaponics is the future of agriculture,” Vijayakumar Narayanan says. In fact, he calls himself an ‘Aquaponics Futurist’, having successfully experimented with the aquaponics system of farming on his land. Vijayakumar is now in the city with the working model of an aquaponics farm that will be exhibited at the Flower Show that begins today at Kanakakkunnu and Suryakanthi grounds.

Under his guidance, aquaponics farms have come up in Idukki, Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Telangana, and Coimbatore, one of them being the farm of actor Sreenivasan.

He trains people in this method of cultivation which integrates aquaculture (growing fish) and hydroponic (growing soil-less plants) systems. His confidence stems from his farm – Nanniode Aquaponics Research and Development Centre on two cents of land at his home Nanniode in Palakkad district. “You can have an aquaponics system on an area as small as 50 sq ft. It is a double treat, since you can use the fish and the produce from the system. In larger systems, you can raise an income from both,” says 44-year-old Vijayakumar.

Vijayakumar learnt about aquaponics via Internet. He was a teacher with the Army Education Corps before he went to Muscat to work in a BPO and returned to Kerala with no concrete plans about his next step.

But things changed when the huge mango tree in his backyard got uprooted. He didn’t know what to do with the huge pit left behind. “We made a swimming pool, but got bored after a week. I searched on the Internet to find what we could do with this water body and that’s when I chanced upon aquaponics,” he says.

He takes pride in the fact that our aquaponic systems are more affordable when compared to those installed in foreign countries. “Even those living in a one bed room flat can have pesticide free and organic food,” he says.

Visit his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/aquaponicsfuturist or contact 8129219282.

Highlights

Herbs, greens, vegetables, fruit bearing and flowering plants can be grown in the system.

A small scale aquaponic unit meant for a family costs Rs. 50,000. If you can breed 200 kg fish, you can harvest 800 kg vegetables, per annum.

Though Tilapia is commonly bred in the system, these days varieties such as sea bass, prawns, cat fish, mullet and fresh water mussels can also be bred.

Floral feast

Flower Show is back after a gap of four years and the organisers promise that it would be the biggest of its kind. “We have the participation of a number of departments. Check out the wide selection of roses, nearly 200 varieties, cut flower arrangement, bonsais, nearly 5,000 rare plants and polyhouses, ” says G. Raghavan Pillai, convener of the exhibition committee. Kerala Agri-Horticultural Society, Kerala Rose Society, City Corporation, State Horticulture Mission, Departments of Agriculture and Tourism, have joined hands to organise the show that is on till January 18. Time: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.