A REVIEW ON GROWING CROPS WITHOUT SOIL- NUTRIENT FILM TECHNIQUE

Rapid urbanization and industrialization have led to a decrease in per capita availability of land as well as arable land under crop cultivation due to which soil-based agriculture is facing major challenges. The recirculation of nutrient solution has positive aspects as it minimizes the effluents emission and also improves water and nutrient use efficiencies. In hydroponics, plants are grown without soil and their roots are immersed in the solution of nutrients. In these systems a consistent nutrient environment can be provided to roots. These can be controlled automatically but can lead to rapid plant desiccation if the nutrient flow stops due to some reasons. Environmental regulations for the conservation of groundwater and minimizing water and fertilizer use have highlighted the importance of recycling of nutrient solution and thus has encouraged to shift from open hydroponic system to closed system. The hydroponic industry is expected to grow exponentially in the near future, specially, in a country like India, where the land resources are limited and the population is growing per day, the only option left is to adopt soil-less cultivation which can help in increasing the yield as well as quality of the produce so that food security of the growing population can be ensured.