: How to Grow 63 Varieties of Vegetables on Your Terrace Using a Few Buckets Fish #IndiaNEWS #Lede In 2016, Sameer A, an IT professional and avid reader, came across an aquaponics book. Intrigued

How to Grow 63 Varieties of Vegetables on Your Terrace Using a Few Buckets Fish #IndiaNEWS #Lede
In 2016, Sameer A, an IT professional and avid reader, came across an aquaponics book. Intrigued by the concept of this farming method, the 38-year-old decided to try it out himself.
“The thought of growing food without soil and some fish in water was fascinating to me,??? says Sameer, a Pune-based engineer who spent over a decade working in software companies and as an entrepreneur. He adds, “I went to a nursery to buy some mint, and try aquaponics out. ???
To experiment with the concepts described in the book, he took two buckets lying in the corner of the roof of his bungalow, installed a water pump, and bought some pipes and some fish. After a week of planting mint in this set-up, Sameer found his efforts to be successful when fresh leaves began sprouting. “This is how the concert of ‘bucketponics’ came into being,??? he says.
A view of Sameers terrace farm set up.
“The quick growth of the plant, the big and bright green leaves, and the smell of the produce were impressive,??? Sameer says. “The book mentioned that fish excreta in water worked as a source of ammonia and nitrate, which are essential elements for plants to grow. This was proved right in my experiment,??? he adds. From growing one mint plant, the urban farmer has gone on to cultivate 63 varieties of vegetables on his terrace farm through aquaponics, including spinach, tomato, cucumber, rice, corn, stevia and gourd.
“I used a few buckets initially,??? he says, adding, “Then, I switched to trying drums of various sizes and shapes. It took one year to experiment with different habitats for the fish before I finalised a design of a double-decker tub made from Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP). I had it custom-made, and it can withstand the sunlight for 25 years. ???
Refining his technique
Speaking to The Better India, Sameer says the vegetables grown on the upper tub, while the fish live in another tub installed below. The water from the lower tub is pumped upwards to water the plants, which again drains down into the lower tub for recycling.
Sameer has experimented with different types of fish to refine his technique. These include the catfish, guppy, rohu, katla, and koi. “Koi helps yield the highest amount of produce, but is expensive,??? he says. Apart from fish, the entrepreneur-turned-farmer has also worked on methods to balance the water and nutrition content for the plants.

“I had no one to help me, which is why it took a couple of years to get the system to function smoothly,??? he says, adding, “When I was not on the terrace looking after the plants, I spent time learning more about the process through books, videos, and online courses.

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