Source: Bao, Jingji C. 1993. Hydroponic crops no longer a dream. Beijing Rev. 36:25-26.

In China, the increase in population and subsequent decrease in arable land is a problem of much concern. In response, researchers have been developing improved hydroponic crop growing techniques. Growing crops hydroponically requires no soil; the crops are either suspended in water or form floating beds on the water's surface. Using this technique to grow food crops could utilize the country's vast expanses of inland water for food production. Using natural, inland bodies of water as hydroponic containers is a fairly new idea. This article is intended to inform the general public about the progress researchers are making in soilless plant cultivation. To do this, Jingji Bao describes the main advancements in hydroponics and explains how they may affect the potential future grain crisis. In recent research, scientists have discovered that creating an ecosystem in which a fish-bacteria-plant relationship occurs can result in the possibility of sustainable plant growth (and fish production). Results from experiments conducted in every type of freshwater body have been very encouraging -- the output from hydroponic cultivation was found to be equivalent to that of the local farmland. These developments in hydroponics will aid China in food production in the following three ways: (1) utilizing lakes, reservoirs, hillside terrace ponds, fish ponds, and other freshwater areas for growing food crops, (2) creating agricultural systems that are not threatened by droughts or flooding and need no irrigation, and (3) solving the problem of finding space for growing grains and other crops. The author concludes that through hydroponics, China can continue to address the problem of a growing demand for food and the dwindling amount of land with which to produce it. If properly developed, one acre of water surface will be able to feed nine individuals. With over 33 million acres of naturally occurring water surfaces, this increase in the magnitude of national productivity would be a substantial contribution to solving China's food production problems.

Abstract author: Katie Granger, 4 October 1995.

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