Different Types of Hydroponics System

Currently hydroponic cultivation is gaining popularity all over the world because of efficient resources management and quality food production. Soil based agriculture is now facing various challenges such as urbanization, natural disaster, climate change, indiscriminate use of chemicals and pesticides which is depleting the land fertility. In this article various hydroponic structures viz. wick, ebb and flow, drip, deep water culture and Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) system; their operations; benefits and limitations; performance of different crops like tomato, cucumber, pepper and leafy greens and water conservation by this technique have been discussed. Several benefits of this technique are less growing time of crops than conventional growing; round the year production; minimal disease and pest incidence and weeding, spraying, watering etc can be eliminated.