The Federal College of Horticulture in Dadin Kowa, Gombe State, has developed what it calls vertical aquaponics, a technology that allows the rearing of fish and growing vegetables through efficient water and space utilisation.
Daily Trust caught up with Malam Abubakar Haruna Sa’id who led a team to exhibit the college’s technology at the recently concluded National Agricultural Show and he explained the new tech and what the college is doing in other areas.
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The college used locally available materials such as calabash and plastic tanks to come up with a water recycling system that saves both fish and vegetables.
The plastic tank is manufactured for the rearing of fish and can take up to 50 catfish, which can grow up to table size while the calabash is where the vegetables are grown.
Each structure contains 100 stands of tomatoes which can be developed on one hectare and will contain 566 fish growing chambers and vegetable growing units.
So how does it work?
When growing fish, the water is rich in fertilizer. The water is used to water the vegetables and any excess will drain to the filter tank which recycles it back to the fish tank. The system is designed to allow for both maximum water utilisation efficiency and land utilisation efficiency.
You can grow all varieties of tomatoes, pepper (hot and chilli pepper), eggplant, which are called the solanaceae family because the calabash size is adequate to contain the root system up to maturity. It can also be modified to grow other vegetables like okra, spinach, lettuce, cabbage and other crops with low extensive root systems.
“The growth chambers, unlike advanced countries that use plastic, ours is natural. The calabash itself is confirmed to have some useful mineral elements which the plants want.
“When you get NPK from the fish and other required minerals from the calabash, we make use of rich chaff because it is light and also very rich in fertilizer, the lighter the material the better,” Malam Sa’id said.
For farmers that are in need of the technology, the colleges have an office meant for partnership research and linkage. So wherever the farmers are in Nigeria, they can contact them and a staff will be deployed to their location.
Speaking on the cost, Malam Abubakar said: “The initial cost might be scary but when you compare the cost benefits, for instance when you establish this one on one hectare you should be making a profit of not less than N15 million in a year. So you can offset the cost within a year of installation and continue to make profit. But the initial cost of installation -that’s why we reduce it using calabashes. The timber is another costly factor but you can use bamboo cane.
“The small scale unit can be grown in a suitable house that has small space for that purpose.
“You can make use of both greenhouse and open space. Greenhouse has its benefits like protection from insects and also modifying the atmospheric condition for plant growth, adding effective utilisation of space within the greenhouse. But if you cannot afford greenhouse, then, this one is practicable in open space.
“The college also works in developing seed varieties. It has developed maize hybrid varieties. The college also has been able to solve one major problem affecting okro. In most regions, the thing is called a mosaic virus.
“The college has been able to screen a lot of local varieties to develop many that are resistant to this disease.
“Very soon we will register the seed, multiply and start distributing to the farmers, in conjunction with NIHORT. The college and NIHORT are from the same organisation – the Agriculture Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN).
“We are into improved seed multiplication for vegetables and for maize and also processing,” he said.
He said the federal government has installed in the college a technology to produce bio-pesticides – that is pesticides that give organic materials only.
By Vincent A. Yusuf & Grace Adetutu
