In the soil near a small village at the south end of India, there are microscopic colonies tirelessly working. These include bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, earthworms and arthropods, collectively known as soil microbes. They thrive on the fish excreta in the soil, breaking them down into nutrients which, in turn, the plants thrive on. This ecosystem - involving fish, plants and microbes - was designed with specific purposes in mind. It is all happening in the state of Kerala in India (Nanniode in Palakkad district) where The Venus Project has begun a new demonstration project.
When the word "agriculture" is mentioned, most people have images of tractors, pesticides, fertilizers, and toiling away on big fields all day long. We have a lot of work to do on changing perceptions. The activity that humanity spends most energy on is growing food, and then preparing it for eating. And yet, half of what is grown goes to waste. Agriculture contributes the most to climate change and to the diminishment of wildlife and its available space to live.
It seems clear that agriculture would be a major focus for anyone interested in making systemic change in the world. But this being an initiative of The Venus Project which has a holistic view of society, we will not limit our focus only to agriculture. We have about 550 m2 (5920 ft2) to play with, plus another 192 m2 (2066 ft2) for fruiting trees, and there is a lot that can be done with this space. Here are some of our plans:
- Feed about 130 people (about 30 families) with clean, fresh and highly nutritious fish, vegetables and fruits year-round.
- Provide the food locally through weekly packages of fish and vegetables that the families subscribe to receive. This creates a lower food price for them and predictability for us. Such a model is called community-supported agriculture.
- Dedicate 10% of the area to research and development. There are lots and lots of experiments to do and improvements to be made.
- Demonstrate with data and publications how a highly productive, healthy and ecologically restorative food system can work.
- Expand beyond food and agriculture.
- And more.
Since we are taking over an abandoned infrastructure, our first task was to clean up the land. Check out the cleanup video story below:
When operation begins in the coming weeks, the water will make 8 cycles every day - taking the fish excreta from the bottom of the fish tanks and bringing them at the top end of the plant beds, where they begin to gradually flow down back to the fish tanks. As the excreta travel down, they go through the plant roots where the soil microbes filter them. Clean water comes out. Fish get cleaned water, while microbes and plants get nutrients. This continuous loop makes it so that nutrients and water remain in the system. Having the water move in a loop also makes it easy to automate the process (we use pumps and a sequential timer for this), which means no time and no labor are spent on irrigation. Compared to traditional agriculture, this system uses 98% less water. It uses no pesticides, no fungicides, no antibiotics, actually no chemical inputs at all, yet it far surpasses the productivity levels of chemically-intensive agriculture. We call this method an Integrated Aquaponics System (#TVPIAS). It is an actively evolving system.
The word "integrated" has special importance. Not only is this system integrating some prominent practices (regenerative agriculture, aquaculture, permaculture, hydroponics, natural farming) into a single whole, it also readily allows for integrating any other good agricultural practice. Using the Integrated Aquaponics System methods, one can grow not only greens but also all kinds of fish, vegetables and fruits. It is beyond organic and is soil-based, not soil-less.
We wish to hear from scientists and practitioners who are supporting any worthwhile food and agriculture practices - whether it is regarding soil, microbiology, molecular biology, ecology, composting, cooking, food preservation, nutrition (aquatic, botanical and human), learning in plants and animals, mycology, phycology, agroforestry, water conservation, indigenous knowledge, knowledge transfer and assimilation, climate change, integrated pest management, controlled environmental engineering and management, marketing and distribution of perishable commodities, post-harvest technologies, food safety regulation, or any other aspect. We have the playground, the personnel and the means to experiment with new (or old) and interesting ideas. All knowledge is limited, and one of our larger goals with this initiative is to integrate knowledge from all sorts of fields into a single system of knowledge. If any of this interests you, please reach out to us through the form on this page.
This project is not just for the specialists and experts, however. We wish to engage and involve all of you, and your participation will be crucial. To start with, we are working on setting up a video livestream from the land, so you can always watch what is happening and become more closely familiar.
Getting to this point has not been easy. It took 6 months from initial serious planning to beginning the project. There were many challenges, and we expect many more. We deeply thank everyone who contributed to making this happen.
Our next major milestones are to re-build the infrastructure, plant the seeds and add the fish, and begin operation.
We welcome your feedback and responses (and any ideas you might have) in the comments section below. And you can expect more updates from us. Make sure you are subscribed to our newsletter to get news.
Originally posted on our website: https://www.thevenusproject.com/introducing-the-venus-project-integrated-aquaponics-system-tvpias-in-kerala-india/