Wireless Aquaponic farming inremote Areas: A smart adaptive socio-economic solution

Summary

WAFRA is an Arabic word that means abundance, this word reflects the aim of our proposal which is to develop a smart aquaponic system in remote areas to supply plant and fish in abundance. An aquaponic system could be defined as an integration of a hydroponic system with an aquaculture through the efficient use of natural resources. This integrated farming technology limits the water exchange and reduces the environmental impact of aquacultures and conventional farming by converting the waste excreted by fish into valuable nutrients for plants within a confined water capacity. Fish species such as Nile Tilapia and Trout are very common, while lettuce, spinach and basil are considered among the common integrated leafy vegetables. In recent years, this practice has turned from small individual scale to marketable scale.  However, monitoring such a system in remote areas requires an appropriate strategy to control the different operating parameters. The use of remote sensing presents an "around the clock monitor" for the tested parameters (pH, temperature, DO, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, water level in the bioremediation tanks) signalling for the need to take necessary action whenever a parameter is diverted from its actual level. Photovoltaic powered wireless platforms offer a renewable and sustainable energy system to allow the functioning of such platforms at community level. This application will be user friendly offering easy access to end users (aquaculture, hydroponic or aquaponic farm owners or personnel).The project aims to solve the economic and social problems and the growth of remote areas and increase cooperation between the countries of the Mediterranean basin through future projects, exchange knowledge and spread awareness about the problems of plant-based fish farming.

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List of Publications from the Project

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