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Indeed, the economics of hydroponics would suggest that it should already dominate commercial vegetable production. The main reason they're not, is because muni
by jivatmanx 14y ago
Indeed, the economics of hydroponics would suggest that it should already dominate commercial vegetable production. The main reason they're not, is because municipalities greatly undervalue water, and because agriculture is so highly subsidized and so it's hard for hydroponics to compete.
1. Underselling water
Municipal water prices set by local government greatly undervalue the actual rarity of water. With so many aquifers running out, and rivers stretched to the max, especially in the west, I'm surprised there could be this much myopia on an issue that is clearly far more serious and immediate issue than energy. Right now the only pressure to reduce water use seems to be on consumers (watering policies, low-water use appliances), but they only use 11% of it.
2. Subsidized agriculture.
This is a more well known issue so I don't think I need to repeat it here.
- amalag 14y agoThose are also the two reasons that meat is so cheap. The real costs of meat are 1-2 orders of magnitude greater than what people pay now.
- sneak 14y ago> Right now the only pressure to reduce water use seems to be on consumers (watering policies, low-water use appliances), but they only use 11% of it. Where does the other 89% go?
- gukjoon 14y agoThe real question is whether aquaponics can create higher quality food than organic produce, which is not subsidized. Subsidies are also unsustainable in the long run. The major costs in aquaponics are in the technology, which will inevitably get cheaper. If aquaponic agriculture truly represents an order of magnitude improvement in water use and space use, and can produce better food, it's only a matter of time before not even subsidies can keep traditional agriculture economically sustainable. This is just what I needed to see after the front page of HN was dominated by bullshit about Surface and iPad mini. Finally, technology used to make something other than toys for bored rich people.
- bduerst 14y ago>whether aquaponics can create higher quality food than organic produce Why single out the organic market?
- jivatmanx 14y agoYes, hydroponics produces the best possible quality food that can be made. Being a closed system, it also doesn't require pesticides so it's essentially organic anyhow. You are correct that Organic produce is the obvious immediate competitor. I wonder if hydroponically grown good can be labeled as organic. it could certainly come with no label at all. As to whether there's a marketing benefit to actually being labeled as hydroponically grown, I've no idea. As for subsidies, I assume that Organic food takes advantage of all of the same subsidies as non-organically grown food.
- jivatmanx 14y agoI wonder if it would be smart to labeled it "Organic Hydroponically grown" or "Hydroponically Grown Organic" or something similar
- jlgreco 14y agoIs water used by hydroponics really "used"? As far as I can tell, aside from "loss" to evaporation and water used in part of the mass that makes up the fruit you send out, nothing should really be wasting water. It seems likely that lost water due to evaporation with this type of setup should be a great deal less than water lost with traditional farming (spraying water with things like center-pivot irrigation machines should cause much more evaporation. I mean, come on... http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Irrigation_in_the_Heart_of_the_Sahara.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Irrigatio...), and water lost through fruit mass is irrelevant.