Modelling of aquaculture-hydroponic systems
The PhD project consisted of investigating the dynamic nutrient balnces and uncertainties in aquaponics.
Aquaponics is a food production technique that combines aquaculture (aquatic farming) with hydroponics (soilless plant farming). In an aquaponic system, waste excreted by fish is used as nutrients by plants, which help cleaning the water that is recirculated to the fish.
The research was part of the EU-FP7 INAPRO project. It aims at understanding and improving aquaponics, supporting its development towards commercialization and contributing to food security. It provides the project stakeholders with a tool to design and analyse aquaponic systems.