Joint cultivation of Australian red-clawed crayfish and microgreens in an aquaponic system

Currently, one of the most promising and most high-tech ways of farming is aquaponics. It is a combination of two technologies: aquaculture (breeding and cultivation of aquatic organisms) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil). The necessity and urgency of developing and applying of different variants of such technology is justified by the need of aquaculture enterprises to increase profitability of production. Aquaculture is an industry associated with high production and economic risks. Availability of additional products, such as vegetable crops, will allow enterprises to gain additional income and provide greater stability in the market. The aim of this work was to create an experimental aquaponic plant and to investigate the peculiarities of the system functioning. The article presents data on the results of experimental cultivation of Australian red-clawed crayfish and microgreens of Radish mix (varieties China Rose + Red Coral) in aquaponic system based on recirculatory aquaculture system (RAS) for 8 days, as well as green peas Madras for 12 days. The paper also contains a schematic diagram of the RAS installation and considers productivity of this system in terms of plants, as well as an assessment of biochemical processes of water purification from organic contaminants. The studies have shown that cultivation of Australian red-clawed crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus (Von Martens, 1868)) in this aquaponic system is quite effective, and the cultivation of radish and pea microgreens is comparable to classical hydroponics in terms of yields: similar indicators of plant development and yields have been obtained at the same normative terms of cultivation. 

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