In the lowlands of Scotland, an old fire station donated to the community of Moffat has been converted into what may be the farm of the future. Using a new technology known as aquaponics, the Moffat farm, due to start production at the end of this month, will churn out fish and vegetable by the ton, in a space equivalent to a small factory.
Aquaponics -- a combination of aquaculture, or fish cultivation, and hydroponics, or water-based planting -- utilizes a symbiotic relationship between fish and plants. Fish waste provides nutrients for the plants, which in turn filter the water in which the fish live. Cuttings from plant are composted to create food for worms, which provide food for the fish, completing the cycle.
"Aquaponics is a method of delivering multiple crops with minimum input, through a closed-loop method of farming," said Charlie Price, founder of Aquaponics UK, the nonprofit organization that runs the farm. A kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of fish food, produces at least 50 kilograms of vegetables and 0.8 kilogram of fish, he said. "As the ecosystem become self-sustainable, the fish food comes from the worms, so the entire cycle is free."
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