According to the UN and U.S. Census Bureau, the world population hits 8.1 billion this year. It is projected to reach about 10 billion by 2050 [1]. By then, we need to increase food production by at least 50% globally to be able to feed the additional 2 billion people [2]. Aquaponics is one of the most promising solutions we have that addresses the progressing exhaustion of our limited fertile land, fresh water and nutrient resources, which represents the common issues faced all around the globe. On top of 90% land space saving, as well as lower energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHGs) emission, efficient recirculation of freshwater within a closed-loop aquaponics system achieved a remarkable range of 95% to 99% [3]. In one of the case studies, aquaponics has shown improved growth rate and yield due to reduced external influences up to 11-fold higher pumpkin production [4]. The same study also reported an increased production rate of 75% fish yields in aquaponics set-up compared to conventional aquaculture systems. A reported 30 – 75% increase in profit was reported by farmers adopting aquaponics in another study [5]. The market size of aquaponics was reported at USD 1.12 billion last year, and projected to hit USD 2.80 billion by 2032 [6]
On a smaller scale, at least 50% of existing SEAZONE customers are facing system instability and water quality issues which are mainly due to overfeeding. This proposed solution will certainly enhance the user experience of our customers. On the other hand, directly applying conventional aquaponics systems will be labor-intensive, alongside problems such as low efficiency, high latency and poor scalability. The primary target output of this proposed project, i.e. providing a breakthrough solution in affordable IoTs monitoring and control system is expected to significantly improve the operational performance of aquaponics practitioners and overcome the afore-mentioned issues. With a simplified user interface of the system, it shall open up the potential adoption of this modern farming technology to a wider audience, and ultimately to every single household. This shall alleviate the worldwide burden in ensuring food security with the least wastage possible by eliminating worry on spoiling during delivery. With the most recent case studies and experimental works reported [7, 8], it is promising that the primary objectives of this proposed project are achievable.
Aquaponics farms profitability is highly dependent on labor cost, which comprises approximately 34% of total cost, on top of an approximately 20% energy consumption cost [2]. Nevertheless, the targeted output of the current project can make a difference by providing a solution that leads to significant reduction in labor cost. A successful launch of a complete and cost-efficient IoTs monitoring and control system in aquaponics is seen as the key breakthrough in the industry. On top of that, this proposal adopts an improved business model that not only applies the production of green vegetables and fish to large centralized farms, but also to small decentralized household gardens. Both systems, depending on the scale, may have the potential in further expanding into agri-tourism, educational hubs, and shared unit management services. We have amassed years of experience in aquatic systems and have recently implemented numerous post-covid advancement in terms of trading, operations, sales & marketing, and research. With these, we believe that the delivery of this project is highly certain. We therefore would like to invite you on our journey to play our role in improving livelihood of human beings and the surrounding ecosystem.
[1] FAO (2017) The state of food and agriculture leveraging food systems for inclusive rural transformation. FAO, Rome.
[2] Goddek (2019) Aquaponics food production systems. Springer Open, Switzerland.
[3] Dalsgaard (2013) Farming different species in RAS in Nordic countries: current status and future perspectives. Aquac Eng 53:2–13.
[4] Oladimeji (2020) Aquaponics production of catfish and pumpkin: Comparison with conventional production systems. Food Science and Nutrition, 8, 2307-2315.
[5] Love (2014) An international survey of aquaponics practitioners. PLoS One, e102662.
[6] Straits research (2023) Aquaponics systems market. Straits Research, https://straitsresearch.com/report/aquaponics-systems-market.
[7] Wan (2022) A modularized IoT monitoring system with Edge-computing for aquaponics. Sensors, 22, 9260.
[8] Kok (2024) Smart aquaponics: An automated water quality management system for sustainable urban agriculture. Electronics, 13, 820.
