John Varghese from Thrissur, Kerala, started experimenting with fish and vegetable symbiosis on his terrace in 2019. Today, his garden is planted with a variety of plants including tomatoes, eggplants and lettuce, as well as a banana tree .

A few years ago, John Varghese (30), a resident of Thrissur, Kerala, started planting some plants on his terrace, including tomatoes and eggplants. He wants to reduce his dependence on vegetables sold in the market. "I learned through my friends that Kerala is a consumer state and it purchases vegetables and fruits from other states. Therefore, fresh produce usually contains pesticides and other harmful chemicals. So I started to grow my own as much as possible," John Say.

Two years later, he began to experiment with fish and vegetable symbiosis, in which plants grow in a soil medium, but nutrients and water are provided by fish, their excrement and the water they live in. "I chose aquaponics because I want to grow a variety and more plants," John said.

Today, his little experiment proved to be successful. John is planting various plants, including a banana tree on his terrace. He is also the owner of Groucerys, a shop in Thrissur that sells indoor plants.

In 2019, John decided to venture into the field of fish and vegetable symbiosis and changed his terrace settings. With the help of a friend, he has an 800-liter planting bed. "It is made of fabric-coated PVC to ensure that it can withstand wind pressure because it can be placed on an open terrace. The bottom of the growth bed also has drainage holes that can be inserted into a mesh filter, and there are two holes on the side. , Used for the inlet and outlet of water pipes," John said.

This planting bed was placed on the terrace and filled with quartz silica sand from Hyderabad. John chose this grade of sand because the soil medium should be clean and free of chemicals. Otherwise, it will change the pH of the water, which is harmful to fish and plants. He chose to grow plants in sand instead of the commonly used medium clay balls because the former requires less maintenance.

"On the first floor, I put a 500-liter fish tank and started to grow tilapia. They are also called'poop fish' because they produce a lot of waste, which is good for plants," John said, adding that he There are currently 80 fish in the aquarium, but the number can be changed according to the number of plants that need to be watered.

From the fish tank, there is an outlet, connected by a pipe to the growth bed on the terrace. The system is connected to a 60 watt motor to ensure that the water is circulated for half an hour, 3 times a day. In the growth bed, the fish water is first filtered through sand, and solid waste is collected on the surface. "The water then passes through a fine mesh filter to collect the sand. Finally, the clean water is directed back to the fish tank," John said.

Initially, John would grow leafy vegetables such as lettuce, red amaranth and coriander, as well as plants such as tomatoes and eggplants. Four months ago, he saw a banana tree growing in his backyard garden and wondered if he could use fish-vegetable symbiosis technology to grow banana trees on his terrace.

"I cut a banana sapling and put it in the sand. I gave it the same duration and amount of water as my other plants. Today, a fully grown banana tree has grown a flower and a Bananas, these bananas will mature in the next few weeks," John said, adding that he did not add additional nutrients, organic fertilizers or pesticides.

Neighbors and people passing by John's house always stop for a few minutes to marvel at the banana tree on the roof. Some people even approached John, wanting to see his terrace garden.

As part of the next experiment, John planted a papaya tree. However, in the future, he hopes to better understand these technologies and help others build a fish-vegetable symbiosis farm in a limited space.

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