LookAtVietnam – Viet Nam has successfully used aeroponics in growing and propagating natural disease-free potatoes for the first time.

Potato plants in Professor Thach’s aeroponics experiment. – File Photo

Thach said the frequency of spraying and the amount of the solution was adjusted according to the physical condition of the plant and the outside environment’s temperature. The nutrition regimen could be therefore calculated exactly for each plant.

The plant roots are completely suspended in the air. Nutrition and water was supplied in cycles. The solution coming out from the spray is collected, filtered and reused. Prof. Thach estimated using this method can conserve 98 per cent of water, 95 per cent of fertiliser and 99 per cent of preservation contents. With this method, the root’s temperature is always 2 degree Celsius lower than the outside temperature because of the evaporation process. Plants, therefore, grow faster than in soil.

The aeroponics method does not involve soil so the growing environment is clean and the plants are disease-free. When a particular plant does become diseased, it can be quickly removed from the plant support structure without disrupting or infecting the other plants.

According to Prof Thach, after only three days propagating potato’s breed by aeroponics, the seedling starts to have roots and can be collected eight to ten times per month. Whereas using the traditional method of in-vitro (plant tissue culture) growing takes three weeks to develop roots for propagating. Results from the Institute shows that so far, a seedling grown by aeroponics gives 50-60 tubers while planting in soil only produces four to five potatoes.

Out-of-season fruit

Beside potatoes, the institute also successfully propagated tomatoes, strawberries, bell peppers, and sun flowers using the aeroponics method. Aero-ponics have also helped produce out-of-season fruits which bring great economic benefits. Thach has planted some winter plants in the summer in Ha Noi by cooling the nutritional solution and tried plants that are only familiar with northern temperatures in HCM City or Da Lat’s flowers in Ha Noi.

Recently Prof Thach has continued his research using this method with other vegetables. Tomatoes and peppers harvested from this method has a lower amount of hazardous metal contents than growing in soil. Fruits also has more vitamin contents. According to Thach, because this method does not need a large amounts of water so the weight of the whole system is pretty light and it is easy to be set up in a city.

“We can both get clean vegetables and create a pleasant urban environment. With only a foam box, a pump and a self-set up pumping system which cost about VND1 million (US $70), households can create an aeroponics system to grow clean vegetables for themselves,” Thach said.

Supporting this idea, Professor Tran Duy Quy, chairman of the project, former deputy director of the Viet Nam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said this idea was totally practical.

He added, “We needn’t introduce the high technology process as it is, as we need to adapt to the local conditions. In Thach’s experience, he used a disease free environment in a greenhouse and sterilised nutrition solution, but locals won’t have to use such expensive things. They can, instead, use PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic tubes and simple nets to protect their plants from insects.” Quy does not think the substitutes will have any negative affects on the process.

He emphasised that the method was particularly useful for mass production of potatoes for commercial use such as potato chip manufacturers. “Before, we had to import expensive potato seedlings from Germany and paid for transportation and storage. Now with this process, we are able to provide a large amount of good quality minitubers in a short period of time.”

Truong Nam Hai, director of the Institute of Biotechnology said that Thach’s experiment was impressive. It is still however early to say about the economic benefits in general. “We need to do more such projects in different places and with different varieties.”

Besides the project at the University of Agriculture, Professor Thach has also co-operated with a private company, GAP Ltd. in Da Lat to start a potato growing in aeroponics method over 500 sq. metres of land. GAP director Le Van Cuong said he was eager to adopt Thach’s experiment at his company. He believed it would bring quick benefits and introduce production rates four to five times faster than previously.

“Our company has been providing potato seedlings for potato producing manufactures in the north and the south. One hectare of land can provide 60,000 minitubers. There are 2,500ha of land for potato growing in the north and 1,500 in the south so you can see the potential benefits out of it if we all use aeroponics,” Cuong said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News