Integration of Bioponics Innovation with Semi-Aerobic Digestion for Commercial Organic Crop Production and Sustainable Resource Recovery

Bioponics is an emerging and environmentally friendly vegetable/crop production technology that combines soilless agriculture with biological waste recovery process. A special function of bioponics over other soilless systems is the semi-aerobic digestion process that generates useful nutrients (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorus) from organic waste (e.g. chicken manure) for plant growth. However, bioponic implementations are limited due to lack of understanding in system design and operation. Thus, the overarching goal of this study is to provide efficient operating guidelines for bioponic systems that maximize nutrient recovery and vegetable productivity in chicken manure-based bioponic systems while minimizing environmental and health impacts.