Abstract:
This study aimed to assess the performance and economics of spinach (Spinicia oleracea) in the aquaponics system. The objectives of the study were to: determine the physico-chemical water quality fed into the hydroponics system, determine the growth of spinach using, estimate the productivity of spinach plants over a growth cycle, and determine the economic costs in terms land area requirement and investment cost of a establishing an aquaponics system. Three 5L plastic containers and a 10L water tank were used for vegetable bed spinach and sampled weekly. Results revealed that the water quality of monitored parameters was 30.55±22.94 o C, 2.29±1.56 mg/L,7.0±6.4, 203±111µS/cm and 111±74 mg/L were recorded as temperature, DO, PH, Electrical Conductivity and total dissolved solids respectively while nutrient concentration was 18.67±8.5 mg/L, 1.9±0.11mg/L, 0.35±0.29 mg/L and 0.35±0.29 mg/L for soluble reactive Phosphorus, ammonium nitrate, nitrite nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen respectively. The average plant height and leaf breadth recorded were 7.0 ± 4.0 cm and 3.5 ± 0.1 cm respectively. The total production of spinach was high estimated at 0.73 tons/ha/42 day. These results suggest potential application of the aquaponics to supplement food production especially in high density areas likely in urban and peri-urban centres.
