Aquaponics is a virtuous and innovative system. Discovering the aquaponic farm of the abbey, near Rouen http://agrilab.unilasalle.fr/2020/11/... During the InterAct seminar "Animal & technique" held in April 2019, Guillaume SCHLUR opened the doors of his farm to us: La Ferme Aquaponique de l'Abbaye, near Rouen. Since then, a group of UniLaSalle students have created their association "Innov'Aqua". They approached the market gardener and fish farmer to discover this sector and joined AgriLab with the aim of setting up an aquaponic system kit. First step: understand the subtleties of the profession. [ #AgriLab ]: Collaborative innovation center and FabLab. A place open to everyone, to all projects (agri or not), and at the service of agriculture. Our website: http://agrilab.unilasalle.fr/ Follow us on: Facebook: / agrilab.unilasalle.fr Twitter: / _agrilab_ LinkedIn: / agrilabunilasalle Instagram: / agrilab.unilasalle.fr It's all about balance! When we talk about aquaponics, we immediately think of fish and plants. However, a 3rd population must not be forgotten: bacteria. They are essential: Indeed, fish droppings are rich in ammonia. It is therefore necessary to convert this ammonia (toxic) into nitrates (non-toxic in medium doses). This process is made possible thanks to these nitrifying bacteria. The interest of the system is therefore to convert organic nitrogen into mineral nitrogen, assimilated by plants. This is the nitrogen cycle. Each population (plants, fish and bacteria) needs an optimum, whether in terms of temperature, pH, or electro-conductivity. The principle of this system is twofold: – Finding the balance (because the floor value of one population can be the ceiling value of another!) – Maintaining this balance: the older a system is, the greater its inertia with a significant buffering capacity. Thus, the older a system is, the more tolerant it will be to variations. But the opposite is true, hence the difficulty in getting started! A virtuous system with a good image in society Vegetable crops grown above ground have a bad reputation. The same is true for fish farming. Aquaponics, which combines these two practices, is nevertheless well accepted by society… and rightly so: Vegetables cannot be chemically treated, because the treatments would go into the water and harm the fish and bacteria. Thus, to protect the crops, integrated pest management has been favored: crysopus or ladybug larvae are introduced into the greenhouse to protect the plants from attacks by pests such as aphids. Note that 40 beehives are also present on the farm to pollinate plants (purslane, mustard, lettuce, mesclun, etc.) Aquaponics: a sector in search of regulation As Guillaume Schlur explains, "it is difficult to define yourself as a market gardener because the surface areas are not sufficient" (in equivalent per hectare). Same problem to define yourself as a fish farmer: the volumes of water are not sufficient, it is impossible to define yourself as a fish farmer. Another problem: Fish farming grows plants in water with primary fish droppings... but it is not possible to characterize the fish droppings (it is not slurry). It is also not possible to be certified in Organic Agriculture because, to obtain the label, the plants must grow in open ground. Fortunately, structures such as ITAVI, a research organization serving the poultry, rabbit and fish farming sectors, support these structures. See the ITAVI article: https://www.itavi.asso.fr/content/laq... FADA website: La Ferme Aquaponique De l'Abbaye: https://aquaponienormandie.com/ FFDA website (French aquaponics federation): https://ffdaquaponie.org/ ITAVI website: https://www.itavi.asso.fr/ INTERACT research unit website, which aims to better understand innovation processes in agriculture: https://www.unilasalle.fr/interact Facebook page of the Innov'Aqua student association: / aquaponielasalle Master's degree in urban agriculture at UniLaSalle Rouen: https://www.unilasalle.fr/formations/... in connection with the startup My Food, specializing in permaculture & connected greenhouse: https://myfood.eu/fr/