The success of traditional crop farming methods relies upon the availability of cultivable land and a reliable water supply. But thanks to a new agricultural technology called hydroponics, which involves growing crops without using soil, modern farmers are now realising benefits they could not achieve in the past. This article looks at some of these benefits. 

Eliminates the need for fertile land.

Land is a natural resource that is fixed in supply. Not all of the available land is cultivable. As a matter of fact, cultivable land is limited in supply, and most of it comprises rural land. This means that little crop-growing has been going on in urban areas in the past. Hydroponics relies on the use of a nutrient-added solution to cultivate crops in climate-controlled conditions. This eliminates the demand for fertile soil, which is becoming increasingly difficult to find these days. With hydroponics, crops can be grown virtually anywhere, including in apartment buildings located in cities and towns.

Thanks to hydroponics, a greater number of urban dwellers are now able to cultivate crops, thus reducing overreliance on food supply from rural farms. 

Reduces the number of farm tasks to be performed.

Cultivating land typically involves carrying out a myriad of demanding tasks, including but not limited to tasks such as ploughing, weeding, mulching and tilling. Hydroponics eliminates the need to perform most of the tasks required for soil-based cultivation, including ploughing the land and removing weeds. The only thing that is needed to cultivate crops is injection of minerals and oxygen into the system as required. Therefore, hydroponic farms are generally less burdensome to cultivate. 

Presents an opportunity to grow crops throughout the year.

As crops grown in a hydroponic farm are unaffected by prevailing weather conditions, the planting calendar isn't influenced by local weather patterns. What this means is that farmers are free to plant crops anytime of the year, regardless of the weather. That way, they can harvest sufficient output from their farms. 

Gives farmers more control over the crop-growing process.

The effectiveness of minerals present or injected into cultivable soil can be affected by the growth of weeds and insect incursions. As crops are grown in nutrient-added solutions and climate-controlled settings, hydroponic farmers enjoy greater control over the quality of their farm produce. The farmers simply have to ensure that they add sufficient amounts of nutrients into the crop-growing solutions and maintain the right temperature and humidity conditions to ensure they get satisfactory results.