Hydroponics production in Mauritius

Gradual shift from traditional cultivation to Hydroponics in Mauritius

Presently, most of the crops produced in Mauritius are obtained through the traditional open-field cultivation, but due to problems like infestation of pests and diseases, unfavourable weather conditions linked to climate change, shortage of labour and high cost of production, many growers are gradually shifting from traditional open-field cultivation to hydroponics production. Hydroponics is a rather new type of cultivation in Mauritius and has been adopted by growers around 10 years ago. According to the Strategic Options for Crop and Livestock 2007-2015, there were 6 hydroponic promoters in Mauritius in 1999, who were involved in 25 hydroponics units. Over the years this number has increased considerably to 179 promoters  in 2006 who were producing crops under hydroponics in 301 units. The main crops grown under hydroponics production in Mauritius are: tomato, sweet-pepper, green cucumber, melon, lettuce and ornamentals.

General concepts of a Hydroponics System

Hydroponics involves growing crops in a soil-less medium, where the plant is supported either by water (in water culture) or a solid substrate other than soil (in substrate culture). In order to grow crops under hydroponics culture, a well-maintained Greenhouse is required, whereby the plants are cultivated under a controlled environment (Temperature, Relative Humidity, irrigation, fertilisation, pests & diseases, and other external weather conditions). The different terms used to describe hydroponics are nutri-culture, water-culture, substrate culture, gravel-culture, sand culture, rockwool culture, Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) etc. The type of culture depends on the medium being used and the most popular one in Mauritius is the substrate culture and the most common substrate being used is coco-peat. Since the crops are grown in a soil-less medium, the nutrients required by the plant needs to be provided. This is done through a fertigation system (irrigation and fertilisation done at the same time). The nutrient solution is automatically mixed by a computer system (depending on the crop nutrient requirement) and both macro and micro nutrients are provided to the crops. In a hydroponics system, more crops can be grown on the same area of land compared to the traditional farming since the crops grow vertically and there is more production/area.

Sweet Pepper grown under hydroponics culture in a Greenhouse

Fertigation System used for hydroponics production

Computer system controlling nutrient solution

Experience of a young entrepreneur in hydroponics production

Mr. Vikash    Ramtohul is 38 years old and is engaged in agriculture for the past 15 years. Currently, he is cultivating sweet-pepper under hydroponics production, which is also a family business operating under the name of Keebec Hydrotech Ltd. Agriculture has always been part of of his life as his father was engaged in crop production and after school, he used to help him in the field. 


With time, agriculture had become his passion and after secondary school, he decided to follow his father's footsteps and ventured into crop production. He started with open-field cultivation, and practised the same for nearly 7 years. But one day one of his clients told him about hydroponics production and suggested that he think about it. Considering the challenges he was facing in the traditional open-field cultivation (mainly labour shortage, high cost of production, pest and disease outbreak, unfavourable weather conditions), he decided to shift from traditional farming to hydroponics production.


Sweet-pepper production under hydroponics
It's been 6 years since Mr. Vikash is producing crops under hydroponics culture at Bassin Road, Quatre-Bornes (a town in the central part of Mauritius). He owns 3 Greenhouses (two Greenhouses of 450 Metre square and one of 614 Metre square). He started by producing tomato for two years and then shifted to sweet-pepper production. According to him, the sweet-pepper plant can produce up to 1 year.
According to Mr. Vikash, for someone to be a successful hydroponics grower, he/she should know the following steps:

• Preparation of site
• All cultural practices from seedlings production
• Pest and disease control
• Fertigation Management

For growers who are interested in hydroponics production, technical support is provided by the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU) and loan facilities are obtained by the Development Bank of Mauritius (DBM).

Some costs involved in sweet-pepper production

According to Mr. Vikash, the following costs are incurred for sweet-pepper production per greenhouse per cycle:

Coco peat= Rs 88/unit (450 required for 1 greenhouse)

Seed= Rs 9/unit (4 seeds in 1 coco peat)

Total cost for fertiliser= Rs 75,000

Labour = Rs 5,600/labour (2 labour/greenhouse)

Sweet pepper production/cycle = Rs 450,000


Marketing
Mr. Vikash sells his products to re-sellers and also to supermarkets and hotels. For him, marketing is not really a problem.

Major challenges

The major challenges faced by Mr. Vikash as a hydroponics grower are:

1) Pests

Due to climate change, he is getting problems of pests in the greenhouse. The main pests are thrips and red spider mite

Below is a Power Point presentation on pests and diseases of greenhouse sweet-peppers in Mauritius (by my friends and I as an assignment during our final year at university), in which more information on hydroponics and pest & disease management can be obtained:

2) Service Providers

When cladding materials need to be changed in the greenhouse, Mr. Vikash claims that the service which is being provided locally is not very good and he is not satisfied with their work. He believes that there should be more trained professionals in this field and more research should be done in this area.

Way forward

According to Mr. Vikash, considering the challenges that growers cultivating in the open-field are facing, he is sees hydroponics as the future of the Mauritian agriculture, and he is satisfied by this type of production.

After meeting Mr. Vikash and from my own experience as a graduate in agriculture, it can be said that hydroponics is the answer to the following challenges in Mauritius:

• Growing population and increasing number of tourists 
• Agricultural lands converted into residential areas or shopping malls
• Climate change leading to unfavourable weather conditions and outbreak of new pests and diseases
• Lack of labour

Another positive aspect of hydroponics is that it is a new way of cultivating crops that may attract youth in agriculture as it does not involve working in the field like the traditional method and with appropriate knowledge and skills, they may even earn a good living and be respected in the society.

However, the main disadvantage of this type of cultivation is that the initial cost is very high (construction of greenhouse, purchase of cladding material, fertigation system etc.), and it is only after a year or two that the grower starts to make profit in the business! 

The slideshow below shows some pictures taken at Mr. Vikash Ramtohul's place: