Special Issue Article Open Access

A Literature Review of Hydroponic Crop Cultivation Research

Abstract

 A Literature Review of Hydroponic Crop Cultivation Research: Conventional soil-based crop cultivation has various drawbacks, such as access to land, poor soil quality, erosion, low efficiency of water utilization, pests, and the multiple environmental limitations associated with climate change. These drawbacks are exacerbated by a growing human population and associated increase in demand for cereals, fruits, vegetables, and other food crops. Thus, interest has grown in soilless cultivation research in the last two decades. Hydroponics, a form of soilless cultivation, has become popular because it can produce higher yields than traditional soil-based agriculture, it is conducted in a controlled environment that is free from climate and other environmental constraints, and crops can be produced with significantly lower use of pesticides than those grown conventionally. This paper provides a literature review of recent research on hydroponic crop cultivation (HCC), including the historical context, classification, requirements for HCC, and the latest technologies employed in this field. The review closes with an analysis of the challenges ahead for the development of HCC.

 Boyang Lu University of Virginia, Environmental and System Engineering, VA 22903, USA

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