Economic viability of lettuce (Lactuca sativa, L.) grown in hydroponic system with different optimized nutrient solutions
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Hydroponic cultivation is characterized by high initial costs compared with conventional cultivation.This study discusses the economic viability of implementing a hydroponic system for lettuce production with different mineral and organomineral nutrient solutions through simulation.The experimental design was randomized blocks with split plots and three replicates.Plots consisted of eight nutrient solutions: four mineral solutions, with chemical compositions proposed by Bernardes, Castellane and Araújo, Furlani, and Ueda, and four solutions with chemical compositions similar to those previously cited, but modified in the present research with the utilization of biofertilizer in the composition, to produce four organomineral nutrient solutions.Subplots consisted of three varieties of curly lettuce: Verônica, Vanda and Thaís.After harvesting, lettuce plants were separately weighed according to the treatments and, from this information, the selling price was determined based on research conducted in major supermarkets in the city of Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil.The calculation of expenses took into account the effective operating cost, total operating costs and the total production cost.According to the simulation, regardless of the cultivar used, lettuce hydroponic cultivation had higher annual profit, with values of US$ 18,880.00 and 18,730.00,using the mineral nutrient solutions of Furlani and Bernardes, respectively.Among the organomineral nutrient solutions, the Furlani solution when used in the production of the cultivar Verônica led to annual profit of US$ 11,440.00.
Language: English
Subfield: Aquatic Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2799402590