Efficiency tests for screening production strategies in a lettuce-juvenile tilapia aquaponics system in Brazil

Author(s)

Valladao Flores, Roberto Manolio ; Preckel, Paul, V ; Quagrainie, Kwamena ; Widmar, Nicole Olynk ; Silva, Laura ; da Costa, Jesaias Ismael ; Pinho, Sara M. ; Portella, Maria Celia ; Branco, Thais Castelo ; Pedroza Filho, Manoel Xavier

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: AQUACULTURE INTERNATIONAL; v. N/A, p. 22-pg., 2022-06-09.

Abstract

This article assesses strategies for managing the economic returns to an aquaponics production system with joint products of lettuce and tilapia. Experimental data from Brazil that varied fish stocking density and the fish feeding rate are analyzed using nonparametric efficiency testing methods to identify potentially profitable technologies and their sensitivities to prices of inputs and outputs. Plants and fish production are symbiotic in an aquaponics system, with fish waste providing nutrients for plant growth and plants helping maintain water quality for the fish via filtration. The optimal input/output mix among alternatives is identified, and sensitivity analysis is used to assess the price ranges around recent market conditions (0.18 R$/tilapia fingerling, 2.8 R$/kg for fish feed, 20 R$/kg for juvenile fish, and 1.57 R$/kg for lettuce) over which that technology choice remains optimal. The configuration of production controls is robust to price changes. Results show that at low fish stocking densities (100 fish/m(3)), the effluent in the water provides insufficient nutrients to plants. In addition, early lettuce harvests (before 26 days) are generally less efficient than treatments that allow more time for plant growth. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the optimality of the identified configuration of production controls is robust with respect to input and output prices. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/23658-5 - Smart integrated multitrophic city food production systems: a water and energy saving approach for global urbanization
• Grantee: Laura Patricia Silva Ledezma
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 19/21315-6 - Modeling of multi-loop FLOCponic systems: Water, energy, and nutrient balances
• Grantee: Sara M Pinho
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 18/23605-9 - Smart integrated multitrophic city food production systems: a water and energy saving approach for global urbanization
• Grantee: Jesaias Ismael da Costa
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 18/13235-0 - Technological innovations for the use of biofloc systems in decoupled aquaponics
• Grantee: Sara M Pinho
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 17/50431-9 - Smart integrated multitrophic city food production systems: a water and energy saving approach for global urbanisation (CityFood)
• Grantee: Maria Célia Portella
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants