GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF HYDROPONICS: NUTRIENT FILM TECHNIQUE

Abstract

Hydroponics is a cultivation technique without soil. There are several modalities for the system and among them is the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT), which consists of using channels to circulate a nutrient solution intermittently. Due to the existence of risks of soil and water contamination in metropolitan areas, hydroponics is a potential alternative to conventional production. Therefore, the present work sought to verify the current study of knowledge of the NFT hydroponic system in the international literature and the performance of the countries on it. For this, a bibliographic survey was carried out from 2010 to 2019 on the international research bases Science Direct, Portal de Periódicos da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and Scielo using the search terms “Hydroponics” and “Nutrient Film Technique Hydroponics”. An increase in the number of studies was observed in the last four years of the analyzed period, that is, from 2016 to 2019, thus representing an increase in interest in hydroponics, especially the NFT type. This increase may be related to the efficiency and ease of handling this model, gains in productivity and the potential that this technique has for reducing the carbon footprint. Thus, Nutrient Film Technique is of great value in urban agriculture, especially in Brazil – its greatest representative –, with the potential to grow a lot in the future, due to its numerous benefits.