History of Hydroponics in Brief

Fig:Floating garden in Babylon

The word "Hydroponics" was first coined by Dr.W.F.Gericke in 1936 to describe the cultivation of edible and ornamental plants grows in a solution of water and dissolved in nutrients. Hydroponics is the combination of two words- 'Hydro' and 'Ponics' which come from Greek word 'Hydor' meaning water and 'Ponein'meaning 'to work',respectively. So,  literally Hydroponics mean working water. Many civilization have utilized hydroponic growing techniques throughout history.Hanging gardens of Babylon and the floating gardens of the Aztecs of Mexico and those of the  Chinese are two of the earliest examples of Hydroponics. In 1969,John Woodward published his water culture experiments. He found that plants in less pure water sources grew better than plants in distilled water. By 1842, a list of nine element believed to be essential to plant growth had been made out and the discovery of German botanist,Julius Von Sachs and Wilhelm Knop, in the years from 1859- 1865,resulted in a development of technique of soilless cultivation growth of terrestrial plants in mineral nutrient solution without soil which was known as solution culture . It quickly became a standard research and teaching technique . Solution culture is now considered a type of Hydroponics where there is no inert medium.Throughout the last century , scientists and horticulturists experimented with different method of Hydroponics. One reason to experiment with Hydroponics was the need for growing fresh produce in non arable areas of the world. During the second world war, troops stationed on non arable island in the pacific were supplied with fresh produce which was grown in locally established Hydroponic system systems. Later in the century,Hydroponics was integrated into the space programs in the U.S.A . In 1978 , Hydroponics Pioneer,Dr.Howard Rosh published 1st edition of his book:"Hydroponics Food Production".This book provides 3 part base nutrient formula that is still a major component of today's Hydroponic gardening.In Bangladesh, Hydroponic culture was first introduced by A.K.M.Selim Reza Mallik ,Senior Scientific Officer,BARI.