Roberto A. Alaban Jr.
Amsterdam, June 2004 -
Just off a boat after a canal trip for fellow finalists in the 2004 BiD Challenge
(I was one of ten finalists in the Developing Country Individual category).
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My Curriculum Vitae
Additional info:
2004 BiD Challenge finalist (Developing Country category)
Business plan title: SupFer Block: Recycling of Waste Plastics and Waste Calcium Hydrate for use in "Supplemented Ferrocement Blocks" for Low-Cost Housing Construction -
Vegetables in a S.N.A.P.
This article describes the Philippine version of non-circulating hydroponics called SNAP or Simple Nutrient Addition Program developed at the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. In November 2005 I trained at UPLB in the SNAP system, which formed most of my current method of simplified hydroponics.
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The AVRDC non-circulating system
David Midmoore describes the non-circulating hydroponics system of the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center in Taiwan.
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Simplified hydroponics in Ecuador
Hydroponics can provide for effective alternatives that can be integrated into food security and nutrition programs for poverty-stricken populace, in particular, for children, writes Martin Caldeyro, et al.
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Trough hydroponics
An article by the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center in Taiwan describes what is calls "Through Hydroponics" for the production of leaf vegetables. The system is actually a simplified, non-circulating hydroponics similar to that developed by Dr. B.A. Kratky of the University of Hawaii, the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center also in Taiwan, and the SNAP hydroponics of the Institute of Plant Breeding of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, where I trained in November 2005.
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Simplifed hydroponics, FAO and UNDP-funded projects
An excellent article on simplified hydroponics by Peggy Bradley of the Institute of Simplified Hydroponics, Oregon and Cesar Marulanda, UN Consultant
Roberto A. Alaban, Jr. from Negros Occidental, Philippines -
Author plans to cross the line from small-scale to commercial-scale production of high-value vegetables using simplified, non-circulating hydroponics.
Lettuce grown using simplified, non-circulating hydroponics -
Lettuce grow out of styropor cups suspended above plywood boxes lines with plastic and containing the nutrient solution. There are no pumps involved. After 25-30 days from transplanting, the lettuce are ready for harvest-- untouched by soil and pesticide free!
Lettuce galore! -
Lettuce of different varieties grown on a floating raft system. In simplified, non-circulating hydroponics, the nutrient solution simply stays put in the plastic-lined wooden box until harvest. No watering, no weeding needed!
Hydroponic cucumber -
White-skinned cucumber grown using simplified, non-circulating hydroponics. The white styropor below the plant covers the wooden box lined with black plastic containing the nutrient solution. The nutrient formula used was by the S.N.A.P system (see related article on S.N.A.P. hydroponics, a non-circulating system developed in the Philippines).
Head lettuce, revealing the growing cup -
Close up of a head of lettuce grown through simplified, non-circulating hydroponics on a floating styropor raft.
