Valuation of vegetable crops produced in the UVI Commercial Aquaponic System

The UVI Commercial Aquaponic System is designed to produce fish and vegetables in a recirculating aquaculture system. The integration of these systems intensifies production in a small land area, conserves water, reduces waste discharged into the environment, and recovers nutrients from fish production into valuable vegetable crops. A standard protocol has been developed for the production of tilapia yielding 5 MT per annum. The production of many vegetable crops has also been studied but, because of specific growth patterns and differences of marketable product, no single protocol can be promoted. Each crop yields different value per unit area and this must be considered when selecting varieties to produce to provide the highest returns to the farmer. Variables influencing the value of a crop are density (plants/m(2)), yield (unit or kg), production period (weeks) and unit value ($). Combining these variables to one unit, $/m(2)/week, provides a common point for comparison among crops. Farmers can focus production efforts on the most valuable crops or continue to produce a variety of crops meeting market demand with the knowledge that each does not contribute equally to profitability.