PONICS VET: Hydroponics Agricultural Technician

PONICS VET is a European-funded initiative that offers free online courses on the use of Hydroponics in agriculture.

The courses are aimed at young farmers from rural and sparsely populated areas. The courses are based on the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) to ensure student mobility between EU countries and increase youth employment opportunities, especially in the agricultural sector.

The main objective of the PONICS VET project is to create:
– innovative professional profile Hydroponics Technician
– training courses of the relevant profile.

The project is aimed at young or potential farmers (participants aged 19-35). The idea is to provide them with training in a specialization that is essential for the future of agriculture, in a sustainable perspective focused on protecting natural resources (such as soil and water), providing people with food with maximum energy efficiency, and combating food insecurity.
Research on agriculture shows that in recent years this sector continues to suffer and struggle with economic losses, and this struggle is made more difficult by issues related to climate change. Rural areas are highly exposed to climate change, as agricultural activity is directly dependent on climatic conditions.
Hydroponics plays a crucial role in food security and addressing global challenges such as water scarcity, food security, urbanization, as well as reducing energy consumption and food transportation distances.

Hydroponics is an innovative agricultural method in itself because
– nutrients (from various sources) and vegetables are grown in an integrated system,
– in the future, the agricultural sector will have to produce more with fewer resources,
– helps to create new employment skills and business opportunities, which would result in the creation of new environmentally friendly jobs.

The main benefits of using hydroponics (which includes hydroponics and aquaponics) for growing plants are as follows:
– Soil is not necessary. This is directly linked to the EU recommendations to stop the decline in soil fertility in order to meet the requirements of the Thematic Strategy on Soil Protection and the proposed Soil Framework Directive. A report commissioned by the European Commission, “Review of best practices in limiting or mitigating the effects of soil sealing in the EU-27”, completed in April 2011, recommends, among other things, compensating for the loss of valuable soil through activities in certain areas, such as the use of hydroponics.
– Hydroponics ensures stable and high yields.
– There is no significant harm from the use of pesticides, as they are used in limited quantities.
– Controlled system means that very little plant nutrients are released into the environment. Less use of plant nutrients because the amount of nutrients is controlled.
– Lower water demand, as the water remains in the system and can be reused. Hydroponics uses separate plant nutrients of chemical origin. Aquaponics uses fish food products, which are a natural source of nitrogen, and does not require replacement of water supplies, but only replenishment of evaporation losses.

Participation in this course is free of charge, but participants are asked to complete separate surveys about the quality and usefulness of the course.

Project partners:
– Latvia University of Agriculture (Latvia)
– IDEC (Greece)
– Eurocrea Merchant (Italy)
– BIC INNOBRIDGE (Bulgaria)
– Association for Vertical Farming eV (internationally active non-profit organization)
– Farmers' Parliament (Latvia)

Program: ERASMUS+ STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP PROJECT

Project Agreement No. 2017-1-LV01-KA202-035432

More information about the project on the project website – –

Information in the Farmers' Assembly magazine for members, October 2017, No. 3 (16) – –

PonicsVet news page No. 1 is available here: Newsletter 1 PONICS VET EN

PonicsVet news page No. 2 is available here: Newsletter 2 PONICS VET EN

PonicsVet news page No. 3 is available here: Newsletter 3 PONICS VET LV

PonicsVet news page No. 4 is available here: Newsletter 4 PONICS VET EN