At the Zfarm aquaponic farm, fish grow… shrubs

The Z Farm aquaponic farm is located in the village of Romain, in the Marne. Aquaponics consists of growing plants using fish, all in a closed circuit.

To put it simply: fish produce droppings. These droppings are transported to a growing tank where the plants assimilate the nutrients necessary for their growth. Then the filtered water, cleaned by the plants, returns to the aquarium and the cycle can begin again.

This technique, already used by the Aztecs, was brought up to date thirty years ago. Thanks to it, the water savings are gigantic, explains Pierre Harlaut, creator of ZFarm: “On is really on a very virtuous system, saving water and resources. Scientists agree that aquaponics allows water savings of 90% compared to traditional open ground agriculture. It’s huge when you know the cost and value of water. Some experts also say that aquaponics saves 70% of water compared to permaculture.”

The most difficult thing in aquaponics is to maintain a constant biomass. As Pierre Harlaut puts it, “we surf constantly to maintain a perfect balance”particularly with regard to the number of fish fed exclusively with organic products.

Regularly, adult fish are sold for consumption and they are replaced by juvenile fish. In France, trout is the most used in aquaponics, but there is also pike-perch and a tiny bit of sturgeon.

On the plantation side, ZFarm grows fruit trees such as sea buckthorn, persimmon. “We start the culture in aquaponics from cuttings or seeds. It takes between six months and a year. When we see that the scion is well formed, that it is ready for autonomy in the ground, the shrub is transplanted in the ground or in a pot. Afterwards, they live their life as a tree…”

ZFarm has also embarked on the production of field forest seedlings sold at low prices to contribute to the national program “Let’s plant hedges”: “There, our customers are not individuals but farmers, communities, administrations who wish to reestablish the tree in the heart of cities and landscapes.”

Pierre Harlaut and his cultural manager, Gonzague Damiens, are overflowing with projects. Next steps: the planting of an edible forest, the development of their range of shrubs, and in particular sea buckthorn, a decorative tree whose berries have an exceptional vitamin C content.