- Japanese startup cultivates strawberries and trout in one aquaponics system
- Specially designed fish feed eliminates need for supplementary fertiliser
- Results in sweeter strawberries as well as fish with less fat and odour.
Yokohama-based Aquponi has begun commercialising its indoor food production system, which combines hydroponics and land-based aquaculture.
The indoor system, which the company describes as a circular solution, can grow strawberries all year round without pesticides, chemical fertilisers or herbicides.
In addition to strawberries, the company has been able to grow tomatoes.
At the same time, it cultivates triploid rainbow trout, using a nanobubble generator to supply oxygen to both the fish and the strawberries.
The system provides a level of light that makes the environment suitable for pollinating insects, allowing natural pollination in a closed environment. This reduces the labour required for artificial pollination, the firm said.
The firm added that the system was also designed to be modular and expandable.
Feed and fertiliser all-in-one
The company has developed a specialised feed, AQUAPONICS Plus No. 6, which is a low-fishmeal formula containing 30% fishmeal and 37% plant-based protein. It also contains potassium, iron and calcium for strawberry growth.
According to the company, the feed contains all the necessary elements, removing the need for supplemental fertiliser.
The system uses narrower cultivation beds, reduced from 600mm to 200mm, to increase yield per unit area by about 1.5 times compared with a conventional system.
A sweeter outcome
Based on a field experiment conducted with Argi-Oh between 2023 and 2024, the company was able to cultivate strawberries with higher sugar content and lower acidity than conventionally grown strawberries.
According to the study, the average sugar content of conventionally grown strawberries was 10 degrees Brix, while that of the aquaponics-grown strawberries was 15 degrees Brix.
The comparisons were based on the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s (MEXT) Food Composition Database.
As for the fish, the system can raise triploid rainbow trout to approximately 2kg over two years.
The company claimed that the resulting trout have lower fat content, firmer flesh and a less fishy odour.
The system can also cultivate other freshwater fish, such as sturgeon, minnows and carp.
Overseas interest
Aquponi says the system already has two installations in Japan and hopes to broaden domestic adoption.
It is also weighing overseas expansion, noting that its closed system is less affected by climate and suited to markets with difficult growing conditions.
According to the firm, it has received inquiries about strawberry and salmon production from Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Smart management
The system can be linked to the Aquponi Cultivation App for centralised farm management.
The cloud-based app uses IoT sensors to record 10 environmental readings, including temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen.
It also includes two reporting tools: a Cultivation Report that analyses the data to explain what is driving results and forecast what comes next, and a Resource Cycle Visualisation Report that calculates nitrogen cycling, water conservation and decarbonisation effects.
A chatbot, Aquponi AI, is planned, with a prototype expected around November 2026.