AbstractsBusiness Management & Administration

Agrolab India focuses on the design of a small-scale aquaponic farming system targeted at urban dwellers in India. Aquaponics is the combined culture of fish and plants in a recirculating, symbiotic system. The term aquaponics derives from the words aquaculture (the raising of aquatic animals for food) and hydroponics (the process of growing plants in sand, gravel, or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil). The starting point of this thesis project was the aquaponics technique developed by Sahib Punjabi, called Zero Lot. This particular style of aquaponics is a hybrid technique that combines various methods within a relatively small footprint. In this way it is possible to produce the largest possible output on the smallest footprint. The goal of the project was to adapt this technique, in order to design a pre-fabricated, easy to assemble aquaponic system that can be scaled to fit the needs of the end user. The project took place in Chandigarh thanks to the collaboration with Sahib Aquaponics (Florida, USA) and India Aquaponics (Punjab, India). Five months were spent on the field, collecting insight on the context, translating this knowledge into preliminary concepts and ultimately manufacturing a functioning pre-production prototype for the company. The results of the project as well as an overview of the product development process are thoroughly presented in this thesis report.