Urbankit

Urbankit has been developed by MARDI to provide an opportunity for the urban B40 community to reduce household expenditures while increasing revenue for community projects. The objective of this project is to help 100 participants of B40 community to generate side income and reduce household expenses. This kit is suitable for the cultivation of herbs, vegetables and freshwater fish farming. Suitability of vegetables such as peppermint (herb), salad, spinach, okra, brinjal, kale coelomic, tomato and chilli have been tested with this system. For freshwater fish, Jade Perch species has been chosen due to its tolerant to water conditions such as pH, temperature, oxygen, nitrate and the market price is very competitive. Urbankit is developed as a proof of concept and as a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kit. The kit measures 5½ feet in length and 2 feet in width and can be used indoors and outdoors. The design kit uses aluminium and polybox which are strong, lightweight, durable and anti-rust. This kit is portable and can be moved from one place to another as well as tailored to the customer needs. This system has proven to be successful in fulfilling nutrient requirements of vegetables and fish. The waste from fish rearing and excess food (pellets) from the pond containing ammonia (NH3) is pumped into the bio-filter. The bio-filter function produces good bacteria such as Nitrosomonas sp. to decompose ammonia into nitrite. The resulting nitrite is decomposed by the bacteria Nitrobacter sp. to nitrate. The root of vegetables absorbs nitrites and nitrates for growth. Finally, clean nutritive fresh water nutrient filtered by plant roots flows back into the pond and the process is repeated. The kit has proven to fulfil the concept of green technology as its produce is organic and does not require chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The results of the experiment indicated a water pH of 7.57, ammonia 0.02 ppm, nitrite and nitrate 6.16 ppm and 20.54 ppm. The water quality results values which are within the tolerance limits and not harmful for fish, vegetables and herbs growth. These findings support the research by Dina,S [1997] said that the organic manure has the added advantage of providing more healthy vegetables for human consumption and ensuring optimum soil fertility for sustainable production.