~ 631 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2020; 9(1): 631-636 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2020; 9(1): 631-636 Received: 04-11-2019 Accepted: 06-12-2019 Kanchhi Maya Waiba Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, College of Agriculture, CSK HPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India Parveen Sharma Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, College of Agriculture, CSK HPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India Akhilesh Sharma Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, College of Agriculture, CSK HPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India Sanjay Chadha Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, College of Agriculture, CSK HPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India Manpreet Kaur Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, College of Agriculture, CSK HPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India Corresponding Author: Kanchhi Maya Waiba Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, College of Agriculture, CSK HPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India Soil-less vegetable cultivation: A review Kanchhi Maya Waiba, Parveen Sharma, Akhilesh Sharma, Sanjay Chadha and Manpreet Kaur Abstract Soil-less cultivation is a new advanced method for improving cultivation of different vegetable crops. It is a method of growing vegetables without the using soil as a rooting medium, in which the inorganic nutrients absorbed by the roots are supplied through irrigation water. It includes hydroponics, aeroponics and aquaponics. Hydroponics is the growing of vegetables in an fed with a solution containing a mixture of macro and micro-nutrients. Aquaponics is the technique in which, aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish, prawns, etc., are grown in tanks with combination of hydroponics with vegetables are grown in water in a symbiotic environment. In aeroponics system, sealed root chamber is used as reservoir for nutrient solution where the plants above the reservoir cover with polystyrene/other material. It must be supported or hanged through holes in the expanded cover and are misted with nutrient solution to keep it always moist. Soil- less cultivation has been followed in number of vegetables such as, tomato, chilli, brinjal, green bean, bell pepper, cauliflower, cucumber, melons, radish, onion, lettuce, beet, winged beans, water spinach, spinach, coriander, and so on. Soil-less cultivation helps in early nursery raising and easy management, production of healthy vegetable seedlings free from disease, insects and pest. It has various benefits like; year-round production and off season, higher productivity and uniform quality, management of insect-pests, diseases and weeds is easier which helps in more efficient and less use of resources. Soil less cultivation has huge potential to become popular in upcoming future generation. This advance technologies and techniques involved in soilless vegetable cultivation can be said as next- generation crop science hence, it can open a doorway to establish a new civilization in outer space. Keywords: Soilless cultivation, hydroponics, aquaponics, aeroponics Introduction Soil is easily available crucial growing medium for vegetables that provides nutrients, mechanical support, water, air, etc, for plant proper growth and development. Soil has also serious limitations for plant growth too, at times, due to presence of various disease-causing organisms and nematodes, unfavourable soil compaction, unsuitable soil reaction, poor drainage, degradation due to erosion, etc. [12] . In addition, soil-based agriculture/open field vegetable production is somehow difficult as it involves more area, more water and more number of workers. Moreover, such areas as like; metropolitan areas where soil is not favourable to grown vegetables, in some areas, there is water scarcity for proper irrigation and due to unfavourable geographical or topographical conditions there is lack of cultivable/arable lands. Out of these difficulties another major difficulty is to hire labour. Under situation, soil- less vegetable cultivation can be introduced successfully. Soil-less culture mainly refers to the techniques of Hydroponics, Aeroponics and Aquaponics. The term Hydroponics was derived from two Greek word’s hydro means water and ponos means labour. Simply it is known as growing vegetables using mineral nutrient solutions, without soil in which their roots are in mineral nutrient solution only/in an inert medium, such as coco peat, perlite, gravel, mineral wool, etc. [18] . This cultivation technique helps to face the challenges of adverse climatic condition and also helps in production system management for efficient use of natural resources and reduction of malnutrition. Aeroponics is another technique, somehow similar to hydroponics with only difference that under aeroponics plants are grown with fine drops/ a mist of nutrient solution [30] . Aquaponics vegetable cultivation technique is the combination of recirculating aquaculture and hydroponics that is used for fish and vegetable production. It has been gaining attention [11] as it serves as abio-integrated model for sustainable vegetable production [13] . In this related topic, it will be reviewed these new and advanced techniques are briefly focus on the following paragraphs. Historical steps of soilless agriculture Soil-less cultivation was followed in many years ago and recorded in several ancient civilizations but there is no proper information was recorded.