By Ayesha Saba ISLAMABAD, Feb 01 (INP-WealthPK): Soil, air and water pollution have given rise to soil degradation, global warming, droughts, and food shortages the world over. To overcome the challenges of feeding the world's rising population in a period of decreasing resources, the countries are coming up with environmentally sustainable and eco-friendly farming techniques. In this respect, Chinese rooftop farming technology, named aquaponics, is gaining an increasing attention as an important means to overcome food shortages, water crisis, excessive use of pesticides and fertilisers. Aquaponics is a revolutionary food production system that integrates both aquaculture and hydroponics. It is a system of farming where plants and fish are raised together in a self-contained, symbiotic ecosystem. The waste from the fish is used to feed the plants and the plants are used to clean the water for the fish. Aquaponics can reduce production costs by making use of resources more efficiently. It can be established at different production scales, increases economic profitability and diversifies the origins of incomes. It is an effective way to grow multiple crops in a smaller space by using more environmental-friendly techniques, and offers an opportunity for enhanced productivity with lower fertiliser and water usage. The aquaponics market is now expanding at a steady rate as it was worth $523.7 million in 2017. It is expected to be worth $870 million by 2022. If this trend continues, access to locally-grown fish and salad greens raised using economical and sustainable farming methods will increase. Pakistan also has an opportunity to expand and strengthen its fish farming and aquaculture processes in order to earn more foreign exchange and become a significant seafood producer, not just for domestic consumption but also for global market. Modernising fish farming techniques would be extremely beneficial for Pakistan because the net trade income of developing countries from fish has reached around $24 billion, which is significantly higher than the net trade income of other agricultural commodities. The level of nutrients and water recycling and recirculation in the system determines the claims of nutrient and water-efficient food production. The water-saving component, on the other hand, is projected to be most beneficial in locations where water is scarce. The lack of arable land area and degradation with water scarcity are some of the current problems facing the agricultural sectors of developing countries like Pakistan, where agriculture forms the largest sector of national economy. Per capita land availability in Pakistan has progressively declined due to a rapid increase in the country’s population over the last three decades. Similarly, the per capita water availability has also dropped which could slip further to the water-deficient levels. There has also been an increasing concern for safe and sustainable food resources as traditional agriculture methods require huge land space, time and manpower to grow crops. So, the idea of applying aquaponics can be useful in a country like Pakistan that has limited resources of agricultural production, a high rate of urbanisation, and exponential population growth. This technique is capable of producing around 5,000 kilogrammes of vegetables and 500 kilogrammes of fish per year by utilising a limited space by using up to 90% less water. If adopted this emerging farming method can help Pakistan safeguard environment, boost employment, alleviate poverty and promote sustainable development. To begin with, technical training on the subject would need to be provided to the interested people prior to the implementation of such systems. Once aquaponics systems are established, they would need consistent electricity supply in order to maintain constant water circulation. This issue can be solved through provision of alternative sources of energy such as solar power.