Smart approaches to Aquaponics 4.0 with focus on water quality - Comprehensive review

The fast growth of the world population associated with the ever-increasing need for food and the significant contribution of agriculture to anthropogenic global warming is driving the changes from conventional farming approaches to innovative and sustainable agriculture ones. One of these approaches is aquaculture which is founded on the principle of circular economy combining aquaculture and hydroponics in symbiose with aquaculture waste serving as nutrients for plant growth. Conventional Aquaponics has evolved to Aquaponics 4.0 with a fully automated and remote-controlled system for producing foods at an industrial scale. The implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) could simplify farmers' tasks with remote operations while allowing them to achieve automatic and precise control of inputs and outputs as well as to improve the overall efficiency of the system. This review focuses on the use of these smart technologies to analyze, monitor, and maintain good water quality and appropriate replenishment in Aquaponics systems. The identified research gap and future possible contributions in this area are also discussed.