Rice can grow very well in aquaponics setups. In fact, the addition of fish to rice paddies to enhance nutrient availability and increase production began thousands of years ago in China, where it was called the rice-fish system. Of course, aquaponics systems are quite different from traditional rice paddies, and nowadays, you’ll hear a number of people saying that rice cannot be grown aquaponically. If you pay attention, though, the words you’ll hear are “too much trouble” and “too much space,” meaning primarily that they don’t find the practice to be profitable, given that the yield and price per pound of rice is low compared to traditional crops like lettuce or strawberries.
If your goal is to make a reliable profit from your aquaponic efforts, then rice is not a good bet right now. However, if you’re wanting to do some experimenting and learn the ins and outs of various crops, it’s a great learning experience. If you're concerned about sustainability and the wise use of water, it’s worth investigating the future opportunities in aquaponic rice production. For the time being, rice typically takes 180 days in the fields to mature, meaning you’ll only get two growth cycles a year, even with the increased growth rate in aquaponics. You can increase the typical planting density of rice to increase your yield, but at a certain level, the rice will become too crowded and will struggle to get adequate light. Vertical or multilevel setups will help, but it still requires a large operation to keep your family fed over a year. On the other hand, you’ll still see plenty of fish on your dinner table from your efforts! It will certainly be interesting to see, in the coming decades as food sustainability gains increased attention, whether new varieties of rice will be bred that are more suitable for aquaponic setups. Faster maturity rates, more compact forms, simplified processing, etc., could all make rice a much more viable and valuable aquaponics crop.
