Research & reports

Zeba F. Alam, Karen Avena, Lorenzo Sales, Denise Suemith, Riane UY · Indian Journal of Fisheries · Global

This study attempted to optimize aquaponics culture conditions for water spinach and freshwater prawns, comparing their growth performance in soil, aquaponics, aquarium, and hydroponics units. Water spinach showed significant growth in the aquaponics setup compared to hydroponics, but less than in soil units. Freshwater prawns also recorded significantly higher growth in the aquaponics unit compared to the aquarium unit.

Stephen Fox · Entropy · Global

This paper aims to extend the theory of synchronous generative development, which balances human and environmental well-being, towards practical application in sustainable development projects. The theory is extended by referencing research on multilevel pragmatics, competing signals, commitment processes, technological mediation, and psychomotor functioning, and is related to human-driven biosocial-technical innovation through the example of digital twins for agroecological urban farming. However, practical examples in the paper suggest that counterproductive complexity can arise from situated entropy amidst biosocial-technical innovations, even when compatible with synchronous generative development.

Annisa Nurulita Hasani, Muhammad Hasan, Citra Ayni Kamaruddin, Nurdiana Nurdiana, Nurjannah Nurjannah · Prosiding Seminar Nasional Pembangunan dan Pendidikan Vokasi Pertanian · Indonesia (Makassar)

This qualitative descriptive study, using observation and interviews with purposive sampling, analyzed the development of urban agriculture potential and innovations managed by KWT Anggrek in Makassar City, Indonesia. The research aimed to identify potential developments and applicable innovations, finding that active roles from the community, government, and agricultural extension workers are needed. Key indicators included resource effectiveness, sustainability, ICT utilization, agricultural environmental potential, existing innovations, and development constraints.

Ilyas Renreng, Luther Sule ., Andi Mangkau ., Zuryati Djafar, Nasruddin Azis ., Muhammad Syahid, Fauzan Fauzan, Abir Sakka, Arfandy · JURNAL TEPAT Applied Technology Journal for Community Engagement and Services · Indonesia

This paper introduces Smart Hydroponics, an automatic solar-energy-based system, as a solution for urban farming in Bontomarannu, Gowa Regency, Indonesia. The local community faces limited knowledge of utilizing narrow land for hydroponics, and while Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) hydroponics is efficient, its high operational costs (e.g., pump electricity) and complex maintenance are barriers. The Smart Hydroponics technology aims to enable modern, small-scale home cultivation with automation and energy independence.

Blessing Chidinma Nwachukwu, Olubukola Oluranti Babalola · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global

This review explores metagenomic techniques for studying plant root-associated microbiota and microbial ecology, highlighting their role in understanding and improving crop yields in rural and urban agriculture. Metagenomics, a non-culture approach, enables the identification of unculturable microorganisms and their functional traits. A detailed understanding of these organisms and their interactions can facilitate improved plant growth and sustainable crop production.

Ana M. Bartolome, Deiyalí Carpio, Beatriz Urbano · Amfiteatru Economic · Europe

This study used the digital agricultural geographic information system AGRO-GIS to calculate and predict potential urban agriculture from abandoned horticultural lands and greenhouses in urban areas, applying binary logistic regression to identify determinants of abandoned horticultural land and greenhouses and ANOVA to test differences in agrarian land variation among urban areas. Results showed an average of 97.85 ha of abandoned horticultural land and greenhouses providing potential urban cultivable land per city; a one-hectare decrease in non-irrigated land was associated with an 87.98% increase in the odds of potential urban agriculture, and a one-hectare increase in grassland-shrubland was associated with a 67.59% increase in the likelihood of potential urban agriculture.

Parman Sukarno, Rio Guntur Utomo, Rahmat Yasirandi, Novian Anggis Suwastika · JURNAL INFOTEL · Indonesia

This study evaluated a customer satisfaction model for "e-Buruan Sae," a Web 2.0-based application used by the government of Bandung City, Indonesia, to manage urban farming activities. Using a quantitative correlational approach based on Design Research Methodology, it measured satisfaction across six variables: ease of use, service quality, interactivity, trust, customer satisfaction, and IT development. Empirical testing showed that the ease-of-use and IT-development variables did not affect customer satisfaction, while the remaining variables (service quality, interactivity, and trust) had a positive effect on it.

Yoon Sup Cheong · Journal of Cultural Product & Design · South Korea

Against the backdrop of limited land for greening in cities, this paper proposes the design of a multifunctional garden box capable of both soil-based and hydroponic cultivation, providing sufficient soil depth and sustained water supply for container planting. It describes mold design and injection-molding production for mass manufacture, along with various sales and distribution methods. The conclusion raises the issues of coexistence with existing farmers and the safety of edible plant production under urban air pollution.

Dushyant Singh, Rajeev Sobti, Anuj Kumar Jain, Praveen Kumar Malik, Dac‐Nhuong Le · IET Communications · Global

Against a backdrop of urbanization expected to account for about 50% of the world population by 2050 and projected freshwater shortages in India by the same year, this article examines the potential of IoT (Internet of Things) and machine learning (ML) to support urban and precision agriculture in smart cities, including irrigation, rainfall, and drought condition monitoring to assist farmer decision-making. It presents the design of an intelligent irrigation system based on soil and weather conditions, with parameters selected from prior Agriculture 4.0 and ML research, and compares the developed weather station against existing patented technologies, stating that the resulting system provides a cost-effective solution for local weather monitoring.

Xiulan Xie, Hao Cheng, Chenyang Hou, Maozhi Ren · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · Global

This review synthesizes the molecular mechanisms of shade avoidance and shade tolerance in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, focusing on how plants integrate light and auxin signaling to regulate their response to shade. It discusses biotechnological strategies for enhancing shade tolerance in crops, framing dense planting, vertical production and indoor cultivation as approaches for making full use of limited urban space to raise crop yield.

Yi Xun, Guangpei Ren · Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience · Global

A study building a smart garden planning and design system for urban agricultural landscapes using agricultural Internet of Things technology. The researchers applied the LEACH protocol for long-term monitoring and used the grey wolf swarm-intelligence algorithm to improve cluster-head selection, in-cluster data transmission, and route maintenance, then ran simulation experiments. The improved algorithm showed clear advantages in these areas, and evaluation of a constructed garden simulation system confirmed the agricultural IoT approach performed well for smart garden planning and design.

Petronela Dakdakur, Mahasin Mu'ammar, Melanie Nanda Thania, Woro Harkandi Kencana, Meisyanti Meisyanti, Yunita Sari · IKRA-ITH ABDIMAS · Indonesia (Jakarta)

This service activity delivered training and mentoring in digital marketing communication to KWT D'Shafa, a women farmers' group managing a small plot of land for urban farming in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, to address a lack of knowledge about promoting the group and its urban farming output. Through the training, the group learned to manage a Google Site platform for marketing and order-taking, and received content-creation training for promoting activities and products via Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok accounts.

Desti Fitriani Rahmawati, Alifa Huaida, Aneu Octaviani, Ulfa Siti Maspupa · Jambura Journal Community Empowerment · Indonesia

A descriptive quantitative study examined efforts to promote social-media marketing of urban farming produce as part of poverty reduction and urban agriculture system strengthening in Tasikmalaya City, Indonesia. Using questionnaires, documentation, and field observation with the Mawar Bodas women farmers group, the study found that group members gained understanding of social media use and took the initiative to sell their harvests via social media alongside in-person sales, which made members' time use more efficient.

Gabriel Elías Chanchí Golondrino, Manuel Alejandro Ospina Alarcón, Manuel Saba · Revista Científica · Global

Motivated by the growing trend of urban agriculture, this study built an IoT system for monitoring and analyzing climatological variables relevant to urban agriculture crops. Development followed four phases: selection of tools and technologies, IoT system architecture design, prototype construction, and a case study on a lettuce crop. The resulting system used open-source hardware and software tools within the conventional four-layer IoT architecture (capture, storage, analysis, visualization). Its stated advantage over existing solutions is the use of portable single-board-computer (SBC) platforms and the inclusion of machine-learning models in the analysis layer. The case study, carried out on a home lettuce crop, concluded that the chosen tools adequately captured, monitored, and analyzed climatological variables of interest, and that the analysis models can be customized to a crop's agroclimatic characteristics, making them useful for decisions related to crop physiology.

Abdul‐Lateef Balogun, Naheem Adebisi, Ismaila Rimi Abubakar, Umar Lawal Dano, Abdulwaheed Tella · Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences · Sub-Saharan Africa

Against a backdrop where sub-Saharan Africa's agriculture sector -- about 23% of GDP and employing over 60% of the population -- faces serious threats from rural-to-urban migration and climate change, this desk-research study examined the potential for digitalization to enable sustainable urban farming under climate constraints. It found that most existing digitalization research is based on data from Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania, with minimal documentation of applications and prospects specific to Africa, and drew on challenges seen in successful implementations in the Global North to propose pathways toward localized digitalization approaches for the region.

Sukanya Sereenonchai, Noppol Arunrat · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global

A mixed-methods study (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022) surveyed 325 villagers across 13 communities in seven Thai provinces, combining the Theory of Reasoned Action, Theory of Planned Behavior, and Health Belief Model with techniques including crosstab analysis, stepwise multiple linear regression, one-way ANOVA, multinomial logistic regression, decision tree analysis, and descriptive content analysis. Attitude, perceived benefits, and perceived readiness significantly and positively influenced adoption of urban agriculture. Among villagers who owned agricultural land, behavioral control and social norms drove continued practice; for other groups, perceived readiness and communication were the key drivers. The study proposes communication guidelines based on the EAST framework (easy, attractive, social, timely) delivered through a Critical Participatory Action Research process.

Dipesh Joshi, Anjal Nainabasti, Rita Bhandari, Prakash Awasthi, Dinanath Banjade, Santoshi Malla, Bishesh Subedi · Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science · Global

This review covers soilless cultivation, in which plants are grown without soil as a rooting medium, including hydroponic, aeroponic, vertical farming, and other systems. It states that in greenhouses and tunnels, about 3.5% of the world's crops are produced using soilless, hydroponic methods. It notes that hydroponic farms can be built in deserts, the Arctic, and other difficult-to-farm places, and that the absence of soil means fewer insects and weeds. Crops grown in soilless systems include vegetables, fruits, flowers, and medicinal plants, using inorganic or organic growth media such as bark, coconut coir, coconut soil, fleece, marc, and peat. The review characterizes soilless culture as a relatively recently developed approach to agricultural development that is nonetheless difficult to put into practice.

Herman Hamdani, Ibnu Bangkit Bioshina Suryadi, Zahidah Zahidah, Yuli Andriani, Lantun Paradhita Dewanti, Rioaldi Sugandhy · Jurnal Berdaya · Indonesia

This is a community service report on a water-saving "tidal aquaponics" system — combining fish farming with hydroponics, using rising and falling water levels in a gravel planting bed to recirculate water back to the fish pond as an oxygen source — implemented in Tanjungsari Village, Sumedang Regency, Indonesia. The village, an example of an urban fringe community, had already adopted this system for its advantages: it can be used on limited land, saves water, requires no fertilizer, and can add aesthetic value to marginal land if arranged well. The activity was conducted through demonstrations, technical meetings and field meetings, with the objective of meeting household-scale protein needs using limited resources; given the limited availability of clean water in densely populated areas, the report frames this as an example of water-efficient, environmentally conscious urban farming.

Per-Anders Langendahl, Maria Tunberg, Suvi Kokko · · Europe

Smart urban agriculture — food produced in closed, controlled and digitally augmented environments such as vertical farms, plant factories and aquaponics systems — is found in cities worldwide and is said to produce fresh food year-round using fewer chemicals and fewer food miles. However, critiques of smart urban agriculture note it is a marginal activity that often produces food with low nutritional value and requires energy-intensive artificial lighting. Using qualitative research methods, this report examines the development of smart urban agriculture in Sweden, identifying experimental and entrepreneurial initiatives and analyzing them in relation to high-level policy agendas such as food policy, smart cities and digitalisation. The findings show Swedish smart urban agriculture broadly consists of technology-oriented entrepreneurial start-ups and experimental initiatives split into production-oriented (mainly herbs and leafy greens), community-oriented (prioritizing social benefits), and technology-oriented (developing and supplying digital solutions and services) types. However, product output was limited to a small variety of financially high-margin crops sold at premium prices. In relation to high-level strategic agendas, smart (urban) agriculture is recognized for environmental and social benefits such as mitigating flooding.

Susana Toboso‐Chavero, Cristina Madrid‐López, Gara Villalba, Xavier Gabarrell, Arne Björn Hückstädt, Matthias Finkbeiner, Annekatrin Lehmann · The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment · Global

A comprehensive environmental and social life cycle assessment of perlite, peat, and coir growing media, imported to Spain from Turkey, Germany, and the Philippines respectively, was conducted for urban rooftop farming. Environmentally, coir had the lowest burden, while perlite had the highest impacts due to mining and transport. Socially, peat performed best, but coir showed the worst scores in community infrastructure and human rights, and perlite performed lowest in health and safety.

Jamie Wang · Humanities · Singapore

This article explores the rise of urban farming in Singapore, following small- to medium-scale urban farms, including rooftop gardens, community farms, and organic farms, through the politics of localism and the notion of care. It investigates how localism, in some contexts, has been reduced to a narrow sense of geographic location. The study also examines what is being cared for in urban farming and how it might transform bio-cultural and social-technological relations.

Lifei Xi, Mengyuan Zhang, L. Zhang, Tedrick Thomas Salim Lew, Yeng Ming Lam · Advanced Materials · Singapore

This review discusses how novel materials are crucial for advancing urban farming, offering benefits like controlled release of nutrients, improved seed health, and better water retention in substrates. Singapore is presented as an example where urban farming, supported by materials science, can address food production challenges in land-scarce cities. The paper highlights potential research directions and challenges in the field.

Indra Griha Tofik Isa, Riana Mayasari, Rian Rahmanda Putra · Community Development Journal Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat · Indonesia

The Macan Kumbang fish farming group in Demang Lebar Daun village, Indonesia, faced challenges including untimely feeding, overfeeding, difficulty measuring water quality, lack of waste management, and issues predicting capital return. This activity aimed to build IoT-based fish farming technology integrated with urban farming to address these problems. The final results showed increased cost effectiveness and production after the implementation of the fish farming technology.

Han Kyul Heo, Eunseok Lee · Journal of people, plants, and environment · South Korea

This study investigated types of vertical smart farms (VSF) and citizens' awareness of them in Korean cities through case studies and a questionnaire survey. Four VSF types were identified: rooftop, facade, indoor, and whole-building farms. The survey found that 22.2% of respondents were well-aware of VSF, and improving public awareness was considered the most important factor for VSF introduction. Education and promotion were deemed crucial for VSF diffusion.

Enrico Buscaroli, Ilaria Braschi, Chiara Cirillo, Agnès Fargue‐Lelièvre, Giuseppe Carlo Modarelli, Giuseppina Pennisi, Isabella Righini, Kathrin Specht, Francesco Orsini · Food Control · Global

This paper addresses the potential underestimation of food safety risks in urban agriculture (UA), which can lead to regulatory gaps, despite positive perceptions of UA. It reviews literature on UA food safety assessments, identifying indicators and developing a framework for evaluating food safety risks in UA initiatives. The framework uses business surveys and food analyses to calculate a food safety index for UA businesses and city regions.