Research & reports

Ramadha Subhani Aden, Luki Anjardiani · Frontier Agribisnis · Indonesia

Focused on "Merko Hidroponik," a Merck Family Foundation-funded hydroponic (NFT) lettuce enterprise in Banjarbaru City, Indonesia, adopted as urban farming to address declining agricultural land, this study (2025) used descriptive methods to calculate total costs, revenue, profit, and business feasibility (R/C ratio) for the period March 2023 to July 2024, during which 11 planting cycles were completed from seeding through nursery, growth management, harvest, and post-harvest processing. Total costs were Rp7,906,424, total revenue Rp9,920,000, and profit Rp2,013,576, yielding a feasibility ratio of 1.254, concluded to make the business "feasible" to run. However, the study also identifies that the enterprise currently faces problems of root rot disease, managerial inefficiency, and challenges maintaining production continuity.

Aparadh Vt, V. Bhagyashree, Ms. Suman P. Meghwal, Ms. Safiya M. Raeen · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

This review outlines hydroponics — soilless cultivation that feeds plant roots directly with nutrient-supplemented water, often using inert media such as perlite or coco coir. It states hydroponic systems use about 90% less water than conventional agriculture and describes applications for home and commercial urban growing in areas with limited arable land, as well as potential future use in inhospitable environments such as Mars or the Moon. It also notes the method is resource-intensive, requiring specific investment and expertise, and is not suitable for all crop types.

Talitha Ummiyah Hana, Sulistyodewi Nur Wiyono, Mahra Arari Heryanto, Ahmad Choibar Tridakusumah · MIMBAR AGRIBISNIS Jurnal Pemikiran Masyarakat Ilmiah Berwawasan Agribisnis · Indonesia (Bandung)

A case study of Greenhouse X, an urban farming enterprise in Bandung, Indonesia, found that its hydroponic water spinach (kangkung) supply has not been able to optimally meet market demand, and that its supplier-farmer partners are often inconsistent in meeting supply targets. Using a qualitative case-study method analyzed descriptively, the study identified 19 production risk events. The highest-severity risks (Si=9) were plant death during growth and root rot; harvest delays and unmet product quantity were rated as extreme-impact risks (Si=8).

Monika Onyszkiewicz, Marta Sylla · Sustainability · Poland

This study surveys the current state of active Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups in Poland, identifying active CSA farms and analyzing their offers, reach, and member characteristics, motivation, and involvement. As of when the study was conducted in 2023/2024, 13 food-producing farmers were inventoried across 35 groups, reaching an estimated 1,200 people. Drawing on the experience of CSA communities elsewhere in Europe, the study concludes that an umbrella organization is needed to network Poland's CSA community and support active farmers through advocacy, education, and coordination of CSA development at the national level.

Audina Meiliansya, Yayu Sri Rahayu, Nurcahyo Widyodaru Saputro · Journal of Mangifera Edu · Indonesia

Conducted from February to March 2025 at the Faculty of Agriculture laboratory, Singaperbangsa University, Karawang, Indonesia, this study examined growth and yield of Brassica microgreens (cauliflower, radish, and broccoli) under six levels of limited light exposure (indoor control, outdoor control, and 60%, 50%, 40%, and 30% lighting), using a split-plot design within a group randomized design with two replicates per treatment (36 experimental units total). F-tests at the 5% significance level, followed by Duncan's Multiple Range Test, showed a significant interaction between light exposure and plant type for growth uniformity and plant height at 7 days after planting (DAP). The combination of 50% lighting with broccoli produced the highest growth coherence value, 88%, while the tallest plants at 7 DAP, 6.55 cm, occurred with 30% lighting combined with broccoli.

Pengxuan Xie, José M. Mogollón, Jan Willem Erisman, Valerio Barbarossa · Sustainable Cities and Society · Europe

This study models spatial and temporal crop rotations on Amsterdam's rooftops using planting-structure optimization for crop rotation planning, to assess how much of the city's dietary demand for specific crop groups could be met by productive green roofs. Using average productive green roof crop yields and climatic variability from 2003-2021, it estimates Amsterdam's potential productive green roofs could achieve urban food self-sufficiency of 52% for selected crops (41-54% accounting for climatic and spatial variability), rising to 71% (50-71%) when the planting structure is optimized. Lettuce-broccoli occupies the largest productive green roof area, at roughly 100 hectares, and six vegetable types were found to match well with Amsterdam's dietary requirements.

Ristina Siti Sundari, Depy Muhamad Pauzy, Hary Firmansyah, Arif Arif, Jhon Hardy Purba · Agro Bali Agricultural Journal · Indonesia

Against the backdrop of urban farming as a strategic response to land scarcity and food security challenges in metropolitan areas, this study examined the financial performance and internal marketing value of shallot (Allium cepa var. aggregatum) agribusiness grown hydroponically using Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) and Deep Flow Technique (DFT) systems across two planting cycles. As a case study at P4S Galih Jaya, Indonesia, the quantitative descriptive research combined direct observation, financial documentation review and structured stakeholder interviews, calculating standard agribusiness financial metrics — production output, net income, Benefit-Cost (B/C) ratio and Break-Even Point (BEP) — while internal marketing indicators (employee understanding, decision alignment and motivation) were assessed via pre- and post-cycle surveys. The DFT system in cycle 2 yielded the highest net income (IDR 2,036,725) and B/C ratio (3.6), while the NFT system in cycle 1 incurred a financial loss of IDR 10,155 with a B/C ratio of only 0.9, indicating it was unprofitable. Internal marketing indicators showed clear improvement between periods, and the study concludes that the choice of hydroponic system affects not only profitability but also internal stakeholder engagement.

Takashi Shimofuji, Motoi Kusadokoro, Atsushi Chitose · Journal of Rural Problems · Japan

A case study of Welsh onion cultivation in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, used interview surveys of farm management and marketing channels in urban and remote areas to clarify how a farmer's choice of shipping destination in urban agriculture relates to cultivation size and post-harvest working hours. Urban farmers chose different marketing channels depending on cultivation size, and this flexibility produced differences in post-harvest work systems and in work efficiency measured as shipping quantity per work hour, whereas in remote areas cooperative shipping dominated, leaving fewer shipping options and smaller efficiency disparities among farmers. Urban agriculture's access to diverse shipping destinations let farmers select options based on production scale, which raised work efficiency for large-scale farmers in particular.

Zandra Anciano Quirante, Eric Randy R. Politud · International Journal of Multidisciplinary Applied Business and Education Research · Philippines

A mixed-methods study assessed the viability of a low-cost hydroponic system using locally sourced Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) as an organic input for lettuce production aimed at food security in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Philippines, examining acceptability, growth performance and economic feasibility. Estrosa and Olmetie lettuce varieties showed the best growth performance; nitrate was undetectable in Estrosa and Green Wave, while Olmetie and Invicta absorbed more nitrate with FPJ use, though all levels stayed within international safety limits and cadmium was not detected, while limited technical knowledge, material access and capital were identified as barriers to adoption.

TAMTIAL Ngariban, Nguinambaye Mberdoum Memti, Alhadj Markhous Nazal, Mansour Hassane, Touroumgaye Goalbaye · Journal of Experimental Agriculture International · Africa

In Sarh, Chad, a questionnaire-based survey using semi-structured interviews of 147 urban market gardeners was conducted from February to April 2025, the favorable period for market gardening, to document the practice of urban agriculture and its role in the city's sustainable development. Of the gardeners surveyed, 84.35% were men and 15.65% women with an average age of 33; the roughly 122,640 m² devoted to market gardening across three sites was worked mostly in small plots, with 63.6% of gardeners farming less than 500 m², and land was accessed mainly through inheritance (51.02%) or occupation of public land (22.45%), with 15 vegetable species across 13 genera and 8 families grown, dominated by leafy vegetables, particularly lettuce at 47% of total production. Market gardening in Sarh continues to face constraints including land insecurity, gardeners' low level of technical expertise, and difficulty obtaining agricultural inputs.

Ioana Florea · · Global

This chapter finds that while collective urban gardening projects represent forms of resistance against market-based food systems, the precarization of urban natures, and real-estate dominance, their everyday practices often fail to deliver on these ideals and intentions, generating incomplete, contradictory, or temporary results. It proposes a heuristic frame linking space, time, and class to review prior urban-gardening research from a political-ecology perspective, tracing how space's materiality, time embedded in plant growth, and class differences conditioning gardeners' access to space and time produce these contradictions.

Luciana Daniela Portella Carreño, Carla-Maria Strejanțu, Florica Morariu, Dumitru Popescu, Eugen Cătălin Zoican · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global

This study compared the growth performance of basil (Ocimum basilicum) grown in a hydroponic system versus a conventional soil-based environment over a six-week period under controlled conditions in a small plastic greenhouse. Measuring plant height, leaf number, and total water consumption, it found that hydroponically grown basil showed faster growth, required significantly less water, and had healthier leaf structures with fewer visible defects than the soil-grown basil.

Nurulanis Ahmad, Zarita Ahmad Baharum, Yasmin Mohd Adnan, Nor Nazihah Chuweni · PLANNING MALAYSIA · Malaysia

This study qualitatively explored stakeholders' perspectives on urban agriculture (UA) toward sustainable urban development in Malaysia, using semi-structured interviews grounded in stakeholder theory. It drew on 15 stakeholders selected from different authority levels -- the Department of Agriculture Malaysia and PLANMalaysia at the federal level, the Department of Agriculture Perak at the state level, Subang Jaya City Council at the local level, private property managers, and academicians -- who were top management, practitioners, and officers with relevant background in urban agriculture, urban planning, and real estate. The findings produced a framework of action plans centred on social, economic, environmental, policy, and technological-innovation dimensions, intended to guide policymakers and urban planners in developing action plans for advancing UA toward sustainable urban development.

Getachew Demissie Desta, Zeleke Gonfa Wordofa · International Review for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development · Ethiopia

A study of the rate and direction of spatial expansion of Robe Town, Ethiopia, into surrounding rural kebeles, and its effect on the tenure security of peri-urban landholders. It combined socioeconomic data from 202 sampled household heads with spatial data from Landsat images taken in 1987, 2002, and 2020. The town grew annually by 18.6% (1984–1994), 11.3% (1994–2007), and 9.3% (2007–2020), with its total area rising from 5.1 km² in 1984 to 80.2 km², a 40.9% overall increase. Over the 33-year period, built-up area expanded fastest southward, reaching 9.91 km from the town's mean center, and grew from 4.38 km² in 1987 to 27.9 km² in 2020; about 10.2 km² of farmland was converted to built-up land between 1987 and 2020. In peri-urban areas of Robe town, 48.9% of landowners lost around half of their farmland, leaving peri-urban landowners feeling insecure about their tenure due to fear of eviction and expropriation at minimal compensation.

Getinet, Abate · National Academic Digital Repository of Ethiopia · Ethiopia

A mixed-methods, cross-sectional descriptive study of urban agriculture in Gulele sub-city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, examining perceptions, opportunities, and challenges. It combined a survey of employees and farmers, in-depth interviews with farmers, key informants, and experts, and a focus group discussion with civil service employees. The study identified scarcity of urban farmland, scarcity of water for irrigating vegetables, and constraints on various agricultural inputs as core problems, alongside market accessibility issues for selling produce and limited transportation availability, even as vegetable consumption and demand among urban dwellers were rising and government policy treated urban agriculture as a current priority. It also found a negative social attitude among urban dwellers toward urban agriculture, who regard it as old-fashioned work and view urban farmers as backward and uneducated. The study concludes that the Addis Ababa City Administration's urban agriculture development sector needs to work with research institutions to address pest and insect problems and to improve vegetable yield per unit of land.

Augustin Tshilumba Ilunga, Michel Mbumba Bandi, Albert Tshinyama Ntumba, Damien-Joseph Muteba Kalala · Revue Africaine d’Environnement et d’Agriculture · Democratic Republic of Congo

A study of urban agriculture in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo—a sector described as vital for food security and employment amid rapid urbanization, food insecurity, and unemployment, where farms face significant challenges including land pressure, restricted access to credit, and lack of institutional support. The study aimed to (i) examine the motivations of agri-entrepreneurs, (ii) assess their impact on farm viability, and (iii) identify the economic and non-economic factors influencing business sustainability, using a qualitative and quantitative survey combining 20 semi-structured interviews across three peripheral zones (via snowball sampling) with documentary analysis. Three categories of entrepreneurs were identified: civil servants farming as a supplementary activity, private-sector employees investing in farming, and traders farming to secure their survival. Non-pecuniary motivations such as social engagement and passion strengthened resilience, but land insecurity, a financing deficit, and lack of training were identified as the major obstacles farms face; observed adaptive strategies included diversification and informal partnerships. The study concludes by calling for integrated strategies to secure land tenure, facilitate access to credit, and professionalize the sector while integrating peri-urban agriculture into urban planning processes.

Baltazar M.L. Namwata · African Quarterly Social Science Review · Africa

A cross-sectional survey using multistage sampling across 15 neighborhoods (mitaa) in eight wards of Dodoma City, Tanzania, examined types, spatial distribution and gender dynamics of urban agriculture among 300 urban farmers in squatter and non-squatter settlements, using structured questionnaires, focus groups, key informant interviews and field observation. Crop-only farming was the most common of the observed typologies (crop-only, mixed, and livestock-only), with homestead farming linked to more informal cultivation on floodplains and government land in violation of land-use policy. Men dominated farming decision-making overall, though a trend toward joint and female-headed farming emerged among female-headed households, and squatter and non-squatter areas differed in tenure security, rule enforcement and infrastructure access.

Fadhil Adi Nugraha, Ira Malihatun, Siwi Gayatri, Titik Ekowati, Sumarsono Sumarsono · AGRICOLA · Indonesia

In Semarang City, Indonesia, a survey of 86 farmers from four Women Farmer Groups (KWT) who received the government's Sustainable Food Yard (Pekarangan Pangan Lestari) program — using questionnaire interviews, descriptive analysis, and a literature review — assessed the program's social, economic, and environmental impacts. The social impact was rated "less" (score 31.10%), the economic impact "low" (28.88%), and the environmental impact "very low" (18.60%). The program strengthened social relations among farmers but was not effective in improving farming skills or public health; economically it had potential to contribute to household expenditure but had not optimized income growth or job creation; and its environmental impact remained limited, particularly in preserving biodiversity and reducing chemical use.

Aprilia Martika, Amelia Sari, Disti Macela Putri, Misbahul Munir · Inisiatif Jurnal Ekonomi Akuntansi dan Manajemen · Indonesia

Focusing on the Parit Lalang area of Pangkalpinang City in Bangka Belitung, Indonesia, this qualitative case study used participant observation, in-depth interviews and documentation studies, analyzed thematically and via SWOT analysis. Urban agriculture there is carried out mostly in small home gardens and on vacant land, using hydroponic and traditional methods, with productive-age residents and housewives as the main participants. The practice increased household food availability, reduced living costs, and generated additional income, strengthening local economic resilience. However, challenges remain, including limited technical skills, financial constraints, and inconsistent government support, and the study concludes that strengthening training programs, improving access to finance, and developing pilot projects are needed.

Ylva Wallinder · Local Environment · Europe

A study of Gothenburg, Sweden, examines the city council's shift over the past decade from associational (collective) urban gardening toward entrepreneurial gardening on municipal land, promoted through a scheme called "from garden box to hectare" that draws residents into entrepreneurial training while taking municipal gardening classes. Analyzing the consequences of this commodification of urban sustainability projects, the study finds that socio-economic resources and social relations both limit and strengthen entrepreneurial gardening practices and participants' quality of life, and that perceived competition among gardeners has turned urban gardening into a lonely, precarious, and individualized activity compared with the formalized associational gardening the municipality previously promoted. The finding points to a mismatch between the local government's sustainability visions and gardeners' actual experience.

Shaikh Tanveer Hossain · Organic Eprints (International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems, and Research Institute of Organic Agriculture) · Asia

A report by Dr. Hossain discusses the transformation of organic farming through technological, ecological, and social innovation, citing examples including precision farming, community supported agriculture, biological pest control, and digital traceability systems. Case studies of an organic sack-garden for household nutrition, integrated rice-duck farming for pest control and soil health, and a Zero Energy Cold Chamber (ZECC) for post-harvest storage are described as demonstrating low-cost, replicable models that improved smallholders' incomes and sustainability. The report cites the Asian Productivity Organization's "Green Productivity" framework as linking productivity gains with environmental stewardship across the Asia-Pacific region.

Krishna R. Reddy, Jaqueline Rojas Robles, Suzane A. V. Carneiro, Banuchandra Nagaraja · Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science · United States (Chicago)

Using an existing hydroponics system in Chicago as a case study, this life cycle assessment (environmental impact via SimaPro, social and economic sustainability via a semi-quantitative approach) compared a hypothetical scaled hydroponics system against a scaled community garden serving the same number of users in the same area. The results show hydroponics systems present greater sustainability challenges than community gardens overall, though a hydroponics system incorporating LED lights was found to be more sustainable than the community garden; the authors call for future research to more accurately assess the differences between the two models.

Usha Baniya, Sachin Khaniya, Rojan Karki · Nepalese Journal of Agricultural Sciences · Asia

This review paper positions hydroponics—a soilless cultivation technique—as a method of urban agriculture addressing confined land availability, food security, and environmental concerns from urbanization, focused on Kathmandu, Nepal. It synthesizes existing insights on setup costs, operational challenges, and profitability against global trends and local constraints, and, framing setup costs and operational challenges as barriers to adoption, recommends subsidies, training, and integration into urban planning as pathways to foster the uptake of hydroponic farming.

Carolina Ceci Moino Alves Theodoro, Marcelo de Andrade Roméro · Caderno Pedagógico · Brazil

Drawing on an analysis of recent crises in Brazil—transportation strikes, floods, prolonged droughts, the pandemic, currency fluctuations, and international conflicts—that exposed fragilities in the food supply chain leading to food insecurity, food deserts, and shortage risk, this study proposes urban food self-sufficiency strategies using nationally and internationally recognized urban agriculture techniques. It examined hydroponic cultivation and vertical farms through technical site visits, literature review, and interviews with managers and nutritionists, defining the built and cultivable area needed to guarantee a minimum survival diet for an estimated population, and, given the relevance of energy consumption to final food cost, incorporated solar power installations sized to different demand levels to reduce grid dependence; the plan was conceived initially as an alternative system with potential to evolve into a redundant, mitigating system.

Dian Prihardini Wibawa, Ayu Wulandari, Herry Marta Saputra · Wikrama Parahita Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat · Indonesia

A community outreach program in Jerambah Gantung Village, Pangkalpinang City, Indonesia, trained the 12-member Kenanga Women's Farmers Group in hydroponic urban farming through socialization, training, and mentoring. Average pre-test to post-test scores rose from 70 to 95, and harvest yield increased 37 percent, from 35 kg in the first harvest to 48 kg in the second.