Research & reports

Magdalena Grochulska-Salak, Aleksandra Nowysz, Anna Tofiluk · Buildings · Global

This research reviews urban agriculture as green and blue infrastructure solutions, evaluating modern hybrid units that combine biomass and food production with water retention in urban areas. It defines criteria and typology for urban resilience solutions, analyzing the correlation between water production, management, retention, and reuse within sustainable urban agriculture systems in compact cities. The study describes a typology for cultivation and production in modern cities, contributing to discussions on synergy in urban planning, architecture, and engineering for city resilience.

Rafael Carvalho Machado, Sieglinde Kindl Da Cunha · Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy · Brazil (Curitiba)

This study investigated Curitiba, Brazil's Urban Agriculture Program (UAP) and its decentralized composting strategy, which aimed to close the agricultural loop within city bounds. Despite training 24 urban farmer communities in composting techniques, the program was unable to achieve this goal. The research, based on secondary data review, interviews, and participatory observation, identified cultural barriers and conflicts among actor roles within the UAP that hindered the adoption of composting practices.

· Crop Research · Global

To address problems such as incomplete kernel development and shrivelled kernels during sweet corn growth, the spraying of liquid organic manures was attempted. An RBD study with eight treatments and four replications revealed that the combined application of FYM at 10t/ha with two sprays of panchakavya 3% at fortnightly intervals resulted in the highest values for all growth and yield parameters while maintaining soil fertility and productivity.

Felipe Parada, Mireia Ercilla‐Montserrat, Verónica Arcas‐Pilz, Elisa López‐Capél, N. Carazo, J.I. Montero, Xavier Gabarrell, Gara Villalba, Joan Rieradevall, Pere Muñoz · Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture · Spain (Barcelona)

In spring and summer 2018, in a rooftop greenhouse near Barcelona, coir, vegetable compost from urban organic waste, perlite, and a mixture of compost and perlite substrates were evaluated over three consecutive crop cycles of lettuce. This study aimed to assess the use of substrates made from local materials as an alternative for urban agriculture during periods of water supply cuts. Results showed that compost and the mixture yielded similarly to perlite, and organic substrates increased crop resilience to water restriction.

Eloísa Pajuelo, Sandra Arjona, Ignacio D. Rodríguez‐Llorente, Enrique Mateos‐Naranjo, Susana Redondo‐Gómez, Francisco Merchán, Salvadora Navarro‐Torre · Frontiers in Marine Science · Global

This study evaluated the plant growth promoting (PGP) activity of the rhizobacterium Pantoea agglomerans RSO7 and its application as a biofertilizer in an urban orchard. RSO7 enhanced alfalfa growth in vitro, and a bacterial consortium including RSO7 fostered the growth and yield of several winter crops in an urban orchard by 1.5 to 10 fold. However, RSO7's classification in biosecurity group 2 prevents its use according to current European regulation.

Siti Aisyah Salim, Siti Hajar Salim, Fadhlina Mohd Razali · International Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering Technology · Malaysia

This research explored potential urban farming activities for improving the economic status of urban residents through structured literature reviews (SLR). A search of ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Scopus databases yielded 851 papers, with 90 articles used for final classification after a three-iteration filtering process. The study indicated that while urban farming's potential is promoted in Malaysia, research investigating its ability to improve urban residents' economic status remains very lacking.

Charles Karani, Eric Obedy Gido, Hillary K. Bett · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global

This study surveyed 456 urban agro-producer households using an electronically-structured questionnaire to explore informal agro-food waste management and safety measures in low- and lower middle-income countries. Findings showed significant disparities in management and safety practices between participating and non-participating livestock and mixed producers. Waste reduction (86%), utilization (86%), segregation (63%), and composting (58%) were preferred, while disposal (18%) and mixing with salt/dry feeds (24%) were less preferred. Knowledge variables, such as waste sorting and urban agriculture knowledge, had a greater influence on these practices.

Dhian Rosalina, Yenni Marnita, Nasrul Kahfi Lubis, Fiddini Alham · SELAPARANG Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat Berkemajuan · Indonesia (Langsa)

This community service activity provided training in Gampong Baroh Langsa Lama, Langsa Aceh city, to 30 day laborers on utilizing household organic waste to create compost blocks for planting media. The training involved socialization, practice, and evaluation, aiming to transform waste into useful products for urban farming. As a result, 50 percent of partners expressed willingness to practice making compost blocks and be periodically evaluated.

Agnieszka Zawadzińska, Piotr Salachna, J. Nowak, Waldemar Kowalczyk, Rafał Piechocki, Łukasz Łopusiewicz, Anna Pietrak · Agronomy · Global

This study investigated the use of compost made from pulp and paper mill sludge, fruit-vegetable waste, mushroom spent substrate, and rye straw as a growing medium for container-cultivated tomatoes. Tomato plants grown in compost-enriched media showed higher leaf greening, more ripe fruit, and increased levels of polyphenols, flavonoids, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and copper compared to controls. Specifically, a medium with 25% compost, 30% high peat, 15% low peat, 20% pine bark, and 10% wood fiber yielded the highest fresh fruit weight, total polyphenol content, and L-ascorbic acid levels.

Petra Schneider, Vincent Rochell, Kay Plat, A. Jaworski · Circular Economy and Sustainability · Global

A chapter starting from the premise that food production is one of the world's major consumers of water and energy, and that greater efficiency in food production is needed given population growth. It states that circular approaches have a long tradition in food production but that industrial farming has interrupted traditional cycle-closed farming approaches, leading to various environmental challenges. The chapter outlines the basics of traditional gardening and farming approaches and describes how their characteristics have been adapted in modern farming systems including aquaponics, permaculture, urban farming, and recovered traditional farming systems.

T. E. Freeman, Tiare Saracino, Lynn Barber, Tom Wichman, Esen Momol, Kristina McIntyre, Jacqlyn Rivas, Jennifer Marvin · EDIS · United States (California)

This is a homeowner-facing extension publication from Florida on environmentally friendly ways to enhance soil fertility for vegetables, herbs, and fruit in home landscapes. It describes recycling nutrients on-site or via composting to build productive edible landscapes with less waste, stating that adopting these methods into landscape maintenance builds organic matter and adds nutrients to soil naturally.

Athayde Leite de Sá Filho, Mariana Gomes Kottas, José Edilson dos Santos Júnior, Vivianni Marques Leite dos Santos · Journal on Innovation and Sustainability RISUS · Brazil

This literature-based review of urban gardens (hortas urbanas) in Brazil describes the sector's evolution, challenges and outlook, arguing that Brazil has favorable natural conditions and that urban gardens are among the fastest-growing components of the country's agroecological sector, while identifying the need for incentive policies, public awareness, farming-space planning and greater research investment as conditions for further consolidation.

Mariana Cecilia Grohar, Barbara Gacnik, Maja Mikulič-Petkovšek, M. Hudina, Robert Veberič · Horticulturae · Global

A laboratory study measured caffeine content and phenolic profiles across three types of tea and coffee waste through two successive solvent extractions. The first extraction was far more efficient overall, though green tea retained high flavanol content and mate tea high phenolic-acid content in the second extraction, black tea had the highest caffeine content across both extractions, and water proved the most effective solvent in nearly all cases — a simple, accessible extraction method the authors note is relevant to urban horticulture as a potential alternative to conventional pesticides.

Isabel Cristina Carvalho, Raquel Luz Sousa, David Leite Viana · Americanae (AECID Library) · Brazil

The informality of urban agroecological space is examined through methodologies from transdisciplinary border zones, particularly the arts, framing the practice of gardening as an act of creation. Ecosophical, aesthetic and artistic concepts (community eco-art practices and digital eco-art) are integrated with socio-economic-political concepts (strengthening production, citizenship and digital literacy) in the context of informal urban agriculture, sketching an application scenario for inclusive community-resilience methodologies.

M. Ichwan, Ameilia Zuliyanti Siregar, E Yusni, Tulus Ikhsan Nasution · ABDIMAS UNWAHAS · Indonesia

As a community-service program run from August to December 2020 at Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU), Indonesia, this project set up a waste management unit called SIMALIM, combining smart urban farming methods, at USU's waste disposal site and the rooftop garden of its integrated laboratory, to handle organic waste from campus canteens and nearby residents. It combined black soldier fly (BSF) larvae rearing, eco-enzyme production, and aquaponics (catfish/gabus, tilapia/nila and lele species alongside organic vegetables), training students to participate as eco-campus ambassadors and members of USU's UI GreenMetric team. The project is framed as a model for generating income-producing products from proper organic waste management and improving USU's UI GreenMetric ranking.

Denise Junqueira Matos, Fernanda Pinto Ferreira, Natália Ingrid Pezzoti, Luana de Melo Scardovelli, Italmar Teodorico Navarro, Letícia Santos Balbino, Gabrieli Dutra Gonçalves, Kátia Denise Saraiva Bresciani · Brazilian Journal of Development · Brazil

A 2021 study examined environmental management conditions and the occurrence of Escherichia coli in irrigation water, helminths in vegetables, and protozoa (Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp. and Toxoplasma gondii) in soil, fertilizer, water and vegetables from community gardens in Araçatuba, São Paulo State, Brazil, covering all six gardens registered with the city's Agro-industrial Development Secretariat. An epidemiological questionnaire was administered to garden workers, and each garden was sampled for 40 liters of treated water or 10 liters of untreated water, about 10 g of soil, 10 g of fertilizer, and one bunch each of lettuce and another vegetable. E. coli in irrigation water was detected using the Colilert Kit (IDEXX Laboratories); helminths and their eggs in vegetables were assessed by optical microscopy; and Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp. and T. gondii were assessed by PCR in water, soil, fertilizer and vegetable samples. Results showed that an urban location, use of treated water, absence of open pits, area limits set by walls or fences, and absence of domestic animals in the community gardens were together sufficient to prevent detection of E. coli in irrigation water, helminths in vegetables, and Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp. and T. gondii in water, soil, fertilizer and vegetable samples.

Aman Tejaswi, Saket Anand, Manoj Kumar Tiwari · WEENTECH Proceedings in Energy · Global

Reuse of wastewater is becoming progressively more common, but comes with a set of risks and challenges (2021). This paper analyzed and evaluated various non-conventional treatment options and on-site farm management practices for wastewater-fed irrigation aimed at growing safer produce, with fit-for-purpose treatment and effective farm practices seen as ways to enhance benefits and reduce risks. Treatment techniques assessed ranged from simple sedimentation ponds to sandbag, fabric-based and bio-sand filtration, natural and synthetic adsorbents, and microfiltration, with the advantages, risks, applicability and limitations of each system evaluated. Farm management practices, including various irrigation methods, were likewise assessed. Wastewater-fed drip irrigation was identified as a much safer practice, especially for producing leafy vegetables.

M B Bayer, Susanne Neugart, Tobias Pöhnl · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global

This study compared kale (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica L.) grown in all four cardinal directions of a residential building, including indoor cultivation behind UV-filtering glass windows. Total carotenoid concentration benefited from sun-exposed growing locations, including the indoor glass condition, while concentrations of nutritionally important lutein did not differ among locations despite their differing abiotic stress conditions (sun exposure, temperature, water). Total phenolic concentration profited most from direct sunlight but was severely reduced behind glass windows. Satisfying growth rates were achieved under all tested conditions.

Isaac Asirifi, Steffen Werner, Stefanie Heinze, Courage Kosi Setsoafia Saba, I. Lawson, Bernd Marschner · Agronomy · Ghana

In a field experiment on irrigated urban agriculture in the Guinea savannah zone of Ghana, this study assessed the transient effect of rice husk biochar (20 t ha-1) and/or mineral fertilizer (NPK 15-15-15) on microbial respiration, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and enzyme activities in soils irrigated with wastewater and tap water. One year after biochar application, soil organic carbon (SOC) increased by up to 123%, hot water extractable carbon (HWEC) increased by 11-26%, and MBC increased by 34%. Basal respiration increased significantly by up to 46% in mineral-fertilized soil but decreased by 12-45% under wastewater irrigation. The metabolic quotient (qCO2) indicated reduced microbial community stress and higher carbon use efficiency with biochar application and wastewater irrigation. Total enzyme activity increased under wastewater irrigation, and biochar-treated soils showed a more diverse composition of carbon-cycling enzymes and higher aminopeptidase activity. Biochar and wastewater showed positive effects on biological soil properties that contributed to soil fertility, and the results suggest biochar may have beneficial long-term effects on non-biochar SOC stocks.

Matt Hare, Ana Peña del Valle Isla · Local Environment · Mexico

Two surveys mapped the distribution of edible plant species growing in publicly accessible interstitial spaces — such as central reservations and pavements — in subtropical central Mexico City (CDMX), walking roughly 20 km of streets and identifying 36 species of edible plants including fruits, herbs and vegetables. Of five feasibility conditions for using these spaces for foraging, three — suitable growing conditions, provisioning capability, and the existence of multiple plant dispersal pathways — could be satisfactorily assessed, while two — usage and a favourable planning environment — could not be judged from the field data. Rather than improving everyday food supplies, maintaining these spaces for emergency foraging was framed as a way to increase urban resilience against extreme food supply shocks. CDMX promotes planting fruit trees along avenues, but the survey found local socio-ecological systems sustain a greater variety of edible plants across a wider range of interstitial spaces.

Julia Södergren, Christer Larsson, Lars Wadsö, Karl-Johan Bergstrand, Håkan Asp, Malin Hultberg, Jenny Schelin · Journal of Cleaner Production · Global

A study evaluating the microbiological food safety of using anaerobic digestate — a liquid residue from food-waste biogas production — as a fertilizer in hydroponic vegetable production. The biofertilizer's microbial community was analyzed via 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, challenge-tested with Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes and Bacillus cereus, and assessed for microbial activity using isothermal calorimetry. The microbial community changed distinctly through a necessary initial nitrification process, with Mycobacterium as the most abundant genus. Deliberate contamination of the nitrified biofertilizer with 5 log10 CFU/mL of S. enterica or L. monocytogenes became undetectable by selective plating after 48 hours of incubation at 20°C. B. cereus was present naturally at low levels (~10 CFU/mL), and an inoculation of 5 log10 CFU/mL declined to these background levels within 24 hours at 20°C. The biofertilizer did not support microbial activity without an added external nutrient source containing an accessible carbon source and trace elements. The digestate type studied was judged microbiologically safe for hydroponic use, but the constant presence of viable B. cereus was noted as underscoring the need for continuous risk assessment whenever the fertilizer's production process is modified.

Jassen Callender · · Global

This essay frames city sustainability as a lifecycle question centered on end-states, arguing that water and soil are essential supports for urban farming — water comprising three interlinked cycles and soil representing a phase of nutrient cycling — and that lifecycle concerns intersect with cities' basic, "physiological" needs in Maslow's sense. It presents a conceptual discussion rather than original data, measurements, or a defined study population.

Gabriela Eustáquio Lacerda, Julliany Lopes Dias, Guilherme Nobre Lima do Nascimento, Ilsamar Mendes Soares · Revista Brasileira de Plantas Medicinais · Brazil

Dried leaf bark and freeze-dried gel from Aloe vera grown in community gardens in Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil were analyzed for chemical composition, phytochemistry, and heavy metals. Moisture content ranged from 7.06 to 10.62%, ash from 13.62 to 32.63%, crude protein from 5.58 to 7.47%, lipids from 0.58 to 2.04%, and crude fiber from 16.22 to 16.49%. Phytochemical analysis identified gallic acid, catechin, gallocatechin, ellagic acid, naringin, myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol. No heavy metals were detected in the samples analyzed. The authors note further research is needed on how seasonality affects these compounds.

Ram Ranjan · Water Economics and Policy · India

This study examines the potential for industrial wastewater remediation through agroforestry in a peri-urban farming region of India. Under a payment for ecosystem services (PES) mechanism, farmers are incentivized to convert farmland into poplar-based agroforestry and use industrial effluent to irrigate the trees, with income from poplar timber sales enhancing the mechanism's attractiveness. A dynamic optimization model compares farmers' optimal land use allocation to a socially optimal case, and compares the firm's effluent discharge outcomes to an alternative arrangement in which it is fined for discharging untreated wastewater without the agroforestry remediation option. The results support the attractiveness of such PES mechanisms in addressing industrial effluent discharge while simultaneously mitigating water scarcity through wastewater reclamation. The optimal tax level required to achieve complete effluent treatment is several times higher than PES payment levels. The incentive to convert farmland to poplar plantations increases with higher PES payments but declines as the profitability of agricultural crops rises.

Alessandra Polastrini, Cláudia Regina de Sousa e Silva, João Aparecido Bazzoli · Informe GEPEC · Brazil

This study examined whether urban community gardens in the central region of Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil, fit a conventional or agroecological production model, surveying four gardens (in blocks 1006, 1106, 1206 and 1306 Sul) through questionnaires with 42 gardeners and interviews with two staff from the Urban Gardens program. Findings showed a mismatch between the number of registered gardeners and those actually working the plots; gardeners were mostly low-income, low-education women; use of products incompatible with agroecological production was documented, though a transition process was underway with gardeners adopting agroecology-based management techniques; and oversight and technical assistance existed but at levels insufficient to ensure adequate guidance for gardeners and product quality for consumers.