Research & reports

Ana Paula Schmitz Rodrigues, Eunice Aita Isaia Kindel · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Porto Alegre)

This qualitative study, conducted with elementary school students in a public school in Porto Alegre, Brazil, aimed to raise environmental awareness through direct engagement in creating a school garden and separating solid waste. Student statements were recorded and categorized to understand their perceptions of solid waste, nutrient cycling, and food. The findings indicated students' detachment from the environment and highlighted the need for more interdisciplinary and continuous environmental education practices in schools.

Eko Widaryanto, N I K Yulita Firda · PLANTROPICA Journal of Agricultural Science · Indonesia (Malang)

A study in Malang, Indonesia, from July to December 2016, investigated the growth and yield of watercress using urban farming methods with different nitrogen fertilizers. The research, employing a Complete Randomized Design with four dose levels (1, 2, 3, 4 g/pot) and two fertilizer types (Urea and ZA) with three replications, found that both fertilizer type and level influenced watercress growth. Specifically, Urea fertilizer at 4 g per pot resulted in 50% higher yield compared to ZA fertilizer at 4 g per pot, indicating 4 g per pot of Urea fertilizer as the most effective dose.

Odiney Alvarez‐Campos, Gregory K. Evanylo · Journal of Environmental Quality · Global

The impacts of exceptional quality (EQ) biosolids and inorganic fertilizer applied for rehabilitating anthropogenic soils on potential nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) water quality impairment risk were compared. After two years, reclamation rates of biosolids resulted in soil P saturation ratios greater than the recommended 30% but lower than the 65% limit. While nitrate N (NO3–N) posed the greatest nutrient leaching risk, lysimeter-collected mass loading of NO3–N from reclamation rates was not greater than for the inorganic fertilizer.

Gaston E. Small, Robert McDougall, Geneviève S. Metson · International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics · Global

This study analyzes the potential benefits and costs of urban agriculture, comparing tradeoffs in different sustainability metrics. It assesses how optimal urban agriculture varies by context, such as maximizing production in dense areas versus filling vacant land in post-industrial cities. The research also examines urban agriculture's role in making food systems resilient and includes a case study comparing resource use and pollution for lettuce production via outdoor urban agriculture, indoor urban agriculture, conventional methods, and cross-continental transport for one U.S. metropolitan area.

Nikhil Villani, Jack Stambaugh · ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst (University of Massachusetts Amherst) · United States

The UMass Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) at the Agricultural Learning Center (ALC) involves Stockbridge School of Agriculture students and faculty researching and practicing regenerative food production. Initiated in Spring 2018, students designed and installed a chestnut-sheep silvopasture on a two-acre site. The first season involved starting a chestnut nursery, planting chestnuts, and rotationally grazing six sheep between rows.

Delphine Bernadette Ouédraogo, Delwendé Innocent Kiba, Zacharia Gnankambary, Sheick K. Sangaré, Diakouba Sirima, Hassan Bismarck Nacro, Michel Papaoba Sédogo · Journal of Agricultural Science · Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou)

This study investigated cropping practices and their drivers in 133 peri-urban farms near Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Soil sample analysis revealed that monoculture led to low soil organic carbon, while polyculture led to low soil available potassium. The socio-economic conditions of the farms explained up to 60% of the variability in cropping practices.

Suhaimi Mhd. Sarif · The International Islamic University Malaysia Repository (The International Islamic University Malaysia) · Malaysia

This study investigated the effect of infaq (charitable contribution) and takmil wal istikmal (complementarity) on sustaining community vegetable farming in Malaysia. Personal interviews with selected farmers, CSA administrators, and agricultural regulators revealed that the effect of infaq and takmil wal istikmal is limited to small-scale community farming.

Matheus Martins Mendes, André Victor Sales Passos, Carol Rebouças da Silva · · Brazil

This internship experience, guided by popular extension university principles, focused on knowledge exchange between scientific and popular communities in the San Francisco settlement, Jose de Freitas, Piaui, Brazil. A partnership between the Federal Rural University of the Semiarid Region, REAPI, and local farmers led to the implementation of a women-maintained community garden and the recovery of four springs. Agroecological activities also highlighted the role of women farmers in agroecological transition.

Joan Morales Moras · Kepes · Spain (Barcelona)

This study examined an academic project in Barcelona, Spain, where design students collaborated with the self-managed Espai Quiró urban agriculture and organic community project in the La Salut neighborhood. The involvement of the community managers and students in this pedagogical experience responded to a design model committed to citizens and citizen-led neighborhood associations. This participated in the idea of transition towards a new alternative way of living in cities, advocating for the reappropriation of public space.

Lisandra Hernández Guanche, Yoerlandy Santana Baños, Armando Acosta Hernández, Armando del Busto Concepción · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cuba (Pinar del Río)

This research determined the diversity of arboreal species associated with the "Vial Colón" organoponics system in Pinar del Río municipality, Cuba. Inventories identified 37 arboreal species from 26 botanical families. Fabaceae was the most represented family, with Persea americana Mill. and Moringa oleifera Lam. showing the highest abundance.

Obinna Elijah Nworie, Junhao Qin, Chuxia Lin · Toxics · Global

This study investigated trace element uptake by wild herbaceous plants at a multiple trace element-contaminated site. It found significant variability in bioaccumulation and translocation factors among plant species, identifying some as hyperaccumulators for specific elements. The marked accumulation of trace elements in plant tissues suggests that the site may not be suitable for urban agricultural production.

A. Hegazy · Scientific Journal of Flowers and Ornamental Plants /Scientific Journal of Flowers and Ornamental Plants · Egypt

This landscaping study, conducted from 2017-2018, investigated eight school gardens in Mansoura City and Talkha District, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt. The study revealed that most school gardens contained toxic plants like weeds and cacti, and that utilized areas were not correctly used with poor maintenance. Roof gardens and improved irrigation systems were suggested.

Nur Farzana Ahmad Sanadi, Chew Tin Lee, Mohammad Roji Sarmidi, Jiří Jaromír Klemeš, Zhenjia Zhang · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global

This study characterized the physical and nutrient properties of liquid fertiliser (compost leachate and compost tea) derived from different bio-waste composts and sought to establish a correlation between their nutrient composition and that of the resulting solid compost. It found that the liquid fertiliser contains nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus essential for plant growth but requires dilution or pre-treatment before use due to high organic content, and developed a formula, using graphical analysis and simple linear regression, that predicts solid compost nutrient composition from analysis of the liquid fertiliser.

Rosângela Aparecida de Medeiros Hespanhol, Antônio Nivaldo Hespanhol · Revista Campo-Território · Cuba

In Cuba, political and economic factors have made urban cultivation an important alternative for easing food supply and food security problems. Examining cases of organopónicos (organic urban farms) in the cities of Camagüey and Cienfuegos, the article shows that urban agriculture, structured on agroecological principles, is an important food-producing and job-generating activity that is closely integrated with the city's economy, ecology, and physical planning.

Ahmad Rifqi Fauzi, Casdi, Warid Warid · Jurnal Hortikultura Indonesia · Indonesia

A factorial randomized block trial at Universitas Trilogi's Kebun Bergizi garden and agroecotechnology laboratory in Indonesia (September-October 2018) tested five urea doses (0, 25, 50, 75, 100% of the recommended 250 kg/ha) against five concentrations of liquid organic fertilizer made from fisheries waste (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 ml/L), with 25 treatment combinations, six plants per experimental unit and four replications, totaling 600 sampled plants, on pakcoy. The combination of 50% urea dose with 2 ml/L fisheries-waste liquid fertilizer produced better growth results than the other control treatments, yielding 19.11 consumable leaves and 220.77 g fresh weight, both higher than the treatment using the full 100% urea dose.

Arne Backlund, Annette Holtze · Linnaeus Eco-Tech · Europe

A report on one of several wastewater projects run since 1998 by Storstrøm County and A & B Backlund ApS in Denmark, examining source-separating (diverting) toilet technology and the composition of collected human urine mixture and composted faeces, carried out under an Action Plan administered by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. User experience in the Danish projects shows the diverting technology is accepted in housing areas, works well in public places, and is highly appreciated in allotment gardens, though further technical improvement is still needed. Comparing the collected urine mixture's nutrient, heavy-metal, organic-compound and microorganism content against organic fertilizers used in Danish agriculture, the analyzed urine mixture was found to be of high quality.

Jeltsje de Kraker, Katarzyna Kujawa-Roeleveld, Marcelo Villena, C.P. Pabon Pereira · Sustainability · Global

A case study of Peñalolén, Santiago, Chile, examining the potential for decentralized recovery of nutrient-rich residual urban waste flows — organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus — using technical and socio-economic criteria. Kitchen waste, garden residues and urine were treated as system inputs, with urban agriculture, municipal green space and peri-urban agriculture as destinations for recovered nutrients; the technologies studied were anaerobic digestion, vermicomposting, composting, and urine storage with struvite precipitation. Material flow analysis compared the inputs and outputs of the traditional centralized waste management system against household- and municipality-level decentralized valorization scenarios. The findings show that decentralized valorization of kitchen and garden waste reduces landfill fees and waste-transport costs compared with the current centralized system.

Francisco Magalhães Araújo dos Santos, Eduardo Borges Chaves, Geane Andrade Carreiro, Marília S. Lima, Ewerton Gasparetto Silva, Cristovam Alves de Lima · · Brazil

This report describes a university extension activity at the community garden run by the Pastoral da Crianca (Children's Pastoral) in Uruçuí, Piauí state, Brazil — an organization active in the municipality for over 20 years, assisting more than 200 vulnerable children, with its garden managed by 14 members. Lacking a rational irrigation system and relying only on manual watering cans, the garden required heavy labor and imprecise water application and had not reached its maximum productive potential. After community sensitization and a topographic survey to size the system, a localized microsprinkler irrigation system was installed, with the executing team maintaining the garden through bed cleaning, weeding and irrigation management. Following installation, evaluation by the members managing the garden found reduced physical labor, decreased production losses during dry periods, and higher product quality that translated into increased earnings channeled back to those assisted by the Pastoral da Crianca, along with greater environmental awareness through more efficient water use.

Heather McIlvaine-Newsad, Rob Porter · Journal of Park and Recreation Administration · United States

This study describes how the creation of community gardens in four distinct communities in Puerto Rico led to a wide variety of socially just benefits, including recreation and food production, for participants. Ethnographic research conducted in Puerto Rico from 2016 to 2019 examined the role of community gardens before and after Hurricane Maria. The authors conclude that while these gardens may have been established for one purpose, that purpose evolved over time to meet the multiple needs and desires of participants. The main reason for creating the gardens was a desire to grow vegetables in a manner emulating the practices of Taino and Jibaro ancestors, with replicating a sustainable, environmentally friendly way of farming serving both as a statement about wanting to live in harmony with the land and a political statement about Puerto Rico's status in relation to the United States. Participants learned agroecology practices while creating spaces for leisure and social activities, and over time other forms of environmental and cultural education were incorporated; gardening together, people engaged in causes such as building renewable energy, strengthening intergenerational social bonds, and environmental and social activism. The bonds formed in these spaces prior to the hurricane produced knowledge, labor and infrastructure that helped these communities navigate the effects of Hurricane Maria.

Jamille Cavalcante Santos, Valdinéia Gusmão Silva · · Brazil

A study analyzed the feasibility of establishing an organic community garden at Erivaldo Cerqueira Lagoon Park in Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil, using interviews with park visitors. It concluded that implementing the garden is viable and desired by the majority of the visitors interviewed.

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group · C40 Cities · China

This case study describes how Chengdu's Xingrong community converted an unused rooftop space into a vegetable garden in 2014. The project uses three environmentally friendly methods—rainwater irrigation, food-waste composting, and natural pest control—with 23 of more than 50 households participating in shared cultivation and harvest distribution.

Jiménez-Antillón, J., Calleja-Amador, C., Romero-Esquivel, L. G. · Resources (MDPI), 7(4):84 · Global (Costa Rica; Japan-origin method)

A field study placing the Kitakyushu-origin 'Takakura' composting method—widely diffused in Surabaya, Indonesia—as small portable boxes in university offices and workplaces in Costa Rica. Processing food waste from 45 staff over six months, it shows that low-cost, citizen/workplace-scale fermentation composting is viable.

Casals J., Rivera A., Figàs M. R., Casañas C., Camí B., Soler S., Simó J. · Frontiers in Plant Science 9:1491 · Mediterranean

Compares lettuce landraces and modern varieties under Mediterranean winter organic farming, evaluating their agronomic and use value from the combined viewpoints of breeders, consumers and farmers.

Arredondo-Garrido D. · VLC arquitectura. Research Journal, 5(2), 29-58 · Germany

Contextualizes Migge's collaborations with architects such as Taut, Wagner and May, arguing for his key role in the success of 'productive Siedlungen' in which agriculture was fully integrated into modern housing estates.

Sabki M.H., Lee C.T., Bong C.P.C., Klemeš J.J. · Chemical Engineering Transactions, 70:49-54 · Asia (Indonesia, China)

Cost-benefit analysis of composting operations across Indonesia, China and Asian countries, evaluating economic viability of circular economy approaches in urban farming.