Research & reports

Eun Yu, Yu Bin Yang, Seo Yoon Park, Eun Bin Jeon, Chae Rim Oh · Journal of Basic Design & Art · South Korea

Focusing on public community garden plots along Nowon-gu's Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail in Seoul, South Korea, this study used a Research Through Design methodology to develop a mobile application for integrated garden plot management. Surveying stakeholders, including potential users, connected to garden plots and weekend farms to identify problems and opportunity areas, the project developed service ideas and features including crop-management functions, a farm-tool rental function, and a community function allowing garden-plot users in a given area to communicate and help one another.

Dwiyana Anela Kurniasari, Siti Alimah, Agus Subhan Prasetyo, Nur Hafif · Prosiding Seminar Nasional Gender & Inklusi Sosial UWP · Indonesia

A study analyzed participation levels among PKK (Family Welfare and Empowerment) members in RT05/RW06 of the Balasklumprik area in Wiyung district, Surabaya, Indonesia, in a hydroponics training program conducted by the Agribusiness Study Program of Universitas Wijaya Putra in July 2020. Participation rates were 100% for seedling-raising training, 80% for hydroponic nutrition training, 86.67% success in the first pakcoy harvest, and 73.33% of members continued hydroponic cultivation after the training; descriptive analysis concluded that PKK members participated well in each activity of the hydroponics program.

Nur Khasanah · Medikonis · Indonesia

A study examined an urban farming program aimed at increasing national income in Indonesia's Sulampua (Sulawesi-Maluku-Papua) region, using SWOT analysis to identify the program's weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to formulate strategies for optimizing its implementation. Based on the analysis, it recommends that government develop an appropriate urban farming concept, formulate related policy, educate the public, and provide supporting facilities and marketing assistance, that communities select appropriate seedlings and carry out farming practices diligently, and that the private sector provide business-oriented education and CSR funding.

Deni Irfayanti, Putri Wahyu Ningsih · Jurnal Pembelajaran Pemberdayaan Masyarakat (JP2M) · Indonesia

A report on a community-service program (KKN-PPM) run by Universitas Islam Malang (UNISMA) as part of its COVID-19 response in Telanaipura District, Jambi City, Indonesia. To secure protein intake for middle-class households during the pandemic, participants used small plots of land around homes to raise catfish and grow vegetables such as water spinach through "budikdamber" (bucket-based fish farming). The output was used to meet household food needs and support local household economics; the report states this urban-farming activity strengthened both food security and community mutual-aid ties.

Muhammad Fiar Sandika, Ina Helena Agustina · Prosiding Perencanaan Wilayah dan Kota · Indonesia

A study of resident preferences regarding urban farming in Astanaanyar District, Bandung City, Indonesia, during the COVID-19 pandemic, aimed at formulating development directions based on those preferences. It combined a qualitative descriptive method to identify preferences with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as a quantitative approach; urban farming activity was already occurring in the district but was not optimized. The results point toward developing urban farming on private and shared/government land, growing vegetable or plant-protein food crops using conventional or hydroponic methods or rooftop-garden/vertical techniques, first for personal consumption and then for sale.

Retno Purwani Setyaningrum, Arsi Yulianjani, Igor Fadhilah Hibatullah · · Indonesia

A community outreach report from Pasirsari sub-district, Bekasi Regency, West Java, Indonesia, describing an urban-farming program combining deliberation meetings, extension talks and vegetable-growing practice aimed at building clean, healthy neighborhood behavior. The report concludes that most Pasirsari residents showed strong interest in the urban-farming concept, without presenting further outcome data.

In-Kyoung Hong, Hyung-Kwon Yun, Young-Bin Jung, Sang-Mi Lee, Choon-soo Lee · Journal of people, plants, and environment · South Korea

A contactless online survey of 1,010 parents of elementary, middle, and high school students across Korea's five major districts, conducted October 22-26, 2020 (5 days) by a Korean survey agency (M), analyzing the data with SPSS for Windows 25.0 and Excel. Respondents averaged 1.83 (children per household), and 52.8% were male. 55.3% were aware of education services using school gardens, and 27.9% had experienced such a service. Overall, 79% considered the service necessary; among parents who had experienced it, 91.8% said it was necessary. Of all respondents, 54.9% were willing to pay for school garden costs; when income tax was used as the payment method, the average willingness to pay was 13,193 KRW, equivalent to a 2.02% tax rate. Parents who had experienced the service showed higher perceived need and willingness to pay than those who had not, but their actual stated amount or tax rate was lower because they knew how the program was actually run.

Dwi Aditiyarini, Catarina Aprilia Ariestanti, Aniek Prasetyaningsih, Timothy Charles Wherrett, Hardo Firmana Given Grace Manik, Katon Wijana · Sendimas 2021 - Seminar Nasional Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia

A community-service report on Kampung Sayur Bausasran, a pilot urban agriculture district in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where the COVID-19 pandemic had reduced productivity and community engagement. Academics from Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDW) ran an empowerment program covering six farmer groups and one Food Yard Movement (Gerakan Pekarangan Pangan) plot, addressing human resources, business, institutional, and environmental development through training, application and simulation of knowledge and technology. Needs were first mapped through interviews with each farmer group's leadership; needs differed by condition, location and land area, but all centered on agriculture-related support, and simple hydroponic cultivation was introduced as one solution. Supporting activities included beautifying the vegetable village and improving management and administration, aimed at developing the area toward education-based ecotourism. The program was well received by village officials and farmer group leaders, producing greened vegetable alleys, diversified processed products, and a website and social media for promotion. The report identifies remaining needs for more detailed mapping of each farmer group's potential and for human-resource development programs to raise community motivation for advancing urban agriculture.

Sangmi Lee, Hyung Kwon Yun, Young-Bin Jung, In-Kyoung Hong · Journal of people, plants, and environment · South Korea

Using South Korea's public service design process (Ministry of the Interior and Safety, 2019) — comprising understanding, discovering needs, defining problems, and developing ideas — researchers analyzed how to manage and operate "urban agricultural parks," a park category established under the 2013 revision of the Act on Urban Parks, Green Areas, Etc. The process generated four idea types for revitalizing these parks: providing information users want, enabling user participation in design, serving as a venue for local communities, and functioning as spaces for health and rest, concluding that such parks need more systematic, diverse operating systems tied to local community revitalization rather than the passive, unified space patterns of conventional urban parks.

Syariful Mubarok, Salsabila Ananda, Farida Farida, Ainun Fadilah, Rija Sudirja · Kultivasi · Indonesia

An experiment conducted from August to September 2020 in a densely populated residential area on Jalan Caringin Raya, Bekasi City, Indonesia, used a Randomized Block Design to grow two amaranth (bayam) cultivars, 'Maestro' and 'Mira,' under three different cultivation systems — conventional, verticulture, and floating-raft hydroponics — with four replications each, on narrow urban plots. The results showed that amaranth grown under the floating-raft hydroponic system produced the best growth, yield, yield quality, and revenue compared with the conventional and verticulture systems.

Sai Balakrishnan · Cornell University Press eBooks · India

This chapter analyzes the regional class and caste politics of large-scale land investment in Maharashtra, India, through the case of the Khed Special Economic Zone (SEZ), where peri-urban agricultural land was converted into urban real estate. Dominant agrarian castes, long invested in commodity agriculture and closely tied to urban capital, protested vociferously against land acquisition for the SEZ, while Adivasi ("tribal") and Dalit groups historically dependent on land classified as "waste" embraced the forced acquisition. Historic narratives linking poor land quality to the social backwardness of those occupying "wasteland" were leveraged by these lower-caste and lower-class groups themselves to frame land expropriation as a path into the urban economy. The chapter concludes that fictions of "waste" that had previously excluded the most socially subordinated groups from commodity agriculture became, in this case, an instrument of urban inclusion.

Muhammad Taqiyudin Majid, Nurul Aini · Jurnal Produksi Tanaman · Indonesia

Although white radish (Raphanus sativus L.) can be cultivated throughout Indonesia, it is grown in only a few regions; this study examined expanding cultivation via urban farming by testing the interaction between polybag size and planting media composition on growth and yield. Conducted from March to April 2020 in a greenhouse at the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, the study used a factorial randomized group design with two factors and three replications: polybag size (30×15 cm = U1, 35×17.5 cm = U2, 40×20 cm = U3) and cocopeat:compost:sand ratio (1:1:1 = K1, 1:3:1 = K2, 1:1:3 = K3, 3:1:1 = K4). Results showed the appropriate media composition depended on polybag size: the 30×15 cm and 35×17.5 cm polybags produced the highest fresh weight with a cocopeat:compost:sand ratio of 3:1:1, while the 40×20 cm polybag with a 1:1:1 ratio increased the fresh weight of radish tubers.

E. Ramanujam, S. Padmavathi, Nashwa Ahmad Kamal · International Journal of Sociotechnology and Knowledge Development · India

Rooftop farming is gaining popularity for growing organic vegetables with minimal water use, but is highly vulnerable to pest infestation, and urban residents new to farming often fail to notice pest attacks. Noting that existing image-processing and machine-learning pest identification systems are typically disease-specific with low generalization accuracy and poor usability, this paper proposes a mobile-based pest identification system built on a pretrained convolutional neural network model (AlexNet). Various rooftop pests were evaluated experimentally using different kernel sizes and layer configurations, and the best-performing pretrained model was converted into a mobile application via a REST API to provide pesticide recommendations to novice users.

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.

Jin-Hee Ju, Hee-Yeon Song, Deuk-Kyun Oh, Sun-Yeong Park, Yong-Han Yoon · Journal of Environmental Science International · South Korea

This study, conducted from April to September 2019 on the rooftop of Konkuk University's Glocal Campus in South Korea, evaluated growth, physiological responses, and productivity for different intercropping ratios of cherry tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) with basil (Ocimum basilicum) on rooftops. Five treatments -- single tomato (TC), 2:1 tomato-to-basil (T2B1), 1:1 (T1B1), 1:2 (T1B2), and single basil (BC) -- were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications (15 plots total), measuring plant height, leaf length and width, leaf number, root length, root collar caliper, chlorophyll content, fresh and dry weight, fruit number, fruit caliper, fruit weight, and sugar content. The comparative analysis found growth, physiological, and productivity responses to be efficient when the tomato-to-basil ratio was 2:1 or 1:1.

Teguh Husodo, Keukeu Kaniawati Rosada, Mia Miranti, Nining Ratningsih, Suryana Suryana · Kumawula Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (UMKM) are described as a community effort at self-empowerment aimed at creating independent business opportunities that rely on the community's own abilities and creativity, an effort requiring entrepreneurship support to build understanding of production processes and product benefits. Seven of thirty UMKM in Desa Cinunuk, Bandung Regency, Indonesia (divided into six categories), were analyzed using nine indicators of the business model canvas method. One developed UMKM was additionally identified as potential not only from an economic standpoint but also for community empowerment: use of residents' narrow landholdings combined with the ease of production under the urban farming concept was seen as capable of becoming an iconic business for Desa Cinunuk. The Women Farmers Group (KWT) of Desa Cinunuk is described as having the potential to develop into an advanced UMKM through entrepreneurship support such as completing licensing, pharmacological testing, and certification.

Pedada Sindhusha · Journal of Food & Nutritional Disorders · India

As India's urban population grows, demand for food and food expenditure are rising while farmland is being converted to residential, commercial or industrial use. The paper argues that rooftop vegetable farming is a feasible option to address these pressures and the contamination risks of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, by shortening food transport distances, raising food-production awareness, and supporting nutrition, health and economic status. It states that rooftop vegetable farming can supply quality, hygienic vegetables, lower household vegetable spending, improve air quality and absorb carbon, and reduce climate change effects. No data or survey results are presented.

Etika Larasati, Agriani Hermita Sadeli · MIMBAR AGRIBISNIS Jurnal Pemikiran Masyarakat Ilmiah Berwawasan Agribisnis · Indonesia

Using a case study of IJO Hydro Rooftop Garden and Hydroponic Market, an edible-flower vendor in Indonesia, this study conducted a quantitative survey of 51 respondents and used descriptive analysis of the affective attitude attribute to examine consumer attitudes toward edible flowers as a commodity. Most respondents showed favorable affective attitudes overall; the attribute rated highest was that edible flowers are "attractive," while the attribute rated lowest was that they are "important."

Siti Hayati Efi Friantin, Ika Swasti Putri · TA AWUN · Indonesia

In the Cinderejo Kidul area of Gilingan Village, Banjarsari District, Surakarta, Indonesia, a community service program trained residents in urban farming—using narrow plots or house yards—as a way to reduce household expenses during the Covid-19 pandemic. The activity reported that participants were able to apply urban farming techniques in their surrounding environment following the training.

Shrabana Mazumder, Joydeep Saha, Gouranga Nandi, Mrinmoyee Naskar, Jibananda Gayen, Debajit Datta · SN Applied Sciences · India

A study of the Kolkata Metropolitan Area, India, used free and open-source geospatial software and multi-temporal databases to assess land use/land cover change from 1990 to 2020, focusing on the transformation of urban and peri-urban agricultural land, and projected cropland change to 2030 using an artificial neural network module (MOLUSCE). Built-up areas persistently expanded into croplands, wetlands, vegetation, and water bodies throughout the period, with an estimated loss of 181.11 sq km of cropland between 1990 and 2020, concentrated in the northern, eastern, and south-eastern parts of the study area. The 2030 projection indicates a further loss of 15.46 sq km, bringing the cumulative cropland loss to 37.39% of its 1990 extent under current socio-economic and administrative conditions.

CGTN · CGTN (China Global Television Network) · China

Beijing implemented compulsory four-category household waste sorting for 21 million residents starting May 1, 2020. One year in, daily waste collection fell from 27,700 tonnes (2019) to 20,600 tonnes (early 2021), the recycling rate reached 37.5%, and separated food-waste volume rose to nearly 11.6 times the pre-regulation level.

Santiteerakul S., Sopadang A., Yaibuathet Tippayawong K., Tamvimol K. · Sustainability (MDPI) · Thailand

Case study of Thailand's Wangree Health Factory plant factory showing how smart technology enhances productivity, product quality, resource-use efficiency, food safety, and employee quality of life, evidencing the business performance of corporate urban farming.

Pham T.T.H., Turner S. · Land Use Policy · Vietnam (Lào Cai)

Research in Lào Cai, a small border city in northern Vietnam, finds that access to 'safe and clean' vegetables—motivated by distrust of pesticide use—is the primary driver of urban food growing, rather than subsistence food needs.

· Landscape Ecology · China

Examines whether developing a few large or many small cities minimizes farmland loss from urban expansion in China.

Jing R., Hastings A., Guo M. · iScience · China (Shanghai)

A whole-system modeling study integrating biogeochemical simulation and energy system optimization to evaluate rooftop agriculture options and photovoltaics for a Shanghai case, finding conditioned greenhouses can deliver environmentally sustainable land use.