Research & reports

Dong BaoCheng, Wei Li, Wenyong Xu · Antibiotics · China

A field experiment in peri-urban agricultural soil in China investigated the effects of partially substituting chemical fertilizer with organic fertilizers like pig manure and sewage sludge on soil quality and antibiotic residues. Organic substitution significantly increased residual antibiotic levels in agricultural soil, with antibiotic sequestration rising by 138.1~332.5%. This indicated that organic fertilizers can promote antibiotic persistence in soil by modifying soil quality, demonstrating a contamination risk.

Zachary Burt, C. Shambu Prasad, Pay Drechsel, Isha Ray · Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development · India (Karnataka)

A preference-ranking model was developed to understand the acceptance of fecal sludge-derived fertilizer (FSF) in Karnataka, India, by modeling farmowners and farmworkers separately. The study found that farmers willing to use FSF prefer to conceal its origins from workers and their caste group, especially caste-adhering, vegetarian farmowners. Workers were open to FSF if it resembled cow manure, revealing that the waste economy in rural India is shaped by unacknowledged caste hierarchies and 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.

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.

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.

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.

Sugeng Triyono, Fadli Afrizki Surya Aditama, Elhamida Rezkia, D Dermiyati, Jamalam Lumbanraja · World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews · Indonesia

This pot experiment in Indonesia investigated the effect of medium size and organic compost dosage on the growth and yield of red lettuce. Red lettuce growth was depressed at 1kg and 3kg medium sizes but grew more freely at 5kg. The study found that the 3kg medium size with 10% compost dose yielded 75.3g per plant, which was considered the most optimum treatment due to using the least medium and compost, despite restricted growth.

Tao Li, Jiequn Fan, Qian ZhenGuan, Guohui Yuan, Dandan Meng, Shuiliang Guo, Weiguang Lv · Weed Science · China

A 5-year experiment (2015-2019) in China compared weed occurrence in a corn–earthworm coculture (CE) system and a corn monoculture (CM). The CE system significantly decreased weed diversity, dominance index, total weed density, and biomass, while increasing the weed evenness index. The 5-year mean number of weed species per plot was 8.4 in CE versus 10.7 in CM, and total weed density and biomass in CE decreased by 59.2% and 66.6% respectively compared to CM.

Ahmad Shabir Hozad · Environmental Research and Technology · Thailand

This study investigated the effects of human urine as fertilizer on butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea) plants in a green wall system on the AIT campus. Applied at a nitrogen loading rate of up to 0.73 g N m-2 week-1 (104.28 mL urine m-2 week-1) for 16 weeks, urine fertilizer positively affected the food production, inflorescences, and health of butterfly pea plants, indicating it is suitable for green walls. This method could reduce campus wastewater load and save on expensive wastewater treatment.

Ni Made Sudri, Iyus Hendrawan, Mohamad Hardiyanto · Empowerment in the Community · Indonesia (South Tangerang City)

The Indonesian Institute of Technology (BLK) provided integrated waste processing assistance at TPST-3R Batan Indah to support the South Tangerang City Government's waste management program. The challenge was 2000 kg of waste generated daily from 1114 households, with 70% (1.4 tons) going to the Cipeucang landfill. This assistance aims to produce energy and compost, leading to zero waste and supporting urban farming.

Sugeng Triyono · · Indonesia

This study observed the effect of medium size and organic compost dosage on the growth and yield of red lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var red rapids) in pots. A 3x4 factorial treatment in a completely randomized design with 3 replicates tested medium sizes (1kg, 3kg, 5kg) and organic compost dosages (0%, 10%, 30%, 50%). Results showed that red rapid lettuce growth was depressed at 1kg and 3kg medium sizes but grew more freely at 5kg. The treatment combination of 3kg medium size-10% compost dose, yielding 75.3g per plant, was considered the most optimum due to using the least amount of medium and compost, despite restricted growth.

Fetty Dwi Rahmayanti · · Indonesia (Jakarta)

This research focuses on utilizing waste chicken and duck eggshells as organic fertilizer for shallot plants cultivated in pots, particularly in Cipinang Melayu Village, East Jakarta, Indonesia. The study aims to process eggshell waste into eggshell flour fertilizer to provide nutrition for shallot plants. During the research, each stage of shallot growth and development will be observed from planting to harvesting.

Udhayabanu.D, Sharmilabanu.D · Studies in Indian Place Names · India

This study investigates rooftop farming in an urban area in India, focusing on the growth ratios of two plants cultivated using different substrate ratios, including garden soil and kitchen waste compost. Measurements included stem height, leaf height, girth, root height, and total growth time. The study suggests that rooftop cultivation contributes to environmental sustainability by increasing green cover, reducing carbon levels, and decreasing household organic kitchen waste.

Pawan Gajbe · Agricultural Science Digest - A Research Journal · India (Nagpur)

An experiment was conducted in Nagpur city, India, from July 2019 to March 2020, to grow herbs and vegetables on a 230 sq ft rooftop area. The experiment produced 61.7 kg of pesticide-free vegetables using sustainable farming methods, including cultural pest management, composting household green waste, and irrigating with harvested rainwater and greywater. The results indicate that sustainable urban rooftop farming can be an innovative means to promote urban agriculture without harming the environment.

Yusvita Nena Arinta · International Journal Ihya Ulum al-Din · Indonesia

This article proposes urban farming as a method to implement a green economy in Indonesia, aligning with Maqashid Shariah principles. It argues that urban farming, by producing, processing, and selling food and energy using natural resources and urban waste, can achieve economic quality growth, environmental efficiency, and social growth. This approach aims to maintain sustainable ecosystems and improve welfare, moving beyond conventional economic trends.

Aditya Dyah Utami, Mukti Ahmad Nur Cahya, Olivia Elfatma, Koko Setiawan · PRIMA Journal of Community Empowering and Services · Indonesia (Yogyakarta)

Urban elementary schools often have minimal green open spaces, making it difficult to implement green school programs, as seen at SD Islamiyah Warungboto Yogyakarta. Introducing verticulture technology to students is a solution, implemented through preparation, execution, and final stages. Students learn about verticulture generally, then receive training in designing verticulture systems, gaining knowledge of its benefits and supporting green school programs.

Wanti Mindari, Widi Wurjani, Purnomo Edi Sasongko · Jurnal Peduli Masyarakat · Indonesia

A community outreach report on urban farming training and planting-media modification for the women farmers' group PKK RT 03/RW 08 in Rewwin, Waru, Sidoarjo, Indonesia, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Planting media mixed soil with non-soil materials (compost, rice husk, cocopeat, manure), with drip irrigation applied twice daily (morning and evening) and NPK fertilizer given as a base dose plus four follow-up applications of 20 g per plant. In a demonstration plot growing tomatoes in 5-kilogram pots, the medium combining soil, compost, husk, and manure produced the highest and best tomato yield compared with mixes lacking one of those components.

Miftachul Zannah, Sitawati Sitawati · PLANTROPICA Journal of Agricultural Science · Indonesia

A field trial on the sixth-floor rooftop of the central building at the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia, conducted from December 2019 to March 2020, tested the effect of intercropping on cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) growth and yield in a rooftop garden system. Using a randomized block design with six treatments and four replications, intercropping reduced cauliflower's growth and yield parameters but raised the land equivalent ratio (LER) above 1, except when intercropped with pakcoy or water spinach; LER reached 1.74 with sweet corn, 1.57 with upright common beans, and 1.27 with broccoli.

Anders Sybrandt Hansen · Journal of Current Chinese Affairs · China

This article focuses on organic farming, which has grown in response to unsafe food on the Chinese market, based on ethnographic fieldwork at one such farm in northern China. While the farm's Community Supported Agriculture model relies on establishing personal trust with member households, the entire organic farming project is shown to be undergirded by strong expressions of solidarity with conventional farmers. The article proposes an extended concept of moral economies to capture the coexistence of differential care alongside horizontal solidarities within contemporary China's moral landscape.

Rebecca S. Lewis · Digital Commons @ Butler University (Butler University) · United States (Indianapolis)

This project aimed to test if common urban farming management processes increase soil ecosystem health in Indianapolis. Researchers analyzed organic matter composition, carbon and nitrogen percentages, carbon-nitrogen ratio, soil pH, and bulk density from soil samples collected at multiple sites across the city. The study hypothesized that soil samples from actively farmed land would show increased health indicators, making them more similar to naturally established ecosystems than unfarmed controls.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Blake T. Moskal, Sean T. Berthrong · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Indianapolis)

The study tested a barrier strategy used by urban farmers in Indianapolis—layering wood chips between contaminated or low-quality background soil and healthy growing media—for protecting urban growing beds. Despite a limited sample, barriers appeared effective at separating contaminated soils from growing beds, and farming with barriers or in non-contaminated soil improved soil nutrients and physical characteristics, though phosphorus was very high in many beds, posing a potential risk to waterways.