Research & reports

Shazia Iram, Iftikhar Ahmad, Doris Stüben · Pakistan Journal of Botany · Asia

Soil samples were collected from peri-urban agricultural land in Lahore, Pakistan, irrigated by industrial and sewerage waste from the Hudiara drain, and from mine waste soil in Wiesloch, Germany, and analyzed for heavy metals by X-ray fluorescence and ICP-MS and for fungal diversity and frequency by a soil dilution method. X-ray fluorescence found higher Zn, As and Pb in the German mine waste soil, and the more sensitive ICP-MS found higher Fe, Mn, Cu, As, Sr, Mo, Cd, Sb, Ti, Zn and Pb there as well; the Pakistani peri-urban soils had lower heavy metal concentrations than the German mine waste but higher overall fungal frequency and diversity. Testing radial growth of isolated Aspergillus niger, A. flavus and A. nodulans against CdCl2, CuSO4, NiCl2 and ZnCl2 at 1-40 ppm, all tested fungi tolerated ZnCl2 (25 ppm) and NiCl2 (12 ppm) but none tolerated CdCl2 or CuSO4.

Tian Yu-min · Vocational and Technical Education · China

This policy discussion argues that to achieve the goal of developing modern coastal urban agriculture in Tianjin, China, agricultural colleges should make full use of talent, expertise, academic disciplines, and science and technology; form a rational, scientific teaching philosophy; innovate talent-training models; adjust specialty structures to match talent demand; reform education and teaching patterns; establish a system for popularizing agricultural science; build a system guiding graduates toward rural areas; and encourage graduates to work or start enterprises at the grassroots level in rural areas.

尚华夏, 俞继东, 周四清, 储健 · 江苏农村经济 · China

A study of Nanjing, China, analyzes the city's "One Village, One Product" development model under its urban agriculture strategy, reporting that Nanjing has 150 specialized villages and 10 specialized towns, more than half of which are effectively linked with leading agribusiness enterprises. It argues that cultivating dominant industries with clear comparative advantage — based on local resources, location, industrial base, and market conditions — underpins the "one village, one product / one town, one industry" approach.

Han Lu-yu · Chinese and Overseas Architecture · China

With the continuous promotion of social economy and living quality, the living behaviors of suburban residents are diversifying. Higher demands in spirit, culture, and leisure entertainment are driving the construction of more community gardens. Gangcheng Garden, a large new community garden in northern Gaoqiao Town, with its natural and comfortable landscaping environment and various leisure, cultural, and gymnastic facilities, has become a place for leisure, entertainment, neighborly communication, and refuge.

Euis Suryaningsih · Jurnal Hortikultura · Indonesia (Bandung)

From January to July 2001, a field experiment on vegetable disease control in a mosaic farming system in periurban agriculture was conducted at a farmer's field in Rancaekek, Bandung, Indonesia. Treatments included white plastic net cages, biorational pesticides, Bacillus subtilis, a mixture of Mancozeb and Bacillus subtilis, and an unsprayed control. All tested alternative control methods were very effective against major diseases of chili pepper, shallot, eggplant, beans, and cucumber, but the use of poisonous synthetic pesticides in periurban agriculture increases the likelihood of contaminating humans and the environment.

丁婕 · 中国花卉园艺 · China

A news brief reports that Ningxia's first "farmer ecological park" was completed and opened to the public at the Taqiao flower garden zone in Xingqing district, Yinchuan city, China. Xingqing district is described as shifting its agricultural development model toward modern urban agriculture and urban-rural integration, positioning facility agriculture and the flower industry as the centerpiece of agricultural restructuring and a new source of farmer income.

XU Yong-xian, Biao Huang · Soils · China

A study of a small-scale vegetable farming system in peri-urban Nanjing, China, monitored heavy metal balances and pollution potential from July 2003 to July 2004. Heavy metals entered the soil mainly through fertilization and irrigation, with organic manure application accounting for more than 98% of inputs. Annual heavy metal input in the area was significantly higher than in European farmland, while annual output was very low, under 10% of input, leading to accumulation of heavy metals in the plots; long-term vegetable cultivation had already caused heavy metal buildup in the soils. Copper, lead, zinc, and cadmium concentrations in vegetables and soil were still below national safety standard limits, so the vegetable farming system was assessed as currently safe. However, an evaluation that incorporated atmospheric deposition showed the region carries a high risk of copper, zinc, and cadmium contamination, and the study concludes that intensive vegetable cultivation will aggravate soil heavy metal pollution, potentially pushing the soil to Second Grade of the National Soil Environment Quality Standard within several decades.

Yang Zheng · Zhongguo shengtai nongye xuebao · China (Shanghai)

A text on Shanghai, China (2008) discusses the concept, characteristics, and scope of "urban modern fishery" as a component of urban agriculture and a foundation of Shanghai's ecologically sustainable development, analyzing the status and function of fishery within Shanghai's urban agriculture. It proposes that the structure of urban modern fishery in Shanghai incorporate three sectors: an economic sector covering ordinary aquaculture, specialty-species aquaculture, distant-water fishery, aquatic product manufacturing, and modern aquatic logistics; an ecological sector covering aquatic ecological industry and recreational fishery; and a knowledge-based sector covering hatchery fishery, fishery information industry, and fishery technology services.

Do Thuy Trang, Kåre Mølbak, Phung Dac Cam, Anders Dalsgaard · Tropical Medicine & International Health · Vietnam (Hanoi)

A cross-sectional study in a peri-urban area of Hanoi, Vietnam, surveyed 400 agricultural households and examined 807 stool samples from 620 adults and 187 children for helminth infections. The study found that 39% of samples were infected with helminths, with Ascaris sp. at 21.6%, Trichuris sp. at 9.8%, and hookworm at 21.8%. Wastewater exposure was not a major risk, but lack of sanitation facilities and use of fresh or inadequately composted human excreta in agriculture were important risk factors for infection.

이민수, 박덕병, 황대용 · 농어촌관광연구 · South Korea

A cost-benefit analysis of Sunchang County's 2007 pilot "allotment garden with log house" program (family farm-stay plots), launched by South Korea's Rural Development Administration in JeonBuk Province, using the county's internal records and interviews with project managers. The analysis found the program to be an inefficient business with a weak cost-benefit structure that produced a negative net benefit: at an assumed 6.5% discount rate, net present value was estimated at -262 million won, with a benefit-cost ratio of 0.70 and an internal rate of return of 2.7%. The authors nonetheless conclude the program is worth maintaining as part of the government's balanced regional development policy.

Ji-Hye Moon · · Korea

This report by Moon, Ji-Hye, published in 2006 by the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center, discusses newly developed technologies and innovations in urban and peri-urban agriculture in Korea.

马卫光 · 宁波通讯 · China (Ningbo)

Since the Central Committee's strategic deployment for building new socialist rural areas, Zhenhai District in China has actively implemented policies, making new rural construction a priority for the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan." The district formulated guidelines, outlining key tasks such as developing urban agriculture, boosting village economies, increasing farmers' income, accelerating infrastructure, and expanding public services to rural areas. Zhenhai District has rapidly advanced the construction of new rural communities, emphasizing integrated urban-rural planning and coordinated development, resulting in well-planned, clean, well-serviced, culturally rich, democratically managed, and comfortable rural communities.

莉莉 木南, 章 木南, 美華 朱 · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · China (Shanghai)

This research aims to analyze the sustainability of urban agriculture in Shanghai, China, from the aspects of economic efficiency, sociality, and environmental conservation. These aspects will be evaluated using a questionnaire survey method targeting residents on urban agriculture.

Cheng Xu · · China (Beijing)

This study examined environmental protection consciousness and willingness to pay (WTP) for agricultural non-point pollution in a suburban agricultural area in Beijing, China, using the contingent valuation method (CVM). Survey results showed that residents' environmental protection consciousness is rising, with a positive relationship between educated ages and family net income with WTP, but a negative relationship between interviewee age and WTP. The averaged WTP was 49.18 yuan RMB per capita, and the total WTP for Shunyi district was about 26.81 million yuan RMB in 2002.

H. Chin, M.C. Palada · HortScience · Southeast Asia

A study developed a simple, rapid method for measuring nitrate-N accumulation against a backdrop of heavy nitrogen fertilizer use in intensive leafy vegetable production in peri-urban Southeast Asia. Five vegetables—amaranth, kangkong, Ethiopian kale, choysum, and leafy lettuce—were grown under eight N fertilizer levels from 0 to 350 kg/ha applied in three splits, with nitrate-N in leaf, petiole, and whole-plant sap measured using a Cardy nitrate meter and chlorophyll measured with a chlorophyll meter. Nitrate accumulation varied by species: at 200 kg/ha N, Ethiopian kale was highest (7,000 ppm), followed by kangkong (4,000 ppm), amaranth (3,500 ppm), and leafy lettuce (1,200 ppm), with significant correlations (P < 0.001) between fertilizer rate and nitrate content and between leaf chlorophyll and yield.

沈永昌 · 上海农村经济 · China (Shanghai)

In Jinshan District, Shanghai, China, the development of facility agriculture has led to the rapid growth of urban agriculture, technology-driven agriculture, service agriculture, and ecological agriculture, significantly contributing to increased agricultural efficiency and farmer income. Last year, the district's average agricultural output per mu reached 2,870 yuan, a 19.1% increase year-on-year. Farmers' per capita income was 5,456 yuan, an 11.6% increase from the previous year, ranking among the highest growth rates in the city's suburbs.

张兆康 · 上海蔬菜 · China

This short report on a Chinese suburban district notes that vegetable cultivation, with its short cycle and high returns, has become a key route to prosperity for suburban farmers and the leading industry of urban agriculture there. It states that base vegetable area reached 381.2 hectares, plus 840 hectares of year-round vegetable area in farming zones, bringing the district's total vegetable area to 1,220 hectares, or 14.4% of its cultivated land.

You Shao · · China (Chongqing)

This paper examines the development of urban agricultural industrialization in the metropolitan periphery, using Chongqing, China, as an example. It identifies the position, role, and favorable conditions of urban agriculture, which embodies economic, social, and ecological functions. The study also highlights existing problems in Chongqing's agricultural industrialization and proposes countermeasures.

李群生, 刘汉文 · 湖北农机化 · China (Wuhan)

This survey reports on the situation in the suburbs of Wuhan City since July 2003, where agricultural machinery services have contributed to increased agricultural efficiency and farmer income in urban agriculture development, while also addressing high temperatures and drought. Agricultural machinery was utilized for harvesting early rice and corn, tilling paddy fields and vegetable plots, and pumping water for drought relief.

吳宗瓊, 鄭智鴻, 楊淑涓, 莊庭禎 · · Taiwan

This study examined visitor characteristics, recreation motives, experiences, and satisfactions in Taiwanese citizen farms, and analyzed product service strategies. It found significant differences in visitor characteristics and visiting patterns between "Farm-practices-oriented" and "Recreation-oriented" types of citizen farms. The paper discusses product service and marketing strategies for both types based on these empirical findings.

Nigel Poole, DS Bhupal, Fiona Marshall, Dolf te Lintelo · · India

New knowledge is presented on the impacts of urban and peri-urban (UPU) environmental pollution on food safety attributes of vegetable marketing systems in India. Air pollution reduces crop yield and nutritional quality, and is a major source of particulate contaminants that accumulate at toxic levels in edible crops. The study explores the balance between public and private quality assurance initiatives and identifies wholesale markets as a potential entry point for quality assurance.

Hans Jansen, David J. Midmore, P.H. Binh, S. Valasayya, L.C. Tru · Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science · Vietnam

This study in peri-urban Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, examined the income and cropping systems of small vegetable farms (average 0.8 ha, 60% dedicated to vegetables). Vegetables yielded about $1000 in total revenues or $650 added value per farm annually, with added value per hectare per day being double or more than that for rice. Constraints included labor limitations (especially for irrigation), high input costs for organic materials, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides, as well as pests, low and variable vegetable prices, and an apparent overuse of chemical fertilizers and insecticides.