Dr. Banarsi Lal
Agriculture has mainly four functions in urban areas such as subsistence,recreation,economics and community building.Thus,more than growing food in the urban areas,urban farming is associated with economic,social,ecological and physical components of the urban environment.Urban farming is a dynamic part of the urban socio-economic and ecological system,using urban resources,competing for land and water with other urban functions.In developing countries urban farming is more linked with economic and ecological needs whereas in developed nations it is associated with social,health-related and educational benefits.Challenges in urban agriculture are different in both developed and developing nations.Urban farming has been limitedly integrated into policy and planning due to many reasons including most of the urban farming initiatives.Urban farming is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing of food in and around the cities. It involves small scale agricultural operations in the urban areas. It is not a new concept. As human population progressed, agriculture was confined in the rural areas while urban population is involved in the trading activities.Pandemics, natural disasters and acts of man such as wars encouraged urban population to explore for the urban farming due to the disruption of food supply chain from the rural areas to the cities. This was happened in World War I and World War II when the urban population was encouraged to grow the food in their open spaces and reduced pressure on rural population. Urban farming can ensure food security to the urban dwellers. It can reduce the carbon emission by saving the fuel which otherwise is used in the transportation of food items from rural areas to cities. Urban agriculture can help to reduce the poverty and health concerns in the cities.There is need to create awareness on the multiple benefits of urban farming in cities.The broad range of urban farming includes such as home gardens,community gardens,urban gardens,educational and institutional gardens,vertical farming,hydroponics,aquaponics etc. There is need to evaluate opportunities to promote urban farming in the cities. According to the United Nations by 2050 more than two-third of population will live in the urban areas. Urban farming can play an important role in proving the food to this growing population. In recent decades urbanization has increased rapidly and this has caused nutritional problems in the cities. There is need to pay attention on the food security especially for the urban population. In cities there is pressure on the land due to population, construction of buildings, roads etc. But still there remains enough area where the fruits and vegetables cultivation can be done.Urban people can grow fruits and vegetables on their roofs. In this case hydroponics farming can play a significant role in urban farming. In Singapore 90 per cent of the food is imported and vertical and now-a-days roof top gardening has become very popular. During the outbreaks there is need to grow the vegetables and fruits in the urban areas so that nutritional problems of people can be solved. Roof top vegetables gardens provide the fresh organic vegetables. They also ensure a better living environment with cooler indoor temperature and fresh oxygen. There is need to understand the challenges and opportunities in urban farming under different socio-economic environments.During the COVID-19 pandemicthe restrictive movements affected the central nerve system of cities. The cities depend on the surrounding villages. This dependency puts the cities under threat. Such situation can also arise due to some other factors like extreme natural calamities. Rural-urban disturbances can affect the food supply chain. During lockdowns the traffic was banned across India except for essential services. The mainstream food supply chain was disturbed. Even before Coronavirus many urban areas were at risk due to climate change and related anomalies. There is need to promote the urban agriculture under the restrictive rural-urban movement. This can significantly contribute to the food supply to the urban dwellers.It has been observed that urban agriculture has the potential to produce huge amount of organic vegetables for the city dwellers. During COVID-19 pandemic urban areas were promoted to contribute immensely to provide the fresh and safe vegetables to the city people. During 2014 Ebola break urban agriculture was promoted in some countries. Corona virus lockdown pushed many city dwellers to grow fruit and vegetables in their respective homes. It boosted urban farming in the cities. There was panic buying specially in case of fruits and vegetables. Many of the people werescaring to purchase the fruits and vegetables. They felt problems to come to the vegetables and fruit shops under the lockdown period. By the urban farming, the unused land in the urban areas can be used efficiently. Urban farming can improve the food security and nutrition to the city dwellers. It lowers climate change impacts and also lowers stress in the rural areas.Sometimes we feel difficult to get the fresh organic vegetables in the urban areas.Sometimeswe find the overriped tomatoes and droopy spinach whenever we go to the vegetables shops. At this time of COVID-19 pandemic when the people were inside their homes, they started the roof top vegetables gardening. There is need to create awareness on the scientific method for the cultivation of roof vegetables. They were showing keen interest in roof top vegetables gardening.Some people developed the hobby and engagedthemselves in the roof top vegetables gardening.
There is an excellent opportunity for the urban planners to enhance urban areas sustainability by introducing urban farming into the planning agenda. In the urban farming,the first step is to prepare the soil. One can use compost and vermicompost to prepare the fertile soil for the roof top vegetables garden. The soil is filled in the pots or grow bags to sow the seeds or seedlings of different vegetables. After sowing the seeds the pots are covered with the plants leaves/straws. The leaves/straw act as the mulching material and help in conserving the moisture in the soil.There is need toavoid over watering to the plants as it can rotten the seeds or seedlings. It is easy to control the insect-pests and diseases in the roof top kitchen gardens. We can use organic inputs such as neem oil, neem cake, fermented butter milk, cow urine,Jeevamrit, panchgavya etc. in the roof top kitchen garden.Hydrponics and aquaponics can also be promoted to promote urban farming. Local food can be protected through roof top vegetables gardening.We can speed up the urban farmingto produce the fresh nutritious vegetables for the urban people. There is need to frame the proper policies for urban farming so that it can be done in a scientific and systematic way. There is need of proper wastewater management ,collection and its treatment in the urban areas.We need to have the deep understanding of urban farming.Holistic approaches are needed to promote the urban farming to create urban sustainability efficiently.More academic attention can be given to promote urban farming practices especially in the developing nations.There is need to understand the role of urban farming in climate resilience in cities.There is need of more studies to identify challenges and constraints for different urban farming models under different socio-economic conditions.
(The writer is Chief Scientist & Head of KVK Reasi)