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2. Food production and resource use of urban farms and gardens: a five-country study
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Dorr, Erica (author), Hawes, Jason K. (author), Goldstein, Benjamin (author), Fargue-Lelièvre, Agnèsa (author), Fox-Kämper, Runrid Cohen, (author), Specht, Kathrind (author), Fedeńczak, Konstancja (author), Caputo, Silvio (author), Cohen, Nevin (author), Poniży, Lidiae (author), Schoen, Victoria (author), Górecki, Tomaszi (author), Newell, Joshua P. (author), Jean-Soro, Liliane (author), and Grard, Baptiste (author)
- Format:
- Journal Article
- Publication Date:
- 2023-02-01
- Published:
- United States: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12838
- Journal Title:
- Agronomy for Sustainable Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Online
- Notes:
- 17pgs, There is a lack of data on resources used and food produced at urban farms. This hampers attempts to quantify the environmental impacts of urban agriculture or craft policies for sustainable food production in cities. To address this gap, we used a citizen science approach to collect data from 72 urban agriculture sites, representing three types of spaces (urban farms, collective gardens, individual gardens), in five countries (France, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, and United States). We answered three key questions about urban agriculture with this unprecedented dataset: (1) What are its land, water, nutrient, and energy demands? (2) How productive is it relative to conventional agriculture and across types of farms? and (3) What are its contributions to local biodiversity? We found that participant farms used dozens of inputs, most of which were organic (e.g., manure for fertilizers). Farms required on average 71.6 L of irrigation water, 5.5 L of compost, and 0.53 m2 of land per kilogram of harvested food. Irrigation was lower in individual gardens and higher in sites using drip irrigation. While extremely variable, yields at well-managed urban farms can exceed those of conventional counterparts. Although farm type did not predict yield, our cluster analysis demonstrated that individually managed leisure gardens had lower yields than other farms and gardens. Farms in our sample contributed significantly to local biodiversity, with an average of 20 different crops per farm not including ornamental plants. Aside from clarifying important trends in resource use at urban farms using a robust and open dataset, this study also raises numerous questions about how crop selection and growing practices influence the environmental impacts of growing food in cities. We conclude with a research agenda to tackle these and other pressing questions on resource use at urban farms.
3. Improved management of grassland to promote sustainable use based on farm size
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- He, Xin (author), Wei, Jingru (author), Gu, Suhua (author), Wang, Luping (author), Tian, Zechen (author), Chen, Danqiong (author), and Yuan, Jiazhi (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2023-01-31
- Published:
- Switzerland: MDPI
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12797
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agriculture
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 13, Iss.2
- Notes:
- 13 pages, Grassland farms form the basis of grassland resource management in China. Farm sizes in China are generally small, which obviously increases the risk of grassland ecosystems. It is necessary to analyze the impact of farm size on grasslands from the perspective of livestock production in order to improve grassland management. This study combines field investigations and statistical analysis from 2004 to 2020, using a total of 126 farms from the Xilinguole League of Inner Mongolia in China as samples. These sample farms are divided into large farms and small farms. Different production scale and management behaviors are explored, along with their different impacts on grassland resources use. The results show that the expansion of farm size is constrained by the government management policies. Different behaviors are adopted by large and small farms in terms of finance, grassland circulation, and overgrazing management. The differentiation mechanisms of different farm size and the utilization of grassland resources are clarified in this study. This work suggests that managers promote sustainable use based on farm size and build appropriate policies to avoid future risks. The results of this study can provide a framework for solving similar problems.