And crops grown in fully controlled environments can be grown throughout the year, allowing harvests to happen more times per year than in open-air environments, which leads to higher annual yields. Other crops, like watery vegetables (e.g., tomatoes) and leafy greens, performed well in hydroponic environments. “You can’t exactly stack up apple trees in a five or ten-layer high growth chamber,” he says, “though we did find one study that managed to grow wheat stacked up like that.” Certain crops like lettuces, kale and broccoli are more naturally suited to be grown vertically in indoor spaces than others. “Surprisingly, there were few differences between overall yields in indoor spaces and outdoor green spaces, but there were clear differences in the suitability of crop types to different gray spaces,” Dr Florian Payen, lead author and researcher from Lancaster Environment Centre says. In both green and gray spaces, the study examines a suite of crops grown in soils versus hydroponics, horizontal versus vertical farming, and natural versus controlled conditions. This paper includes ‘gray’ spaces - places in cities that are already built but could be used for growing, such as rooftops and building facades. Most studies on urban agriculture have focused on green spaces, such as private and community gardens, parks and field growing operations. Cost efficiency remains an open but important question. Many other urban crops studied are produced at similar or higher rates than in rural settings. The researchers find that urban yields for some crops, like cucumbers, tubers and lettuces, are two to four times higher than conventional farming. The new paper compiles studies on urban agriculture from 53 countries to find out which crops grow well in cities, what growing methods are most effective, and which spaces can be utilised for growing. “In this work we set out to examine the global evidence base and gather the hard evidence on whether towns and cities can provide good food growing environments?” “Urban food growing is often dismissed as something that cannot meaningfully contribute to food security”, said Professor Jess Davies, project lead for the Rurban Revolution project that developed this study. A new study led by Lancaster University researchers finds urban gardeners and hydroponics can meet and sometimes exceed the yields of rural farms. But little is known about how productive urban agriculture is compared to conventional, rural farming. Urban crops can have higher yields than conventional farmingĢ5 August 2022 15:40 © Roots in the City Community Garden, LiverpoolĪs urban populations boom, urban agriculture is increasingly looked to as a local food source and a way to help combat inequitable food access and food deserts. Urban crops can have higher yields than conventional farming.
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