Urban Agriculture
With 50% of the Indian population expected to live in cities by 2050, there is a huge challenge of meeting the nutritional security and sanitation needs of the urban dwellers. There is a need to prevent further land use changes, unregulated construction activities, water wastage and pollution. Promoting green spaces through urban and peri-urban initiatives is a way out. At the aggregate level, access to land and water can play a critical role in promoting urban and peri-urban agriculture. However, the health conscious urbanites are moving towards growing their own food in limited spaces available like the rooftops, balconies and terraces. Urban home gardening, presently limited to private residential spaces, has a potential to address issues of food security, physical and emotional well being of citizens, when expanded.
The initiative of co creation of science and technology solutions over the green spaces in peri-urban areas of Gorakhpur city have paved an effective way out to improve food security of people, maintaining green space around the city and enhancing livelihoods for rural poor in urban –rural hinterland areas (Singh and Srivastava, p.15). The practices of climate resilient agricultural have helped in reducing input costs and boosting the net gains. It has also contributed to the enhanced livelihood security of vulnerable groups and ensured food security for the urban poor.
In heavily populated cities, where availability of land is a constraint, innovative approaches may be needed. For example, Mr. Verghese from Kerala set a successful example by practising vertical farming, thus addressing the issue of space constraint. Inspiring innovative structures and deep sense of recycling and reuse set this farmer innovator as a model to emulate for many aspiring urban gardeners.( Archana Bhatt et al., p.12). Apart from these vertical gardening structures, Varghese is continuously thriving towards innovation and integration at his farm. He also prepares bio fertilizers and nutrient amendments like Jeevamrutham, Beejamrutham, Fish Amino, etc
Growing your own food is no more a hobby, it is an integral part of life in ensuring a sustainable city. Urban youth like Mr. Rundan ventured into rooftop gardening, during the lockdown period. Having been successful in growing several types of vegetables, he feels that home gardening serves as a stress buster in cities like Bangalore that are facing increasing population and vehicular traffic, with an alarming increase in pollution. Also, a lot of kitchen waste is being recycled as organic manure, thus addressing the issue of ever increasing garbage in the city.
While urbanites are new to farming, there is hardly any support or extension system to cater to the knowledge needs of these growing urban farmers. Majority of urban farmers gain access to information and exchange knowledge exchange through diverse and emerging media.( Vincent A and Saravanan Raj, p.25). Social media is playing a major role in bringing revolution in urban agriculture. A number of urban farmers depend on Youtube channels to gain knowledge on crop cultivation and management. Individual and innovative farmer like Mr. Varghese also started his own YouTube channel where he showcases details of his innovative practices in vegetable gardening (Archana Bhatt et al., p.12). Whatsapp groups are the most popular among the social media for knowledge exchange. Also there are a growing number of agri startups in urban agriculture, providing information and advisory services to urban practitioners in agriculture.
Expanding to community gardens
Urban spaces can be innovatively used for food production. Green urban spaces can help city dwellers too to rethink their connection with food ecosystems and land in the process. From being in small private spaces, it is time to expand to the community level. Institutions, Gated communities, common places etc., provide a unique opportunity to grow food on a wider scale. (Dutta and Hazra, p.32)
Edible food gardens are hotspots for local biodiversity, and provide an experiential understanding of pollinators, pest-prey relationships, soil ecosystems and the interdependence of plant health and root microbial communities. For example, the IIT Gandhinagar organic farm is a testament to the possibilities of community-driven and locally supported farming in urban and peri-urban places (Dutta and Hazra, p.32). Such urban farm community spaces serve multiple purposes – they provide access to fresh food and the opportunity to children and adults alike to get their hands dirty while also playing a vital role in the first hand understanding of the delicate balances that sustain our ecosystem. From seed to farm to table, how food reaches us today is a nuanced lesson integrating the natural sciences, social sciences, economics, and business. Thus, finding ways to include urban farms as part of our community spaces and educational curricula is a worthwhile pursuit.
Photo : MANAGE
Supported by governmental intervention urban home gardening initiative has a potential to expand to address the urban food supply chain. Both central and state governments have initiated a few interventions to create a favourable ecosystem for urban agriculture. For example, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) aims to reuse the treated municipal wastewater for peri-urban agriculture and attract greater private investment in precision irrigation systems (Vincent A and Saravanan Raj, p.25). Similarly, Kerala government has initiated a vegetable development programme to involve their citizens to grow their foods by supplying grow bags, vegetable seedlings, etc at subsidised rates, enabling beneficiaries to set up an urban home garden at a cost as low as Rs.500 on the roof tops and balconies. (Anita Pinherio, p.6)
Urban agriculture has multiple benefits as seen from the various cases presented in this issue. It has scope to expand further, with better support of suitable and appropriate policies. Opportunities for promoting local food through training, value addition and better markets, and integrating urban agriculture in urban planning will go a long way in creating the required green spaces in urban areas.
