Urban farming is the practice of growing fruits and vegetables in community gardens, open plots, roof tops so that people have access to fresh food.
Urban farming is getting popular because people want to use the free space to grow fresh vegetables that reduces their grocery bill.
The pandemic induced lockdown provided ample free time to people when they experimented with growing food items in their homes and terraces.
There is regular news on Google where people source their monthly vegetable consumption from urban farming because it provides a wonderful way of growing food.
Urban farming is getting customized with gardening material ideal for terraces and balconies now available at nurseries.
This provides convenience to urban farmers because it helps them grow food in their home or apartment.
In cities, many plots are vacant, which people use as parking lots. We can convert these to urban farms where people grow fruits and vegetable and reduce their monthly expenses on grocery.
With cost of living skyrocketing in metros owing to inflation, urban farming provides the ideal solution because we can grow most vegetables in urban land spaces.
India is a vegetarian nation where people consume vegetables owing to health and religious reasons because vegetables are rich in nutrients & fibre crucial for health.
Many parks and open spaces are being used for urban farming because people want to grow fruits and vegetables free of chemicals.
The supply chain disruption during the pandemic made the vegetables dearer, prompting people to take up urban farming.
This reduces dependency as people can grow seasonal vegetables and get a cohesive feeling by working in communities.
Urban Farming Benefits
The major benefits of urban farming are:
Health & food security
Many underprivileged sections of the society cannot purchase fresh vegetables because of meagre incomes.
This puts them in a vulnerable situation, exposing them to diseases like anemia and poor vision.
When community gardens produce fresh fruit and vegetables, poor people have access to healthy food.
Green vegetables are beneficial because they provide iron and necessary fibre for keeping the gut healthy.
We distribute the food grown in community parks and rooftops among the inhabitants so that they have a fresh, nutritious diet crucial for health.
Environmental Benefits
The lack of green spaces in cities is already shooting the temperatures up, which is a worrisome phenomenon every year.
By growing crops on rooftops, we can reduce the building temperature and use the rainwater without it being drained out.
People can maintain the greenery of their parks because they will protect their veggies before they are ready for harvest.
Vertical gardens on high-rise buildings reduces the overall temperature because they absorb sunlight and release oxygen, thus contributing to fresh air.
Local Economy
With fresh food available in your vicinity, people save commuting costs of going to the market to buy vegetables.
Further, City dwellers have recurring bills which they reduce by procuring free vegetables from the community garden.
Further, everyone likes to consume fresh food knowing well that we have grown it locally without using chemicals.
Community Cohesion
Urban farming nurtures community cohesion because people spend time & effort to grow food & interact with other members regularly. This joint effort develops a sense of bonding amongst the members, allowing them to iron out any differences.
By working together, people get to know each other better and improve the overall camaraderie of the society.
Types of Urban Farming
Organic Food availability
With people being concerned about a chemical free diet through urban farming, they ensure the food they grow is chemical free. When they themselves indulge in farming, they ensure they grow organic food, which is chemical free.
The different urban farming types are:
Rooftop farms
True to their name, they grow on the terrace of buildings as ample space is available on the top. We can grow vegetables and plants in a customized setting and receive water during rains, which otherwise gets drained out.
In fact, we can convert all roof tops into farms which will provide fresh groceries to the inhabitants.
Community Gardens
The community gardens are the common space where community get-togethers happen because these are the few spaces left in cities.
They are the open parks where people grow fresh food by the active participation of the RWA members.
This helps to know each other well and reduce the grocery bill by growing fresh vegetables.
Vertical Urban Farming
With space crunch, a major issue in metros growing farms vertically is the solution. These farms grow one above the other like different floors of a high rise and provide ample space for farming.
The different vertical urban farming types are:
Hydroponics and Aquaponics
These two are the latest techniques of urban farming where in the former uses a water solution to provide nutrients to the plants.
The amount of soil used in hydroponics is much less compared to traditional farming. Instead, hydroponics uses a nitrate rich water solution that provides the nutrition to the plants to grow in vertical farming.
Why is urban agriculture important?
Further, Aquaponics nurture animals that grow in water like fish and we use their water solution to nourish the plants. This water is rich in nutrients because it contains fish waste, which is a high nitrogen content ideal for growing plants.
Aeroponics
It’s an ideal method of vertical urban farming because it uses air and mist to nourish the plants. The plants use the moisture in the air to get water and grow well in controlled conditions.
Commercial Urban Farming
Many industrial units become unviable because of the laxity of fresh orders and have to be shut. We can use their sprawling campus for urban farming because that’s a lot of space in cities.
Such farms supply fresh fruits and vegetable to the residents and reduce the hunger prevalent in an underprivileged section of the society.
Why is urban agriculture important?
The amount of pollution in cities is reducing the life span of its residents by 5 years.
Urbanites crave for healthy food because fresh vegetables are rich in nutrients and fibre that nullify the effects of pollution.
Urban agriculture helps to reduce cost because the produce is available in your community, saving transportation costs of going to the market.
It improves the amount of greenery in cities because cities lack green spaces that are air cleaners and stress busters.
Through urban agriculture, fresh produce is available to its residents at zero price except the effort involved in growing the veggies. People reduce their grocery bill because they get fresh vegetables without having to purchase them every week.
Urban Farming in India
Urban farming is going on in India in different forms, with people of different age groups undertaking urban farming in many ways. There is regular news on Google where a University professor produces annual veggies to the tune of 9 lakhs.
This saves a lot of money and also provides an opportunity to sell their produce in urban market further augmenting their incomes.
One of the biggest advantage of urban farming is reducing the transportation costs because locally produced food is economical to ship to urban markets.
This reduces the monthly bills of residents because their veggies are produced locally, further reducing transportation costs.
People all over the country indulge in urban agriculture because it provides fresh food and reduces their grocery bill. With inflation leading to rising cost of living, urban farming is crucial because it provides fresh food without having to shell out hard earned money.
How to kick-start Urban Farming
One can take help from professionals who are doing urban farming because their experience helps to avoid the common mistakes. Further, a lot of information is available on Google and YouTube that educates on the ideal way to grow urban farms.
The best way is to undertake a 1 year Diploma in Agriculture from a leading institute because it trains on the techniques of modern farming.
A career is agriculture pays well because ensuring food security and augmenting farmers’ income is the priority of every nation
How to start urban agriculture at home
Anyone can undertake urban farming because customized mini farms are now available with the nurseries for urban farming.
Further, retired people can kill time by undertaking urban farming because it provides fresh food and reduces their monthly expenses.
Homemakers can develop vacant plots and grow fresh vegetables because eating fresh is healthy and also reduces the monthly grocery bill.
