Imagine if every city in the world could grow enough fresh food to sustain itself? No food inequality and no carbon footprint transporting crops from farm to shop.
Urban farming is growing in popularity and is now being taken seriously as a real option for the future. According to the World Bank, 56% of the world’s population currently lives in cities and by 2050, that number is expected to rise to 70%.
Growing and supplying crops from green and grey areas, such as rooftops and empty warehouses, is now being tested to see if urban farming can be a viable option to food security.
A study by Researchers at Lancaster University in the UK found that urban farming can in fact exceed the yields produced by traditional farming methods in some crops.
The research compiles data on urban agriculture from 53 countries. It shows that when it comes to crops such as cucumbers, root vegetables and lettuces, urban gardening methods, such as indoor vertical farming and hydroponics, produce two to four time more produce than the amounts grown in rural areas.
Hydroponic farming uses growing lamps and nutrients dissolved into water to nourish plants instead of sun and soil. Vertical farming is a system where trays of crops are stacked on top of each other to maximize growing space. Experts say yields can be higher because there's no set growing season determined by weather and the environment.
Scientists are now working on making sure accurate estimates for urban crop yields are available so they can anticipate a city's potential growing spaces and measure how much food could be produced.
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