Sustainable Cities through Alternative Urban Farming: The Case of Floriculture

Manikas, Ioannis; Malindretos, George; Abeliotis, Konstadinos

doi:10.1080/08974438.2019.1599762

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Worldwide the multi-billion-dollar ornamental-horticultural industry is continuously in search of new crops (often of exotic origin) with exciting characteristics (e.g., uniqueness), adaptability to diverse conditions and low maintenance costs [2,11,12]. The maintenance of the ornamentalhorticultural market dynamics vastly depends on new crops, innovation and varietal renewal [13,14]. Even in widely appreciated ornamentals around the world such as the South American Anthurium spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Potential of Neglected Local Endemic Plants of Three Mediterranean Regions in the Ornamental Sector: Value Chain Feasibility and Readiness Timescale for Their Sustainable Exploitation

et al. 2021

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The neglected and underutilized plants (NUPs) have never been mainstreamed by researchers, politicians and stakeholders for sustainable exploitation in the ornamental-horticultural sector. This study focused on 399 local endemic plants of three Mediterranean regions (Crete, Mediterranean coast-Rif of Morocco, Tunisia), with the aim to develop a new scheme for their multifaceted ornamental-horticultural evaluation facilitating their sustainable exploitation. The methodological scheme was developed within three multidisciplinary co-creative workshops by experts and was adjusted by end-users. The developed scheme uses point and weighted scoring of several attributes relevant to biological and ornamental-horticultural characteristics and concerns three ranking levels: (i) ornamental-horticultural potential (general or subsector-specific; 20 attributes), (ii) sustainable exploitation feasibility (12 attributes) and (iii) readiness timescale (after gap and SWOT analyses) in creating value chains in short-, medium- or long-term. The analysis of the data illustrated two example-cases of already achieved sustainable exploitation with established value chains; outlined the prospects for sustainable exploitation of 18 and 23 local endemic NUPs in short-term and medium-term, respectively; and identified 86 taxa with reachable possibilities in the long-term. The proposed multifaceted evaluation scheme can be applied for the valorisation of NUPs in other areas and may help to define priorities and to identify opportunities and gaps for their sustainable exploitation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Potential of Neglected Local Endemic Plants of Three Mediterranean Regions in the Ornamental Sector: Value Chain Feasibility and Readiness Timescale for Their Sustainable Exploitation

et al. 2021

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“…Production of ornamental plants is well-adapted to small areas, such as farms of 6.5 ha on average, and is an income opportunity for family farms, with revenues ranging from R$ 50,000 to R$ 100,000 per ha per year (Duval, 2014). Floriculture is an intensive agriculture practice with the per unit area income much higher than any other branch of agriculture (Manikas et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ornamental plants in Chapecó: market characteristics and opportunities for family farms

2020

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Floriculture is very lucrative to small producers as it requires small land areas, with usually short production cycles. The region of Santa Catarina West in Brazil has growth potential in the cultivation of ornamental plants, although it is not practically observed, as the productive chain of this sector has little or no organization, making it imperative to study the causes of this problem. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize the productive chain, market, and commercialization of ornamental plants in Chapecó-SC. The proposed study was carried out in an integrated manner in Chapecó-SC, through structured interviews with farmers, traders, and consumers of flowers and ornamental plants. The study sample consisted of 45 consumers, 24 producers, and 18 commercial establishments. Only three producers of ornamental plants in Chapecó were identified among the participants interviewed, although 84% believed that the municipality has demand for floriculture products, and only 21% of the interviewees have thought about cultivating ornamental plants. The market and commercialization of flowers and ornamental plants in Chapecó are dependent highly on the supply of products from the state of São Paulo, especially form the region of Holambra. The commercialization is predominantly in supermarket chains, for ease of access to consumers. The primary factor affecting the commercialization of ornamental plants is the price, because a dearth of producers in the region leads to an increase in the price, especially due to the long transportation.

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“…However, low income is a major determinant of food insecurity in the United States (Gundersen et al, 2011), and, as a lucrative side crop, the sale of cut flowers can help to subsidize food production in the urban market garden or farm or support the purchase of food from outside sources. For contaminated sites that would require costly remediation for food production, floriculture may be a more economically viable and socially acceptable option that generates income for urban growers (Manikas et al, 2019). Even in urban systems with the sole goal of self-provisioning, the addition of ornamental flowering plants to the food garden can have ecological and cultural benefits.…”

Section: Crop MIXmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the Potential Productivity of Urban Agriculture and Its Impacts on Soil Quality Through Experimental Research on Scale-Appropriate Systems

Taylor

2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Urban agriculture could play a central role in local and regional food sovereignty in developed countries, but in many cities, a lack of space and competition with other land uses limit production. Options for meaningfully advancing food sovereignty goals include sustainable intensification of existing urban farms and gardens; (2) expansion of production into interstitial and other underutilized spaces undevelopable for other purposes; and (3) expansion of production in protected environments. Observational studies suggest that-like smallholder agriculture in the Global South-urban home, community, and market gardens in the developed world can be highly productive-but often are not. Research on scale-appropriate systems and outreach to urban agriculturalists are needed to help them grow more food, more sustainably. This replicated, long-term trial is addressing this need-and a dearth of experimental, normative research on urban agriculture-by evaluating the yield performance and impact on soil quality of four different systems of small-scale food production in Rhode Island, the second most densely populated state in the United States and a potential model for the development of sustainable urban food systems. Systems are modeled on vernacular systems in Providence, RI and Chicago, IL and on the scholarly and gray literature on sustainable intensification. They differ in soil management practices and nutrient sources. Results from the first 3 years of data collection indicate all four systems can be highly productive, with varying tradeoffs in terms of their sustainability and impacts on soil quality. While total marketable food yields were relatively modest compared to those reported in the gray literature for biointensive agriculture−2.22-2.96 kg m −2 averaged over three summer growing seasons compared to 4.64 kg m −2 for the "low end" of biointensive production-yields for individual crops generally exceeded-and often far exceeded-regional averages and, for most crops and systems, national averages, without a loss in soil quality. In addition to demonstrating the high productivity of small-scale systems compared to commercial farms, the study establishes a framework for conducting normative, experimental research that can help to guide practice. It also offers more reliable yield estimates for modeling the production potential of cities than do observational studies and agronomic experiments on monocultures.

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Sustainable Cities through Alternative Urban Farming: The Case of Floriculture

Cited by 22 publications

References 28 publications

Exploring the Potential of Neglected Local Endemic Plants of Three Mediterranean Regions in the Ornamental Sector: Value Chain Feasibility and Readiness Timescale for Their Sustainable Exploitation

Exploring the Potential of Neglected Local Endemic Plants of Three Mediterranean Regions in the Ornamental Sector: Value Chain Feasibility and Readiness Timescale for Their Sustainable Exploitation

Ornamental plants in Chapecó: market characteristics and opportunities for family farms

Modeling the Potential Productivity of Urban Agriculture and Its Impacts on Soil Quality Through Experimental Research on Scale-Appropriate Systems

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