Australia (Commonwealth Union) – With rising inflation rates, together with an increased focus on organic foods, more people are taking to growing fruits and vegetables in garden spaces and urban farming spaces.
A study conducted by the University of Adelaide demonstrated that 65% of Adelaide homes can grow suitable amounts of vegetables to become self-sufficient by making use of rainwater. However, installing rainwater tanks to endure vegetable patches may not be economical over a 25-year life span.
The large study was conducted on approximately half a million homes across 17 Greater Adelaide council regions, that had high resolution spectral and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) imagery to get an aerial image of the city.
First author of the study and PhD student Isobel Hume, from the University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine stated that urban agriculture is seeing greater significance as a result of climate change, food insecurity and economic instability. Hence, they wanted to learn how feasible this would be in Adelaide. “The fact that 65 per cent of residential properties have enough available land to grow enough vegetables to be self-sustainable while using only rainwater provides councils, governments and policy makers with an important insight,” she said. “Hopefully it will also encourage people to grow their own vegetables, create more edible gardens and make use of their backyards.”
The findings were published in Sustainable Cities and Society and extents on prior studies that found households would be required to give up under a quarter of their domestic lawn areas to grow enough vegetables to make it self-sufficient.
The latest research explores a much wider range of homes, together with integrating the viability of replacing mains water with harvested rainwater. The results concur with Urban Agriculture Month which goes on till the end of November, having the objective of raising awareness of the nation’s urban agricultural movement.
