Techniques and crops for efficient rooftop gardens in Bologna, Italy

Urban rooftop farming favours local food production. Although rooftop farming is perceived as 33 a sustainable system, there is a lack of quantitative studies on rooftop farming. There we set up 34 experiments in the community rooftop garden of a public housing building in Bologna, Italy, 35 between...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sanyé Mengual, Esther|||0000-0002-2349-9807, Oliver-Solà, Jordi|||0000-0001-8034-8610, Rieradevall, Joan|||0000-0003-3360-6829, Montero Camacho, Juan Ignacio|||0000-0003-2548-4665, Orsini, Francesco|||0000-0001-6956-7054, Prosdocimi Gianquinto, Giorgio|||0000-0002-6548-5526
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:145739
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/145739
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s13593-015-0331-0
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Urban agriculture
Local food
Building-integrated agriculture
Rooftop farming
Life cycle assessment
Agronomy
Hydroponics
Descripción
Sumario:Urban rooftop farming favours local food production. Although rooftop farming is perceived as 33 a sustainable system, there is a lack of quantitative studies on rooftop farming. There we set up 34 experiments in the community rooftop garden of a public housing building in Bologna, Italy, 35 between 2012 and 2014. We grew lettuce, a leafy vegetable, using three techniques: nutrient 36 film, floating hydroponic and soil cultivation. We also grew tomato, chilli pepper, eggplant, 37 melon, watermelon on soils. Data was analysed by life cycle assessment for environmental and 38 economic performance. Results reveal that the best techniques of lettuce cultivation to address 39 global warming were floating in the summer, with 65-85% less environmental impact per kg 40 than nutrient film; and soil production in the winter, with 85-95% less environmental impact. 41 Furthermore, floating production was 25% cheaper in summer and soil was 65% cheaper in 42 winter, compared to the nutrient film technique. For soil production, eggplants and tomatoes 43 showed the best environmental performances of about 74 g CO2 per kg. Eggplant production in 44 soil gave in the cheapest crop of 0.13 € per kg.