It is predicted that the world population will rise to ten billion by 2050. At present, some 15 million square kilometres or around one-tenth of total land area of the earth is used for farming. In October, 2009, scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany along with their colleagues from Sweden noted that global agricultural production could increase by around one-fifth by adopting better management practices, especially water management.
However, that alone will not be enough to assure food production from existing farmlands to meet the demands of growing world population in the face of rising climatic changes. By now, two-thirds of the world population lives in urban areas while in Sri Lanka it is one third.
Considering these alarming scenarios, we need to look afresh at ways of producing food in the face of advancing environment, economic, social and political changes of the country/world. Urban agriculture can be regarded as one of the key options available in selecting different measures to mitigate the food security problems we face today.
Dr. Thilak T. Ranasinghe, Former Director of Agriculture, Western Province, Sri Lanka – addresses these aspects in his book “Manual of Low/No-Space Agriculture -cum- Family Business Gardens”. The book has been published with the support of RUAF Foundation, International Network of Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and the Food Security and International Water Management Institute.
In part one of the book, technology development in urban agriculture under the concept of the Family Business Garden [FBG] which was introduced in 2000 in Sri Lanka is discussed with its five dynamic components of family nutrition, technology adoption, crop management, post-harvest technology and value addition and, landscaping and housekeeping. Interestingly, it shows the simple methods of preparation of more than 25 creative “Vertical Cultivation Structures” for the use under low/no land, building and restricted air spaces available in urban limits.
In part two, the book discusses the technology dissemination process of low/no-space -cum-Family Business Gardening in the context of urban development. It further discusses the significance of urban agriculture in populating cultivation structures along with age stratification as well as with novel urban extension methods developed in diffusing agricultural technologies. Finally, it explains the value of establishment of urban-rural continuum in the face of rapid urbanization while addressing the improvement in physical as well as mental health of different communities.
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| Cultivation rack |
Associate Coordinator – South Asian Perspectives Network Association (SAPNA) Sri Lanka and former Commissioner, National Poverty Alleviation “Janasaviya” Programme Susil Siriwardana, in his foreword says that “the manual on Urban Agriculture deals with an idea and practice whose time has come. Its theme is of fundamental urgency for all.
It cuts across spatial divides. It invites the attention of policy makers and entrepreneurial communities. It offers a strategy for raising production at the base of society and for mobilizing unused and under-used labour in the family. Hence it is equally at home in the villages and the towns, in cities and metropolises, and in the hills and the valley-slopes. It is integral to improving the quality of life in the bustis, the favelas and the barrios.”
Former Director of Agricultural Extension and Training, Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka Suranimala Wirasinghe writes:
This book by Dr. Ranasinghe is welcome as there are no technical guidebooks available to home gardeners in Sri Lanka. Being a local book it covers subjects and crops of local interest. As the book is in English one may conclude that it is aimed at the affluent families which is not so. The book is relevant to low income resource limited families as well.
Presently disposal of garbage and used water is a problem to most urban/town dwellers. The book shows methods to purify waste water for use in home garden cultivations. This is an important aspect as demand for urban domestic water supply is increasing continuously from a limited supply. Similarly, the book illustrates efficient and practical ways of converting organic waste in households including vegetative materials into compost. This will contribute towards reducing the solid waste to be handled by municipal authorities.
Today medical research has found that consumption of green leafy vegetables and other vegetables ensures good health. Availability of fresh green vegetables in cities is rare; most of the greens available in markets are damaged.
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| Cultivation bottles |
The Family Business Gardens will make those fresh greens available to the households and to the local communities at a cheaper price as no transport is involved.
Another health factor in some of the commercially grown vegetables is the application of insecticides to control pests. This would not be so in family business gardens.
This type of gardening while creating a very natural green home garden has a “therapeutic” effect - to see plants growing, flowering and bearing fruit brings about mental satisfaction and soothes your eye.
The book should be published in Sinhala too with more technical material added and made available to community and school libraries.
(The author could be contacted at thithura@sltnet.lk) |
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