Search Results (2)

This article aims to investigate the complex relationship between a local population and its natural and urban environment. The study area, which was previously dominated by cereal cultivation, is currently facing profitability challenges due to climate change, water scarcity, rapid urban expansion, and the overexploitation of aquifers, influenced by changes in agricultural practices, which are disrupting the local ecosystem. This study relies on three interconnected indicators, population growth, climate change effects on agriculture, and the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), and reveals the impact of these factors on agricultural practices. Google Earth Engine was employed to determine the urbanization and greenness indices using scripts. The significant findings of this study demonstrate the remarkable demographic growth of 49.96% during the study period (2000–2020). Furthermore, this growth has led to a new trend towards intensive farming, with a substantial increase in irrigated lands by 44.19% and a multiplication of protected crop lands by 20 times, rising from 19.88 to 405.89 hectares. Additionally, horticultural production surged by 212.4% during the same period. Moreover, groundwater levels shifted from less than 50 m in the northern regions to less than 150 and 300 m in the southern part of the study area. The water potential in the study zone cannot meet the demands of the new agricultural orientation, which tends to deplete local groundwater, potentially causing recurrent shortages of agricultural products. This study underscores the importance of incorporating agricultural production into future urban planning and development programs to maintain a renewed balance between built environments and agriculture in peri-urban areas. Full article

Peri-urban vegetable cropping areas, such as horticultural farms, provide several ecosystem services, such as the provision of fresh food. However, food supply must be estimated on the basis of the current and potential demand of future populations, taking into account the landscape carrying capacity towards sustainable agricultural planning. From this perspective, the study aimed at estimating the resilience of the “Agri-food Region of Central Córdoba” (ARCC) and its role in supporting the provisioning of ecosystem services, such as proximal services, provided by the diversified agricultural landscape in the peri-urban area of Córdoba (Argentina). A direct field survey has been carried out to collect data on the main species and types of crops, the annual productivity, and the area covered by each species and type of horticultural crops. The data have been statistically elaborated to test the spatial and temporal variability of productivity as well as the spatial autocorrelation. In relation to crop diversification, a total of 30 vegetable species have been recorded in the diversified farms under study, with 15 species identified as the most frequent crops as on the basis of the area dedicated to each vegetable species sampled in the farms (in %). The productivity of 30 species has been integrated into a single value of “vegetable crop productivity mean” (kg/m²), proposed and measured in this study, which has been 3.46 kg/m². It can be a useful monitoring indicator in diversified production contexts. The estimated food supply (ton/year) of vegetable crops for the 170 farmlands has been 72,881 ton/year. An accurate measurement of the biomass harvested on a given surface area can be useful to assign productivity data to the pixel of each land use/cover class, providing accurate input data for remotely sensed-based models supporting decision-making on food provision in peri-urban systems. In this sense, the paper proposes a methodological framework that can be useful worldwide when up-to-date official productivity data are not available, but they are a necessary basis for planning, decision-making, and the implementation of public policies. Thus, diversity in farming systems can combine high ecological and socio-economic benefits, in terms of ecosystem service provision and sustainable food production. Full article