Proposta de millora de la gestió del reg de les gespes de tres parcs d’Esplugues de Llobregat

La despesa en aigua és avui un tema preocupant a la nostra societat tant econòmicament com “sosteniblement” parlant. En Jardineria s’avança cap a sistemes més eficients i ben gestionats per tal de reduir-ne l’ús en el reg. Un bon sistema de reg és aquell que permet adaptar-se a les necessitats de la planta coneixent-ne les necessitats hídriques reals o estimant-la segons el tipus de vegetació i el període de l’any, amb l’objectiu que la planta estigui en un estat òptim. En el moment de calcular la dosi de reg en un gespa es busca satisfer les necessitats hídriques en el punt més desfavorable, de manera que com més uniforme sigui el reg, la dosi d’aigua aplicada s’ajustarà més a la necessitada per a tota la gespa i es podrà reduir el volum requerit. El treball avalua l’eficiència del reg en tres espais verds d’Esplugues de Llobregat ja consolidats, on s’ha determinat la quantitat d’aigua aportada per cada sector de reg (pluviometria real en l/m2h), la uniformitat del reg mitjançant el factor de Christiansen i la valoració de la instal·lació de reg pròpiament. S’ha comprovat si és possible la simplificació dels mètodes agrícoles per determinar la uniformitat d’un reg en jardineria disminuint el nombre de pluviòmetres utilitzats. S’ha fet un estudi agroclimàtic de la zona i proves texturals del sòl per tal d’adaptarnos exactament a les situacions particulars de cada espai treballat i s’ha proposat un nou calendari de reg per cadascuna de les zones estudiades

Projecte formatiu per a la millora de les pràctiques fitosanitàries a la conca de l'Ebre

El Reial decret 60/2011, que transposa a la legislació espanyola la Directiva 2008/105/CE, estableix les normes de qualitat ambiental (és a dir, llindars màxims de concentració) per a les substàncies prioritàries i altres contaminants per tal de mantenir el bon estat de les aigües superficials. Algunes d'aquestes substàncies corresponen a matèries actives de productes fito- sanitaris. En aquest context, i emmarcat dins de les activitats de la Càtedra Syngenta-UPC, sorgeix un projecte formatiu per a la millora de les pràctiques fitosanitàries. La hipòtesi de partida és que la millora d'aquestes pràctiques comporta una reducció significativa i perceptible de la contaminació de les aigües per plaguicides. El projecte, iniciat l'any 2013 amb la col·laboració del Govern d'Aragó, planteja demostrar aquesta hipòtesi de treball mitjançant la realització d'una prova pilot a la conca del riu Ebre, concretament a les zones dels rius Flumen i Alcanadre. Es tracta d'una àrea eminentment agrícola i en la qual en els últims anys s'ha detectat que les concentracions de matèries actives de plaguicides excedeixen reiteradament els límits marcats pel Reial decret 60/2011. Cal remarcar que, en general, els moments en els quals s'observen concentracions més altes de plaguicides coincideixen amb els moments d'aplicació de productes fitosanitaris en els cultius d'estiu de la zona.Per conèixer la realitat actual de les pràctiques fitosanitàries més àmpliament utilitzades a la zona s'ha fet una enquesta entre els agricultors de tres cooperatives locals. Els resultats obtinguts han demostrat la necessitat d'emprendre activitats formatives per tal de proporcionar als agricultors coneixements i eines per millorar les pràctiques agrícoles, difondre la legislació que els afecta directament i conscienciar de la necessitat de disposar d'una maquinària en condicions i que hagi estat inspeccionada d'acord amb el Reial decret 1702/2011 d'inspecció d'equips d'aplicació de fitosanitaris en ús.Royal Decree 60/2011, which transposes to Spanish legislation the Directive 2008/105/CE, lays down environmental quality standards (i.e. maximum allowable concentrations) for priority substances and certain other pollutants in surface water. Some of these substances can be found in plant protection products (PPP). In this context, and in the framework of the activities of the Syngenta-UPC Chair, a training project for the improvement of agricultural practices has arisen. The assumption is that the improvement of these practices means a significant and perceivable reduction of PPP pollution in waters, especially in areas where high levels of these substances have been detected. The aim of this project was to demonstrate this hypothesis with a pilot test in the Ebro basin, specifically in the area of the rivers Flumen and Alcanadre. This is an agricultural area where some water pollution problems caused by PPP have been detected in recent years. The project started in 2013 with the cooperation of the Government of Aragon. The active substance concentrations detected in the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation station in Sariñena exceeded the Royal Decree 60/2011 limits. It should be pointed out that on many occasions when PPPs have been applied to summer crops, high PPP concentrations were detected. For this reason, it makes sense to relate pollution to agricultural practices. This situation is worsened by the environmental conditions in the area and especially by the strong northerly wind popularly known as the cierzo that can cause important PPP damage to surface waters. A survey among the farmers of three local cooperatives (Cooperativa de Barbastro, Secadero de Cereales Santiago and Cooperativa de Los Monegros) has been carried out to determine the current situation of phytosanitary practices in the area. The results show that it is necessary to undertake training activities in order to provide useful information and tools for farmers so that they may implement the best management practices, and to explain the legislation that concerns them. It is also necessary to inform about the benefits of keeping machinery in good condition and about pesticide application equipment in professional use that is subject to compulsory inspections (Directive 2009/128/CE).El Real Decreto 60/2011, que transpone a la legislación española la Directiva 2008/105/CE, establece las normas de calidad ambiental (es decir, umbrales máximos de concentración) para las sustancias prioritarias y otros contaminantes para mantener el buen estado de las aguas superficiales. Algunas de estas sustancias corresponden a materias activas de productos fitosanitarios. En este contexto, y enmarcado dentro de las actividades de la Cátedra Syngenta-UPC, surge un proyecto formativo para la mejora de las prácticas fitosanitarias. La hipótesis de partida es que la mejora de estas prácticas comporta una reducción significativa y perceptible de la contaminación de las aguas por plaguicidas. El proyecto, iniciado en 2013 con la colaboración del Gobierno de Aragón, plantea demostrar esta hipótesis de trabajo mediante la realización de una prueba piloto en la cuenca del río Ebro, concretamente en las zonas de los ríos Flumen y Alcanadre. Se trata de un área eminentemente agrícola y en la cual, en los últimos años, se ha detectado que las concentraciones de materias activas de plaguicidas exceden reiteradamente los límites marcados por el Real Decreto 60/2011. Hay que destacar que, en general, los momentos en los cuales se observan mayores concentraciones de plaguicidas coinciden con los momentos de aplicación de productos fitosanitarios en los cultivos de verano de la zona. Para conocer la realidad actual de las prácticas fitosanitarias más ampliamente utilizadas en la zona se ha realizado una encuesta entre los agricultores de tres cooperativas locales. Los resultados obtenidos han demostrado la necesidad de emprender actividades formativas para proporcionar a losagricultores conocimientos y herramientas para mejorar las prácticas agrícolas, difundir la legislación que los afecta directamente y concienciar de la necesidad de disponer de una maquinaria en condiciones y que haya sido inspeccionada según el Real Decreto 1702/2011 de inspección de equipos de aplicación de fitosanitarios en uso

Projecte formatiu per a la millora de les pràctiques fitosanitàries a la conca de l’Ebre

El Reial Decret 60/2011, que transposa a la legislació espanyola la Directiva 2008/105/CE, estableix les normes de qualitat ambiental (és a dir llindars màxims de concentració) de les substàncies prioritàries i altres contaminants (Annex I) i les substàncies preferents (Annex II) en les aigües superficials. Algunes d'aquestes substàncies corresponen a matèries actives de productes fitosanitaris. En aquest context, i emmarcat dins de les activitats de la Càtedra Syngenta-UPC, sorgeix un projecte formatiu per a la millora de les pràctiques fitosanitàries. La hipòtesi de partida és que la millora d’aquestes pràctiques comporta una reducció significativa i perceptible de la contaminació de les aigües per plaguicides, fet que és especialment rellevant en zones on es detecten excessos d’aquestes matèries.Postprint (published version

Formación para la prevención de la deriva: factor clave para la mejora de las aplicaciones de fitosanitarios. Proyecto TOPPS-Prowadis

Postprint (published version

Agronomic and Environmental Assessment of a Polyculture Rooftop Soilless Urban Home Garden in a Mediterranean City

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Altres ajuts: Generalitat de Catalunya grant (FI-DGR 2016) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona scholarship (PIF-UAB 2017)Urban planning has been focusing its attention on urban rooftop agriculture as an innovative way to produce local and reliable food in unused spaces in cities. However, there is a lack of quantitative data on soilless urban home gardens and their contribution to self-sufficiency. The aim of the present study is to provide quantitative agronomic and environmental data on an actual soilless urban garden to estimate its degree of self-sufficiency and sustainability. For this purpose, an 18 m2 soilless polyculture rooftop urban home garden in the city center of Barcelona was analyzed. From 2015 to 2017, 22 different crops were grown to feed 2 people in an open-air soilless system, and a life cycle assessment was performed. A total productivity of 10.6 kg/m2/year was achieved, meaning that 5.3 m2 would be needed to fulfill the yearly vegetable requirements of an average citizen (in terms of weight). Considering the vegetable market basket of Catalonia, an 8.2 m2 soilless garden would be needed to cover 62% of the market basket for one person. The top 5 most productive crops were tomato, chard, lettuce, pepper and eggplant, accounting for 85.5% of the total production. The water consumption was 3.7 L/m2/day, and 3.3 kg/year/m2 of waste was generated. A high degree of self-sufficiency was achieved, although adjustments could be made to adapt the production to the market basket. The environmental assessment showed that the fertilizers and their associated leachates accounted for the highest environmental impacts in all the studied impact categories. Overall, 0.6 kg CO2 eq. was generated per kg of vegetables produced. The quantitative data provided by the present study offer a reference from which urban planners and researchers can project future implementations of rooftop urban agriculture (UA) on a large scale

Analysis of the consumer's perception of urban food products from a soilless system in rooftop greenhouses : a case study from the Mediterranean area of Barcelona (Spain)

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Soilless crops are commonly used in rooftop agriculture (RA) because they easily adapt to building constraints. However, acceptance of the produce derived from this system may be controversial. This paper evaluates consumers' acceptance of food from RA in Mediterranean cities, focusing on the quality of the product, production system, and consumers' motivations. We surveyed 238 respondents on the UAB university campus as potential consumers. The survey was distributed via an Internet-link that was provided along with a sample of tomatoes from RA. The results showed that most people approved the quality of RA products and perceived them to be local and fresh (94%). The respondents exhibited acceptance of soilless-produced tomatoes and considered them to be environmentally better than conventionally produced ones (69%). Cluster analysis revealed that consumers with high income levels and a university education had a better perception of the quality and proposed a higher price for RA products, but no difference was found regarding their environmental perception of this products. Moreover, people who possessed more information about the product also had a higher perception of the quality and production system (it was perceived to be environmentally friendly) and would pay more for them. The main concerns of consumers were related to food safety and the social impact of RA. Additional research is needed to improve the sustainability of RA, and the applied measures should be communicated to potential consumers to enhance their acceptance and success

A study on air quality and heavy metals content of urban food produced in a Mediterranean city (Barcelona)

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Urban agriculture is growing in cities and is rising to the roofs of buildings. The potential food contamination is a key issue to be resolved to guarantee the health of consumers, and it affects both urban agriculture promoters and consumers. Crop contamination from the soil can be overcome by adopting a soilless cultivation system that, with good management practices, can also avoid contamination from the fertirrigation system and pest treatments. It has recently increased the number of soilless cultivation systems in cities due to the good features it offers. This study focuses on the potential contamination of heavy metals in hydroponic lettuce crops due to atmospheric pollution in high-traffic areas. The contents of heavy metal in the air and the lettuce leaves were measured at 4 sites: a periurban-integrated rooftop greenhouse, a periurban rooftop, an urban courtyard and an urban rooftop. High-volume sensors were used to assess air contamination. Lettuce leaves were analysed to evaluate the heavy metal concentrations. The results show that the heavy metal concentration in lettuce leaves is also below the EU-legislated limit in all studied cases. Specifically, the concentrations below the detectable analytic values were <0.02 mgNi/kg, <0.008 mgHg/kg, 0.005mgAs/kg and <0.005 mgCd/kg. The Pb concentration ranged from 0.0060 mg/kg to 0.0244 mg/kg. Although the chosen sampling locations were close to high-density roads and they are more vulnerable to a high concentration of metals, in the 4 sampling points heavy metal concentration in the air were less than 50% of the limits established in the legislation as the lower assessment threshold. This study concludes that the heavy metal content in the air of Barcelona is low and is not a source of contamination for urban crops including high traffic areas

Identifying eco-efficient year-round crop combinations for rooftop greenhouse agriculture

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MPurpose: Rooftop greenhouses (RTGs) are agricultural systems that can improve the food supply chain by producing vegetables in unused urban spaces. However, to date, environmental assessments of RTGs have only focused on specific crops, without considering the impacts resulting from seasonality, combinations of crops and nonoperational time. We analyze vegetable production in an RTG over 4 years to determine the crop combinations that minimize yearly environmental impacts while diversifying food supply. Methods: The system under study consists of an integrated RTG (i-RTG) with a hydroponic system in Barcelona, in the Mediterranean region. By using life cycle assessment (LCA), we evaluate the environmental performance of 25 different crop cycles and 7 species cultivated during the period 2015-2018. Three functional units are used: 1 kg of edible fresh production, 1 unit of economic value (€) in the wholesale market and 1 kcal of nutritional value. The system boundaries consider two subsystems: infrastructure (greenhouse structure, rainwater harvesting system and auxiliary equipment) and operation (fertilizers and their emissions into water and substrate). In addition, we perform an eco-efficiency analysis, considering the carbon footprint of the crop cycles and their value at the wholesale market during their harvesting periods. Results and discussion: Spring tomato cycles exert the lowest impacts in all categories, considering all three functional units, due to the high yields obtained. In contrast, spinach and arugula have the highest impacts. Regarding relative impact, the greenhouse structure presented a large impact, while fertilizer production had notable relative contributions in tomato cycles. Moreover, nitrogen and phosphorus emissions from fertigation are the main causes of freshwater and marine eutrophication. By combining the most eco-efficient cycles, we can see that growing two consecutive tomato cycles is the best alternative with the functional unit of yield (0.49 kg CO2 eq./kg), whereas a long spring tomato cycle combined with bean and lettuce cycles in the autumn/winter is the best scenario when using market (0.70 kg CO2 eq./€) and nutritional value (3.18·10−3 kg CO2/ kcal). Conclusions: This study shows that increasing the diversity of the system leads to better environmental performance of greenhouse urban agriculture if suitable crops are selected for the autumn/winter season. The functional unit involving the economic value and the eco-efficiency analysis are useful to demonstrate the capability of the growing system to produce added-value vegetables under harsher conditions while categorizing and classifying the crops to select the most suitable combinations based on economic and environmental parameters

Agronomic and Environmental Assessment of a Polyculture Rooftop Soilless Urban Home Garden in a Mediterranean City

Urban planning has been focusing its attention on urban rooftop agriculture as an innovative way to produce local and reliable food in unused spaces in cities. However, there is a lack of quantitative data on soilless urban home gardens and their contribution to self-sufficiency. The aim of the present study is to provide quantitative agronomic and environmental data on an actual soilless urban garden to estimate its degree of self-sufficiency and sustainability. For this purpose, an 18 m2 soilless polyculture rooftop urban home garden in the city center of Barcelona was analyzed. From 2015 to 2017, 22 different crops were grown to feed 2 people in an open-air soilless system, and a life cycle assessment was performed. A total productivity of 10.6 kg/m2/year was achieved, meaning that 5.3 m2 would be needed to fulfill the yearly vegetable requirements of an average citizen (in terms of weight). Considering the vegetable market basket of Catalonia, an 8.2 m2 soilless garden would be needed to cover 62% of the market basket for one person. The top 5 most productive crops were tomato, chard, lettuce, pepper and eggplant, accounting for 85.5% of the total production. The water consumption was 3.7 L/m2/day, and 3.3 kg/year/m2 of waste was generated. A high degree of self-sufficiency was achieved, although adjustments could be made to adapt the production to the market basket. The environmental assessment showed that the fertilizers and their associated leachates accounted for the highest environmental impacts in all the studied impact categories. Overall, 0.6 kg CO2 eq. was generated per kg of vegetables produced. The quantitative data provided by the present study offer a reference from which urban planners and researchers can project future implementations of rooftop urban agriculture (UA) on a large scale

Comparison of organic substrates in urban rooftop agriculture, towards improving crop production resilience to water stress in Mediterranean cities

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MBACKGROUND: Urban agriculture contributes to meet food production demand in cities. In a context of low water availability, it is important to consider alternatives that are able to maintain production. This study aimed to assess the use of substrates made from local materials and high water retention capacity as an alternative for urban agriculture in periods with water stress. Different substrates were used for 3 consecutive crop cycles of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) during the spring and summer periods of 2018 to observe these substrates performance during warmer periods of the year in an integrated rooftop greenhouse near Barcelona. The substrates used were coir commercial organic substrate, vegetable Compost from urban organic waste, Perlite (as control) commercial standard substrate, and a Mixture of the urban Compost and Perlite (1:1). Substrate crop performance was assessed under conventionally irrigation (0-5 cbar) and water restricted conditions (irrigation stop until the water tension inside the perlite bags reached -20 cbar). RESULTS: The results demonstrate that the Compost and Mix yields were similar to those obtained from Perlite (11.5% y 3.7% of more production in a restricted water condition average values). Compared to the Perlite, the organic substrates increased the crops resilience to water restriction, through biomass accumulation comparison, it took longer for Coir to lose water (1 and 2 test); however, when dryness began, it occurred very quickly. CONCLUSION: The vegetable Compost and the substrate Mixture presented tolerance to water restriction when water restriction reached -20 cbar