Título del libro: Agricultural Research Updates
Título del capítulo: Urban agriculture in the Metropolitan area of Mexico City
Autores externos:
Idioma:
Inglés
Año de publicación:
2017
Palabras clave:
Ecological footprint; Production systems; Regional economy; Rural process
Resumen:
Urban agriculture (UA) has been defined by a number of authors, as a form of agriculture for the production of food and/or goods by those people who benefits from the service infrastructure of urban human concentrations (towns and/or cities). The urban productive process in Mexico City has particular features which differentiate it from the rural process not linked to the city and which gives urban agriculture its own identity. These include (a) the predominance of the minifundio or smallholding, (b) the restricted use of physical space for livestock activities, (c) the use of recycled materials for the construction of livestock shelters, (d) rubbish, waste from the food industry and households used for feeding livestock, (e) intensive use of excreta from milk cattle as a source of organic matter, macro-nutrients (N,P,K), water and heat for agriculture, (f) predominance of local knowledge and oral transmission in production technology and (g) the sale of products in local markets or to neighbours. Some researchers have criticized the interest in urban agriculture given its reduced contribution to national food production or to the regional economy. However, the importance of the phenomenon is due to the contribution it makes to the life-style of the unprotected sectors of the population and to the reduction of the city's ecological footprint as it uses elements considered as high entropy waste for productive purposes. This means it is a step towards the new sustainability targets. The great pressure on land use in the urban space has determined that most of the production systems reported involve animals, although there is also a marginal form of agriculture where the family garden permits the domestic production of: vegetables and condiments in association with ornamental plants. The predominant form of dairy and meat production is in stables where the animals are kept for the whole of their productive lives. Urban backyards house a wide range of species on a small scale and include pigs, hens, turkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, quail, rabbits and in some cases fighting cocks and song birds. As well as backyard pig production there is also another form that could be considered semi-intensive involving herds of up to 100 pigs for fattening and then sale at local slaughterhouses. © 2017 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Entidades citadas de la UNAM:
ISBN:
9781536110166
Editorial:
Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Nombre de la publicación:
Urban agriculture in the Metropolitan area of Mexico City
Página inicial:
127
Página final:
155
Tipo de producto:
Capítulo de un Libro
