Rooftop farming an overview

Rooftop Farming – An Overview
Udit Debangshi1
and Ramyajit Mondal2*
1
Institute of Agriculture, Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan, West Bengal (731 236), India
2
Dept. of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal (741 252), India
1. Introduction
India has nearly 46 million-plus cities, with Mumbai, Delhi
and Kolkata having populations over 10 million. There are
54 urban agglomerations in India with a population of one million
or more according to 2011 census against 35 in 2001 (www.
censusindia.gov.in). So, urbanisation has become a common
phenomenon in India. Further, it is going to increase at an
incremental rate.Thus,we are losing our agricultural land every hour
and the population is growing by leaps and bounds and also no. of
buildings simultaneously.It means we will have less horizontal land
to grow food and as a consequence, the problem of food supply in
terms of quantity, quality and affordability, will be high amongst
the citizens as more mouths to be fed than produces.This alarming
situation poses a greater challenge for our future generations. To
cope up with this situation, we have to increase the productivity
per unit area. So, rooftop farming is found to be a viable option.
2. Benefits of Rooftop Farming
2.1. Shortage of cultivated land
In view of less scope for horizontal expansion,vertical farming (e.g.,
rooftop farming) is the most practical solution for any developing
The land has become an expensive unit in India due to its diversion following
urbanization,industrialization etc.Further,migration and settlement of rural
people in urban areas has been increasing at an alarming rate. It is estimated
that, in India, 40.76% of the population is expected to reside in urban areas
by 2030. Thus, it is going to increase pressure on natural resources and pro-
duction volume in the rural areas due to increasing demand for food in urban
areas.The cultivated land in urban areas is already limited.Hence,the rooftop
area available on the urban households/government and non-government
offices can be exploited to produce various crops. This Greener rooftop is a
like a psychological relief centre, which makes households stress-free. This
environmentally and economically sustainable method to promote food
security, food quality and reduce the carbon foot-prints, has emerged as a
viable option in the recent years.
Food security, Natural resources, Rooftop farming,
Urbanization
Article History
Article ID: CBM65
Received on 09th
June 2021
Received in revised form on 20th
June 2021
Accepted in final form on 29th
June 2021
Chronicle of Bioresource Management
Chronicle of Bioresource Management 2021, 5(2):063-068
An International E-magazine
Ramyajit Mondal
e-mail: ramyajitmondal93@gmail.com
Corresponding Author
Open Access
Citation: Debangshi and Mondal, 2021. Rooftop
Farming – An Overview. Chronicle of Bioresource
Management 5(2), 063-068.
Copyright: © 2021 Debangshi and Mondal. This is
an open access article that permits unrestricted use,
distribution and reproduction in any medium after the
author(s) and source are credited.
Data Availability Statement: Legal restrictions are
imposed on the public sharing of raw data. However,
authors have full right to transfer or share the data in
raw form upon request subject to either meeting the
conditions of the original consents and the original
research study. Further, access of data needs to meet
whether the user complies with the ethical and legal
obligations as data controllers to allow for secondary
use of the data outside of the original study.
Conflict of interests: The authors have declared that
no conflict of interest exists.
CBM
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Debangshi and Mondal, 2021
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064
Figure 1: Vertical farming in urban areas
city that is facing land scarcity (www.housing.com). In
India, the reports by UN state of the world population
2007,by 2030,40.76% of country’s population is expected
to settle in urban areas (www.worldwidejournals.com).
So, exploitation of vertical farming is the only way in
urban areas.
as wildlife refuge, while organic cultivation in rooftop
farming can increase plant, insect, and bird habitat in
densely built environments and contribute to urban
corridor networks (Gilbert, 1989). Rooftop farming
make cities more eco-friendly. It can play a significant
role in urban environmental management and enhance
the deteriorating quality of This increases energy usage
and contributes to the poor air quality that often plagues
big cities. A green roof helps to improve the overall air
quality. According to a study, green roofs help reduce up
to,37% of sulphur dioxide,21% of nitrous acid,0.2kg of
dust particles / square metre each year. Rooftop farming
can reduce the temperature of roofs and the surrounding
air that contribute to overall cooling a local climate and
can help reduce urban heat island effect (Hui, 2011).
Thus,rooftop farming can also reduce the environmental
impact of food transportation.
2.5. Climatic hazards
In India, more than 60% of total food production is
monsoon dependent.But,the severity of climatic hazards
such as drought, storm and winds, is low under rooftop
farming than conventional farming.
2.6. Carbon foot-print
The 20th century, has seen a rapid rise in global
temperatures, which could be due to rise in carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases released from the
burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, agriculture and
other industrial processes. This phenomenon is called
as ‘enhanced greenhouse effect’ (www.nrcs.usda.gov).
Employing vegetation in highly populated areas can act
as a carbon capture and storage system.Rooftop farming
on an urban fringe could potentially reduce greenhouse
gas emissions thus mitigates climate change. As rooftop
farming depends less on the chemicals and also avoids
transportation problems,it reduces the carbon foot-print.
2.7. Year around production
The rooftop farming can be a solution to achieve year-
round production with limited water, nutrition and
climatic intervention, to meet the needs of growing
urban population.
2.8. Psychological relief
Research has shown a positive relationship between the
amount of green space in the living environment and
physical and mental health and longevity;leading to stress
reduction and attention restoration, healthy behaviour
and social integration. The rooftop farming is a creative
way to alleviate stress, anxiety and depression. Studies
have also found that exposure to nature and vegetation
2.2. Food quality
The primary reason for which urban rooftop farming
is required in India is the child and adult malnutrition.
According to ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in
the World, 2020’ report, 14% of India’s population (189.2
million) are undernourished and 34.7% of the children
aged under five are stunted,in India.The products grown
on rooftops with minimal usage of synthetic chemicals
will be highly competitive in terms of price,freshness and
quality. Farming within the buildings supply fresh food
which avoid transport problems too (www.agrifarming.
in).
2.3. Economic benefit
In rooftop a wide variety of fruits and vegetables can be
grown, which are more fresh and healthier than canned
and packed foods, by selling the goods which may leads
to conversion of your own roof tops into profit-making
garden.
2.4. Conservation of environment
A sustainable city is the city which meets the needs of
the present generation without sacrificing the resource
base for the future generations. Within the context of
city-scale ecosystems, isolated patches of urban green
space, including urban agriculture and green roofs, can
be hotspots for biodiversity (Williams et al., 2014).
Declining wildlife populations in farmland and rural areas
due to pesticide use increased the importance of cities

© 2021 PP House
B
provides an array of psychological benefits including
improvement in mindfulness, decreased anxiety and
increased productivity of our daily life.
065
Figure 2: Psychological relief in rooftop
Figure 4: Light cloth wind break
Figure 3: Aerial view of rooftop land use
3. FactorsInfluencingRooftopFarming
The following factors will influence the rooftop farming-
3.1. Site selection
Site used for rooftop farming requires a vacant and
open roof space, better sunlight, irrigation water facility,
pleasant wind etc. But, if the roof is too small, it restricts
the gardening, community gathering, physical exercise
or indoor games etc. On the other hand, if the roof is
large, then opportunity cost of gardening is high. When
rooftop is accessible to all and particularly when this is
a community garden, rooftop of different buildings can
be interconnected by constructer.Some buildings are not
designed to withstand the additional weight of rooftop
garden. So, an architect can be involved for its effective
utilization. Sometimes we can’t use the whole space of
the roof to plant trees due to the unequal sunlight, wind
distribution, so it is better to plant trees where there is
more sun-light and less wind speed.
3.2. Intense sunlight
Rooftop garden are exposed to more intense sunlight than
ground level due to its height which may be sometimes
dangerous for growing saplings,so use some light shading
materials or netting or a shady wall to protect the crop
from sunlight. After the, the plants can tolerate the
intense light, once they cross the seedling stage and the
solar radiation helps is photosynthesis and produce more
dry matter.
3.3. Managing the strong wind
The rooftop farming is susceptible to high windy
condition. A light breeze (3-4 km hour-1
) is pleasant as
it increases the photosynthesis by continuously replacing
the carbon around the leaf and reducing the stomatal
resistance. However, a strong wind (greater the 15-20
km hour-1
.) can seriously damage the plant. Thus, wind
breaks like walls,canvases,net or light cloths can be used
for this purpose. The saplings can be placed around the
roof wall which protects from wind.
3.4. Soil management
Well drained loamy soil with high organic matter,
which can improve the soil physical, chemical as well
as biological properties and sustain the production has
to be used. Mix the soil with FYM and sand with 1:1:1
ratio (clay: sand: FYM=1:1:1).The waste produced from
roof top garden can be recycled and reused as organic
fertilizer for the soil.Sometimes,due to intense sunlight,
the moisture from soil gets evaporated. Hence, mulch
material like degradable plastic mulch or straw mulch of
rice, maize, wheat etc., Can be used.
3.5. Water management
Water management is very important in rooftop farming.
Access of municipal water is necessary. The rain water
harvesting structures can be constructed. The residents

on the floor immediately below the roof are often worried
about seepage, which can be reduced by surface drainage
and daily check-up. Getting the rooftop professionally
waterproofed is a must.Pipe watering or some time hand
sprinkler or drip irrigation can be adopted to minimise
water loss. Drainage of planters is very important and
placing the planters on brick stands can be practised.
© 2021 PP House
3.8. Harvesting
In rooftop farming,the hand tools like small sickle,small
axe, cutter, blade etc. are enough. After harvesting, the
food materials should be washed properly with clean
water and store it or use it as consumption.For long term
storage purpose,“PUSAFarm Sun Fridge” is an innovative,
off-grid, battery less, cold storage facility for perishables
that uses a combination of evaporative cooling and solar
refrigeration to store harvested farm products on rooftop
or nearer to the buildings without electrical connection
can suit well.
4. Selection of Plants for Rooftop
Farming
The choice of crops to be grown depends on the feasibility
and market study; demand, and ability to withstand
environmental and climatic adversities. Eg. fruit trees,
leafy greens, flowers and vegetables. These grow well in
pots, grow-bags and even plastic drums.
066
Figure 5: A beautiful aerial view rooftop
Figure 7: Growing leafy green plants
3.6. Pest management
The rooftop gardens suffer less pest incidence due to
better sunlight are care.The pests can be taken care off by
some common deterrents like chilli and garlic decoctions,
neem oil infused with common detergent and marigold
petals. Use natural trap (okra, alfalfa, castor bean) and
repellent crop (basil, garlic, onion) or biopesticide like
TAGLIFE (Trichoderma viride),VAM (Glomus mosseae),
AZOPHOS (Azotobacter) TAGMONUS (Pseudomonas
florescence), MARGOSA (Aazadiractin).
3.7. Rooftop way
Rooftop way is the way by which you can easily reach the
rooftop garden.There should be official access to the roof
by stairway or elevator to make the garden available to
everyone and an electrical source is very much practical.
Some hanging plants in rooftop’s way make an immense
attraction towards the garden.
Figure 6: Rooftop way
4.1. Seasonal vegetables
Vegetables such as beans, brinjals, tomatoes, carrots,
broccoli, garlic, green peas, okra (bhindi), sponge gourd,
ridge gourd, snake gourd, bitter gourd and bottle gourd,
can be successfully grown.It is always good to grow them
on the southern or western side of the roof,so that,plants
will have enough sun light and can thrive well.
4.2. Small fruit trees
These are to be planted in plastic drums (minimum
100-litre capacity) or the largest available grow-bags.The
trees that can be grown in this way include sapota,guava,
apple,citrus fruit such as orange,lime,soursop (Hanuman
phal), Indian gooseberry (dwarf amla), bananas.

5. CostEstimationinaRooftopFarming
Model
Initial cost of rooftop farming is high. But it will be
compensated by the benefit. In general, the cost of
cultivation will be around Rs. 10,000 to 15,000 per roof
area of 500 sq ft. The benefit will be up to Rs. 1.0 lakh
(www.urbanmali.com).
6. Limitation of Rooftop Farming
o High initial cost.
o Sometime insurance companies may charge a higher
premium than they would to cover the same building
without a roof garden.
o Roof gardens require more maintenance e.g.,Replacing
the growing media and frequent watering etc.
o The structure and weight of a roof garden can cause
problems for the overall building. The roof weight may
increase by as much as 30–950 kg per square meter for
roof gardens depending on depth of soil, when saturated
by heavy rain. Most building roofs require proper
reinforcement. High roof gardens may have problems
with high winds damaging plants and young seedling.
o In order to repair a leaking roof garden, it will require
removing multiple layers to get down to the bottom
waterproof layer.
7. Conclusion
The rooftop farming has an immense scope with high
range of diversity to meet the food security in urban areas.
If government and other responsible organizations step
forward to encourage the practice of rooftop farming, a
sustainable green and smart city can be built by ensuring
food supply. It also helps to meet the demand of fresh
and hygienic foods and creates healthy atmosphere
by improving air quality which lessening the impact
of climate change. This farming is a better option for
promoting organic production of vegetables.
8. References
Awasthi, P., 2013. Urban agriculture in India and its
challenges. International Journal of Environmental
Science: Development and Monitoring
(IJESDM) 4(2), 48-51
Bay, L., 2007.Tapping the Potential of Urban Rooftops:
Roof top Resources Neighbourhood Assessment.
Retrieved from baylocalize.org.
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067
Figure 8: Small tree saplings in bags
4.2. Leafy green plants
Sweet potatoes, lettuce, spinach, potatoes, coriander,
turmeric and ginger can be grown in separate plastic-bags
or pots that are deep enough to cater for tubers.
4.3. Hanging plants
The vertical space on roof wall has to be utilized
efficiently. The vegetable shrubs and vines such as
beans, gourds and tall tomato varieties can be planted
near the walls and railings. Reason to grow flowers in
your vegetable garden is to attract native bees and other
beneficial insects.Flowers such as bougainvillea,jasmine,
hibiscus,sunflower,tulips,lavender,rose,oleander etc can
be grown in planters.
Figure 9: Hanging plants in rooftop
Figure 10: Growing flowers in rooftop

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