Urban garden soil pollution caused by fertilizers and copper-based fungicides application

Abstract

Urban gardening is an activity that has been rapidly increasing. The aim of this study was to point out the common mistakes in cultivation practices made by producers on small city areas. Total of 96 individual plots under vegetable crops were sampled (56 from garden plots of the city of Novi Sad, and 40 from field plots in the suburbs). There was no significant difference in the content of organic matter between these two groups of tested soils. The contents of readily available P2O5 and K2O were significantly higher in garden soil than in the field plots for production of vegetables. According to the content of pseudototal copper, 39% of samples belonged to the category of critical concentration and/or above MAC in the urban soil. Obtained results prove the pollution of small area gardens due to high anthropogenic effect of excessive use of mineral fertilizers and copper-based fungicides.

Excess fertility in residential‐scale urban agriculture soils in two western Oregon cities, USA

“…However, like Ninkov et al. (2018), we found UA soils in this study to be of high fertility. This emphasizes the importance of site location and demonstrates dramatic differences between urban soils, for example, brownfields vs. gardens.…”

“…Some researchers have suggested that urban soils are expected to have low levels of soil microbial activity (Lorenz, 2015), high levels of soil compaction (Lorenz, 2015;Pavao-Zuckerman, 2008), and high levels of contamination (Pickett et al, 2011). However, like Ninkov et al (2018), we found UA soils in this study to be of high fertility. This emphasizes the importance of site location and demonstrates dramatic differences between urban soils, for example, brownfields vs. gardens.…”

“…The excess nutrients that we documented likely come from routine compost applications and nutrient buildup over time (Ugarte & Taylor, 2020; Small et al., 2019; Ninkov et al., 2018; Seiter & Horwath, 2004). The story of urban soils is one where anthropogenic factors (Joimel et al., 2020; Taguchi et al., 2020) are the primary drivers of soil enrichment (Asabere et al., 2018).…”

“…We do not know the source of the metals in these three soil samples, but it is entirely possible it is from lead paint from the house itself. There is some research showing how legacy contaminants from pesticides increase heavy metal content in garden soils (Ninkov et al., 2018). The highest arsenic level in our study came from a site that was located on the border of what had been an apple orchard.…”

Landscaping with Fruits: Citizens’ Perceptions toward Urban Horticulture and Design of Urban Gardens

“…During the assessment of urban pockets in Novi Sad, the second-largest city in Serbia, Narandžić and Ljubojević [30] identified spaces suitable for urban gardening purposes. To the authors' knowledge, similar studies in Novi Sad, except for studies on urban soil quality in terms of edible plant cultivation [31,32] and plant materials suitable for urban gardens [33], have not been conducted. Despite the presence of different informal spaces of unknown ownership and wild gardens in the urban environment of Novi Sad, where the growing of edible plants by city residents was observed, in addition to food production in private household gardens and spaces between buildings, research is lacking on the areas that they occupy; their number, ownership and locations; gardeners' characteristics; and the types of plants grown.…”