A university in British Columbia is opening a "biological pest control laboratory" to develop strategies for small and urban farms to control pests through microbe- and insect-based systems.
With increasing demand for food and decreasing amounts of arable land on which to grow it, some suggest urban farming may be the best way to feed the world's urban population. The methods being developed have that type of agricultural setting in mind, accounting for dense urban environments that could have a garden next door to -- or on top of -- a skyscraper.
"Cities all over the world and here in B.C. are integrating farming into the urban environment, from small-acreage market gardens to green-roof food production and community gardens in parks and sustainable housing developments.
But for people and commercial food production to coexist in a densely populated urban environment, alternatives must be found to replace chemical pest control, said Deborah Henderson, director of Kwantlen's Institute for Sustainable Horticulture."
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