Comparing Properties in Ubran and No-Till Soils

Abstract As the human population increase and arable farmland decrease, developing new techniques to growing food need to be explored and developed to assist traditional and conventional agriculture in feeding the planet. The objective of this study was to determine the differences in urban soils and traditional agricultural fields in order to gain a better understanding of the viability of urban agriculture as a food source and determine if urban agriculture systems can be modeled to apply globally. Soil characteristics include organic matter, water holding capacity, field capacity, bulk density, porosity, and pH were determined to observe the quality of the ecosystem. This study was conducted on urban and conventional soils of Calloway County, Kentucky. Using a no-till soybean field as a control for a conventional agricultural resource, we analyzed the differences between a developed urban garden (where food and other various plants were grown) and residential turf (that has had weed control and fertilization applications) to assess the different management effects on soils. Thirty-six total disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were taken from a no-till soybean field, a developed urban garden, and a residential turf lawn. Each area of interest has three replications collected from 0 to 7.5 cm and from 7.5 to 15 cm. The results will be presented in the poster. This research is important to the development of urban soils when it comes to using them for local food production. Keywords: Bulk density, Garden, No-till, Turf, Urban Soi