PRETATERRA Answers: Is Agroforestry Possible in Cities?

Hi PRETATERRA team. I really admire your work, but I live in the city and I don't have any space to plant, as my floor is all tiled. Is it possible for me to apply any agroforestry technique?

Question from Elis via IG.

Hi Elis! First, thank you for following us and for submitting your question. The answer is yes, it is possible to apply many agroforestry techniques in the city, even in places that are fully paved or tiled. Thinking about some agroforestry principles such as succession, biodiversity, biomass and nutrient cycling, it is possible to adapt all of them to plantings in pots. Some ideas:

– Allocate species from different strata and life cycles in the same pot. In this case, they don't necessarily need to be just vegetables, but even species with a longer cycle, such as legumes, perennials and even fruit trees with shorter growth;

– Carry out pruning to generate biomass to cover the pots;

– The biomass resulting from pruning can also be included in the vermicomposting of food scraps, which will then become compost and fertilizer;

 – Planting species pollinated by animals will attract fauna and guarantee the production of fruits and seeds;

– Planting green manure species, such as Crotalaria or even pigeon peas, can also be done, depending on the size of the pot. You can plant other legumes such as beans and peas to fix nitrogen in the soil.

Growing plants at home has many benefits, but imagine growing food for yourself and your family even if you live in the city? That is a valuable possibility. At PRETATERRA we believe that agroforestry is for everyone and everywhere. More than a production system, agroforestry is a philosophy, a way of thinking. Everyone can do agroforestry!

Here we are in a really cool apartment in the heart of Salvador, where even in the middle of the city, its owners cultivate agroforestry (note the pots around us)!