A village a field? Agronomic evaluation of fruit trees in inhabited space – Lessons for land use policy from a case study in Israel's Sharon Region

• Ben-Simchon, Eyal ^[1] ; Grunwald, Yael ^[1] ; Ben-Ari, Giora ^[2] ; Rosenfeld, Arie ^[3] ; Shelef, Oren ^[1]
  1. [1] Natural Resources, Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O.B. 151590, 68 Maccabim Road, Rishon Le Tzion, 7505101, Israel
  2. [2] Fruit Tree Sciences, Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, P.O.B. 151590, 68 Maccabim Road, Rishon Le Tzion, 7505101, Israel
  3. [3] Ecolo-GIS, P.O.B. 133, Be’erotaim 4285000, Israel

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• Localización: Land use policy: The International Journal Covering All Aspects of Land Use, ISSN 0264-8377, ISSN-e 1873-5754, Nº. 123, 2022
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The global need to intensify sustainable food systems in the face of growing demands and environmental pressures calls for innovative solutions. With the growth of worldwide urbanization and the expansion of inhabited spaces, it is time to evaluate the opportunities for food production within settled environments. The literature shows a growing public interest in urban agroforestry in general and fruit trees in particular. This study aimed to assess whether fruits grown in inhabited areas can contribute a considerable food supply to local residents. The 1779 fruit trees in a rural settlement in Israel were surveyed as a case study. Trees included 503 subtropical, 713 citrus, 245 deciduous, 109 nut, and 209 olive trees. Of the 40 ha study site area, 53% was plantable land, of which a land equivalent to 14.25 % was utilized for fruit trees. The potential contribution of the community fruit trees in relation to the national fruit consumption per capita per annum (PCPA) was estimated at olive 72 %, nuts 83 %, subtropics 154 %, citrus 115 %, and deciduous 11 %. When considering the magnitude of fruit production within the studied community, it can be concluded that, to a considerable extent, a village may also be an orchard - a field.