Urban farming flourishes in homes as pandemic rages on

BANGKOK－Coronavirus lockdowns are pushing more city dwellers to grow fruit and vegetables in their homes, providing a potentially lasting boost to urban farming, according to architects and food experts.

Panic buying in some countries during the crisis has led to empty supermarket shelves and an uptick in the purchase of seeds, according to media reports.

"More people are thinking about where their food comes from, how easily it can be disrupted, and how to reduce disruptions," said landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom, who designed Asia's largest urban rooftop farm in Bangkok, Thailand.

"People, planners and governments should all be rethinking how land is used in cities. Urban farming can improve food security and nutrition, reduce the impact of climate change, and lower stress," she said.

More than two-thirds of the world's population are forecast to live in cities by 2050, according to the United Nations.

Urban agriculture can be crucial to feeding them, potentially producing as much as 180 million tons of food a year, or about 10 percent of the global output of pulses and vegetables, according to a 2018 study published in the journal Earth's Future.