Rhode Island’s urban growers and small-scale farmers are taking action in their communities, growing not just produce, but also providing jobs, beautifying their neighborhoods, and offering access to fresh, healthy food in areas where grocery stores are sparse.
No matter what size farm you have, knowing how to conserve, maintain and restore the natural resources on your farm is a powerful tool. NRCS can help urban and small-scale farmers create a conservation plan that serves as a road map to improve the health and resiliency of your operation.
A conservation plan empowers you to make educated decisions for your farm, keeps you from making costly management mistakes, and can help to qualify you for financial programs. Conservation practices help improve soil health, reduce soil erosion, improve water quality and provide other natural resource benefits.
The way soils are managed has the greatest impact on your land’s productivity. Productive and resilient land can be obtained by following these four simple soil health management principles:
- Minimize disturbance from tillage and overgrazing.
- Maximize soil cover with residues and living plants.
- Maximize diversity with crop rotations, cover crops and inter-cropping.
- Maximize living roots year-round with crops, forages and cover crops.
Benefits include increased soil organic matter, improved resilience to drought and floods, improved nutrient cycling, and overall increased profits. Here's some practices that can help you:
Conservation Practices
High Tunnel
High Tunnels extend the growing season and protect plants from harsh weather, air pollution and pests. By making local produce available for more months in the year, fewer resources are used to transport food.
Soil Health
NRCS offers practices to improve soil health in your small farm or community garden. Healthy soils yield healthy produce and animals and improve the health of the local environment.
Managing Weeds & Pests
NRCS can help with pest management practices – advising on crop rotations and various types of mulches to reduce weeds and manage insects that harm crops.
Irrigation & Water Management
NRCS develops irrigation water management plans to help urban farmers address water quantity and quality resource concerns. Practices like water-efficient drip irrigation systems, automated pumps, pipelines and rainwater catchments help reduce water use and soil erosion and maximize yields.
Mulching
The NRCS mulching practice applies plant residues or other suitable materials to the land surface to improve soil moisture management, reduce weed pressure and erosion , and build or maintain soil organic matter.
Cover Crops & Crop Rotation
Cover crops are grasses, legumes, and/or broadleaves planted for seasonal cover to reduce soil erosion, improve soil organic matter, trap and cycle nutrients, improve water infiltration and water-holding capacity, and reduce compaction.
Crop rotations grow a diverse number of crops in a planned sequence to reduce crop pests (insects, disease, weeds), add soil biological diversity and reduce erosion.
Compost Facility
Composting facilities transform organic waste into a soil amendment that improves soil health, provides slow-release plant-available nutrients, and suppresses plant disease. NRCS now can cost share for small-scale composting facilities.
Pollinator Habitat
Pollinator habitat has multiple benefits for natural resources conservation. Planting wildlife friendly grasses and wildflowers to support pollinators and beneficial insects increases crop pollination, increases predation and parasitism of pests. Native plants used to create pollinator habitat provide wildlife value, help stabilize soil, improve water quality, sequester carbon, improve landscape aesthetics, and can also be a source of value-added products (like honey).
Additional Information
Learn more about Urban Ag across the country
Urban agriculture includes the cultivation, processing, and distribution of agricultural products in urban and suburban areas. Community gardens, rooftop farms, hydroponic, aeroponic and aquaponic facilities, and vertical production, are all examples of urban agriculture. Tribal communities and small towns may also be included.
