Numbers for a possible infographic – MK

Between 10,000 and 15,000 trees are planted annually in Chelyabinsk

Russian megacities succumbed to the fashion for urban gardening.

Why such industrial cities of Russia as Chelyabinsk began to rely on agrarian approaches and what comes out of it

Urban horticulture helps to transform megacities into a place with an environment that is comfortable for life from an environmental, psychological and social point of view. Farming within the city has long been practiced abroad. A striking example is Berlin in Germany, where the tradition of growing their own vegetables is passed down from generation to generation. In the United States, planting vegetables in urban wastelands was first started to solve the problem of hunger in the century before last, but later this topic began to develop as part of the fashion for environmental behavior.

The global trend has also reached Russia. Ten years ago, public beds appeared, for example, on the territory of the Moscow plant “Arma”, where you could rent a bed. A very interesting agricultural experience is taking shape in Chelyabinsk, where it has become not only a hobby of the townspeople, but also a successful business. Experts note that there are currently three types of vegetable growing on the market. The first is industrial, greenhouse, the second is craft, farm, the third is urban, balcony-yard. Today, all these three types are in Chelyabinsk. Industrial greenhouses are located right on the territory of the city, creating not only a well-known vegetable brand, but also a spectacular illumination for the coastal strip of one of the Chelyabinsk lakes. Today it is a high-tech and very environmentally friendly production. So a few years ago, it was the Chelyabinsk agricultural complex “Churilovo” that decided to use a new method of processing plants. Pests are destroyed there not with chemicals, but with the help of beneficial predatory insects that eat their own kind, but feed on the leaves of cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuces. This allows you to get natural and safe products. And the city without the additional pressure of “chemistry” is only pluses.

As for mini-farms, they are located both in the city itself, where there are private buildings, and in the suburbs, where there are not only forests, but also fields. In the metropolis itself, almost all developers are already designing spaces, taking into account the fact that there are courtyards and large front gardens at the entrances. Often they are used by Chelyabinsk residents to lay out flower beds. Some even manage to grow vegetables there, and they turn out to be quite edible.

Chelyabinsk residents also grow vegetables on their balconies. Both vertical and horizontal layouts are used. If you walk around the city at night, you will see special lighting for seedlings and vegetables on many loggias. Fashion for greenery in Chelyabinsk steps into the city literally from the windows.

After a standard associated with green roofs was created in Russia, Chelyabinsk decided to use a new type of city greening – with the help of roof gardens. This is suitable, of course, for new houses, where there is a special roof with a protective coating that will not leak water.

By the way, those who think that the Urals are something harsh in terms of weather conditions are mistaken. In fact, the Chelyabinsk climate cannot interfere with gardening or greening of roofs. Residents of the city have long been growing grapes, watermelons, and apricots in their garden plots … So Chelyabinsk is a zone of quite attractive farming.

By the way, this is well understood by the Chinese, who have long wanted to see here a zone of high agricultural technologies – a “green silicon valley”, by analogy with Shaanxi province.

“When I went to China, I saw a map of Russia where the Chelyabinsk region was marked in green, and others in red, orange, and so on,” says Sergey Sushkov, vice-governor of the Chelyabinsk region, who previously served as the region’s minister of agriculture. – It turned out that the Chinese consider Chelyabinsk and our products to be among the most environmentally friendly in Russia. If in China there are at least 100 kilograms of “chemistry” in one hectare of land, then we have about four. There, all the lands are oxidized, leached, while in our country they are attractive even within the boundaries of an industrial city.