When the roof or terrace of a building is covered with plants such as trees, shrubs, bushes, and grass, it is termed as a roof garden. This farming practice is also known as, terrace farm, rooftop farm, rooftop garden, green roof, living roof, or eco-roof. The concept of Smart urban agriculture focuses on adequate production of crops, vegetables and fruits utilising advanced farming techniques along with IoT and AI. As Dhaka has scarcity of arable land, the methods of smart agriculture can be applied here through terrace farming. Let's take a look into the prospects of smart rooftop farming in Dhaka city. Threats to the Food System of Dhaka City Decreasing Arable Land To cope up with the increasing pressure of population, the agricultural lands are being converted to residential, commercial or industrial land uses. Such practices are reducing the scope of growing agricultural food products in different urban areas of Bangladesh including the Dhaka metropolitan city. Rising Food Inflation One of the major impacts of the Russia-Ukraine crisis was the disruption of global trades of some key foods and agricultural commodities. Like many other countries, Bangladesh has been experiencing rising prices of foods and agricultural products which is threatening the country's food security. According to BBS data, the food inflation rate in Bangladesh climbed to 12.54% in August 2023. The demands and prices of food commodities are also rocketing in Dhaka city. Read more: Inflation ticks up again as food prices remain sticky upwards Harmful Chemicals The usage of inorganic fertilisers and harmful pesticides to increase agricultural productions are making the yields hazardous for human health. Furthermore, food contamination practices such as application of harmful chemicals to ripen fruits or keep vegetables fresh for long hours are posing threat to the health of Dhaka city residents.

Taxi fleets in Thailand are giving new meaning to the term “rooftop garden,” as they utilize the roofs of cabs idled by the coronavirus crisis to serve as small vegetable plots. Workers from two taxi cooperatives assembled the miniature gardens this week using black plastic garbage bags stretched across bamboo frames. On top, they added soil in which a variety of crops, including tomatoes, cucumbers and string beans, were planted. Read:Egypt team identifies fossil of land-roaming whale species The result looks more like an eye-grabbing art installation than a car park, and that’s partly the point: to draw attention to the plight of taxi drivers and operators who have been badly hit by coronavirus lockdown measures. The Ratchapruk and Bovorn Taxi cooperatives now have just 500 cars left plying Bangkok’s streets, with 2,500 sitting idle at a number of city sites, according to 54-year-old executive Thapakorn Assawalertkul. With the capital’s streets deathly quiet until recently, there’s been too much competition for too few fares, resulting in a fall in drivers’ incomes. Many now can’t afford the daily payments on the vehicles, even after the charge was halved to 300 baht ($9.09), Thapakorn said. So they have walked away, leaving the cars in long, silent rows. Some drivers surrendered their cars and returned to their homes in rural areas when the pandemic first hit last year because they were so scared, he said. More gave up and returned their cars during the second wave. “Some left their cars at places like gas stations and called us to pick the cars up,” he recalled. With new surges of the virus this year, the cooperatives were “completely knocked out,” as thousands of cars were given up by their drivers, he said. Thailand’s new infections have ranged just under 15,000 in recent days after peaking above 23,400 in mid-August. The government hopes the country is easing out of this wave, which has been the deadliest so far, accounting for 97% of Thailand’s total cases and more than 99% of its deaths. In total, Thailand has confirmed 1.4 million cases and over 14,000 deaths. Read:Fossil leaves may reveal climate in last era of dinosaurs The situation has left the taxi companies in financial peril, struggling to repay loans on the purchase of their fleets. Ratchapruk and Bovorn cooperatives owe around 2 billion baht ($60.8 million), Thapakorn said. The government has so far not offered any direct financial support. “If we don’t have help soon, we will be in real trouble,” he told The Associated Press on Thursday. The taxi-top gardens don’t offer an alternative revenue stream. The cooperatives staff, who were asked to take salary cuts, are now taking turns tending the newly-made gardens. “The vegetable garden is both an act of protest and a way to feed my staff during this tough time,” said Thapakorn. “Thailand went through political turmoil for many years, and a great flood in 2011, but business was never this terrible.”