Urban Soils and Organic Farming: Conservation and Resilience

Abstract

The article proposes an epistemological shift in the understanding of soil beyond its physical and agronomic roles, positioning it as a living interface that connects productive practices, symbolic regimes, and diverse worldviews amid the current ecological crisis. The research was conducted in Conselheiro Lafaiete, Minas Gerais, in southeastern Brazil, comparing the chemical attributes of soils under three different management regimes: agroecological organic agriculture, urban soil, and eucalyptus monoculture. It included the determination of pH in water, organic matter, remaining phosphorus, macronutrients, and micronutrients extracted by Mehlich-1, and exchangeable cations (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Al³⁺) by KCl 1 mol L^-1. The analyses revealed that organic agriculture promotes biologically active and resilient soils, while urban and monoculture soils show degradation and biogeochemical impoverishment, expressing extractive and fragmented territorial models. Through the lens of Intermedia Ecocriticism, soil is understood as an ecological medium and material archive of civilizational choices, reflecting tensions between science, poetics, and territorial politics. By broadening the view of soil as a symbolic and political agent, the study contributes to debates on environmental justice, food sovereignty, and the urgent need to reconceptualize the relationship between humans and territories, especially in contemporary urban and rural dynamics.