Abiotic and biotic factors influencing small-scale corn production along a shade spectrum in arid urban agriculture settings

Urban agriculture may be an avenue to help alleviate strain on the global production of staple crops like corn (Zea mays), but significant knowledge gaps exist regarding the optimization of staple crop production in urban settings, and especially in arid urban settings where different challenges exist for crop success. We sought to assess abiotic and biotic factors that impact sweet corn production in six arid urban agricultural plots with varying levels of shade stress, a known inhibitor of corn production. Corn successfully reached maturity in 50% of the studied plots (n = 18). Microbial richness and diversity were uniformly high in all plot soils and not indicated as a hinderance to corn production nor correlated with corn success. Multiple corn success metrics were positively correlated with average daytime light intensity (r = 0.74 to 0.84) and soil organic matter (r = 0.77 to 0.89), suggesting that these factors are critical aspects of successful corn production. In plots that did not receive optimal light exposure, exceptional soil health and morning vs afternoon sun exposure offset at least some degree of shade stress in these arid urban environments. Corn success metrics were negatively correlated with soil calcium, magnesium, sodium and sulfate (r = -0.71 to -0.90), suggesting that minimizing or mitigating the buildup of salt constituents in soils is critical for successful corn production. Optimizing staple crop production in arid urban agricultural settings supports food chain stability and social and economic security of local communities. This work suggests abiotic and biotic drivers of corn success which can be utilized for crop optimization in these environments.