The Polydome system strategically interweaves a wide variety of crops and animals, taking advantage of every inch of the greenhouse while eliminating the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
With its high yields (60 – 90 kg per square meter), and diverse outputs (over 50 crops, two mushroom varieties, chickens, eggs, fish, and honey), even a small Polydome system can provide a richly varied food supply for a large population.
It is estimated that by using Polydome, even cities as densely populated as New York City could provide the majority of their own food supply using available roof space. A less dense city like Rotterdam could provide an estimated 80% of its food needs using only 3% of its surface area.
The inventiveness of the system lies in its ability to maximize food production and variety by operating more like a self-maintaining ecosystem than an industrial farm. Polydome is a polyculture system with many crops and livestock growing at once. Plants, crops, animals, and insects are strategically interwoven to connect waste, water, and energy flows and capture the benefts of varied space and light conditions. Animals within the system range freely and live naturally, while the design of the crop layout limits the need for repetitive human labor.
Depending on the mix of crops and animals, Polydome systems can be fully zero-waste. Plant waste is reused as mulch, compost, or fish feed, while animal wastes are processed into plant nutrient supplements.
Polydome systems are a step towards truly sustainable agriculture: they produce high quality food efficiently and locally while creating environmental benefits and caring for human and animal welfare. They provide a realistic way of doubling our food production by 2050 while reducing the overall impact of agriculture.
A full document about the project can be read here.