SIGN/InnovationNetwork Since the 1960s, agriculture worldwide has undergone a mass conversion to monocultures. Scale increases and specialization became the creeds of efficient production. These practices greatly expanded global food output. Over time, however, the negative effects of large, decoupled production systems started to become evident. Large scale farms can lead to deforestation, monocultures of plants require chemical protection from pests and diseases, and intensive livestock production has caused the manure and mineral surplus in our country. Expanding the scale of agriculture results in reductionist thinking. If we have problems with mold, we apply fungicides. Insecticides are used for insect control. Fertilizer is seen as the solution to poor soils despite our surplus of organic manure. At every step of the way, we rely on the input of chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and fossil energy. Besides scale increases, we have also seen the rise in specialization. A rose grower has a very different greenhouse from a potted plant producer or tomato grower. Growers who are dependent on a single product can suffer economically from severe market fluctuations. Because of their largescale output, they are also dependent on third parties for product distribution and sales. One of the positive sides of Dutch greenhouse horticulture is the extremely high productivity per square meter, which offers a real prospect for meeting the demands of a growing world population. With programs such as Energy Producing Greenhouses, the sector has also made inroads into becoming sustainable. Increasingly, natural approaches are used for disease and pest control. While elaborating on these themes, this report comes from a fundamentally different approach: to develop bio-diverse farming systems that are inherently sustainable because the various crops are mutually supportive. In this comprehensive study, Except provides a basis for a greenhouse system that will produce a large variety of products: from herbs, fruits, and vegetables to mushrooms, honey, chickens, and fish. This offers many advantages. Bio-diverse greenhouses are more resistant to the spread of pests and diseases. Certain combinations of plants appear to result in healthier plants. Mushroom compost preparation and cultivation will contribute to a higher CO2 levels in the greenhouse, improving plant growth. The wastes of one product can be used as the input for the next. Due to the large number of products, it is possible to sell directly Foreword to the retail or restaurant supply. The profitability looks better than regular horticulture, though exact income and labor requirements still remain uncertain. Such a greenhouse is complicated to manage, but the potential benefits are so great that we will definitely continue to explore this route. Ger Vos Innovation Network Nico van Ruiten Chairman, SIGN Foundation for Innovation in the Dutch Horticulture Sector Polydome: High Performance Polyculture Systems 5 Pagina 4
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