From: m23364@mwunix (James Meritt)
Subject: Re: Biosphere 2 Agriculture
Followup-To: sci.skeptic,sci.space
Organization: MITRE Corporation, McLean VA
Distribution: sci
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 15:41:36 GMT

In article <C0Awy0.D43.1@cs.cmu.edu> Taber@bio2.com writes:
}My name is Jane Poynter, the Biospherian in charge
}of the Field Agricutlure Systems inside Biosphere
}2.  Taber MacCallum has given progress reports on
}Biosphere 2 and given general outlines.  I thought
}I would give a brief outline of the Agriculture
}Biome of Biosphere 2.  What I write here are my
}own opinions and not to be taken as opinions held
}by Space Biospheres Ventures.
} 
}The Biosphere 2 Agriculture covers an area of
}approximately 0.5 acres, which includes the field
}agriculture, orchard and domestic animal barns.
}It was designed to produce enough food for the 8
}biospherians and domestic animals (goats and
}chickens), to be non polluting and totally
}recycling.
} 
}Our main staples are beans (mostly a tropical
}variety called hyacinth bean, or lab lab), rice,
}wheat, sorghum, sweet potatoes, taro, bananas
}(green as a starch and ripe as a fruit), papayas
}(also green as a vegetable and ripe as a fruit),
}peanuts (which give us a large percentage of our
}daily fat intake), and of course all sorts of
}vegetables such as carrots, squash, eggplant,
}tomatoes, chilis, bell peppers, beets and lots of
}greens.
} 
}>From the animals we get mainly milk and eggs.
}Meat is quite a luxury, eaten once a week and for
}feasts.  We currently have 4 African Pigmy does,
}one buck and 2 kids, 10 hens, 2 cocks and 3
}pullets.  There are also tilapia fish in the rice
}paddies which live off the azolla (a small water
}fern which grows on the surface of the water) and
}the small crustacea and insect larvae in the water
}and mud.  At the outset of the experiment we had
}included a breeding pair of Ossabaw Ferrel Swine,
}which are a medium sized pig, somewhat larger than
}the Vietnamese Potbellied Pig, but much smaller
}than a farm pig.  The boar weighed 110 lbs.
}However, it became increasingly clear that this
}pig, and probably any pig, is not suitable for
}this agriculture system at its current level of
}production.  There was no starch available for the
}pigs, as had been thought there would be when the
}decision was made to include the pigs.  I am sure
}that this agriculture system will go through many
}phases of evolution as we discover what works and
}what does not, and how to improve on existing
}systems.
} 
}We use no polluting pesticides to control pest
}outbreaks.  We use soap and other such sprays
}where necessary, and use many of the commonly used
}methods of integrated pest programmes.  We also do
}not use chemical fertilisers, but recycle waste
}products.  Animal wastes and crop residues not fed
}to the domestic animals are composted, human
}waste, the wash down from animal barns and the
}waste water from the human habitat is cycled
}through a marsh waste recycling system.  Our
}nutrient recycling in the agriculture is therefore
}essentially a closed loop.  There are some
}nutrients that may be tied up in forms
}unretrievable by plants in the long run, and this
}is a possible problem that we may have to face in
}the future.
} 
}As in all new ventures there have been problems
}which we are currently attempting to solve, and
}doubtless there will be many more challenges along
}the way to reaching the afore mentioned goals.
}Some of our main problems have been in pest
}management which has led to problems with crop
}diversity.  Light levels are also of concern as
}the plants receive approximately 45% ambient
}light. This is because of the shading of the
}structure and glass.  The pest problems have
}arisen because, despite efforts to introduce a
}wide variety of predators and parasites on several
}occasions, before closure and once during closure,
}the food web is by no means complex enough to
}handle the fluxes in pest populations.  We have
}also seen the development of damaging population
}levels of broad mites which we did not see before
}closure at all. This tiny mite has devastated
}white potatoes, and is now attacking our sweet
}potatoes, despite efforts to control it by
}spraying vegetable oil (which we have found to be
}the most effective non-toxic spray to date) and to
}lower levels of relative humidity as far as
}possible as this seems to be the most effective
}method of population control.
} 
}Because of this and other pest and disease
}problems our species diversity has been diminished
}in the agriculture which of course does not help
}in itself.  We begin to rely on fewer and fewer
}crops for our main staples, which is not a healthy
}situation to be in, especially when one's lively
}hood relies upon the crops' success.  Species
}diversity is an important factor to consider in
}any agriculure system as it is necessary to have
}several crops that perform the same funtion in the
}diet (such as white potato and sweet potato).
}Unpredictable growing conditions may arise and one
}crop may do well where the other may fail.
}Diversity is also important to maintain an
}interesting diet, one aspect of keeping high
}morale among the crew of any long expedition.
}Both the pest problems and the species diversity
}are problems that we are currently trying to
}solve, but will also be a large part of the work
}being done during the transition phase betwen this
}2 year experiment and the next one year
}experiment.
} 
}Then there is the problem of light: the plants
}will indeed grow and produce under the existing
}light levels, but it makes the plants somewhat
}etiolated and much more susceptible to disease and
}prone to pest infestations.
} 
}People have often asked what the Biosphere 2
}Agriculture system has to do with space
}exploration, habitation.  There are several
}answers to that question, but the general answer
}is in long term colinization of planets, and
}eventually even the totally man made space
}colonies as in Gerard O'Neill's vision of the High
}Frontier.  There are indeed many methods of
}growing plants.  NASA is doing great work in the
}realms of hydroponics for maximum efficiency and
}reliability in the production of food and have
}succeeded in obtaining extraordinary yields,
}making the production of food a viable option
}during spaceflight.  However, this kind of system
}is as yet non-recylable.  The nutrient solution
}itself can be recycled, but no way has been found
}to date to recycle the nutrients that have been
}taken up by the plants themselves.   Hydroponics
}will most probably be the way to go for space
}flights needing to get materials up out of a deep
}gravity well, like that of Planet Earth's, but in
}situations where there are materials at hand with
}which to make the main bulk of the growing medium,
}like on Mars, or possibly larger asteroids, then
}the soil based totally recycling, non-toxic, intensive
}agriculture approach may well be more viable in
}the long run. I will say, however, that I think
}domestic animals will be a long time in arriving
}in space and are not an essential part of our
}system, either for nutrient recycling, or for food
}production.  They are currently essential for a
}good portion of the fat in our diet, but this can
}be remedied by the inclusion of other oil crops.
} 
}Another aspect of the food production systems
}used in space, is the diversity that can
}be produced for the human diet.
}Living inside Biosphere 2 for 15 months has
}shown that food, and the cuisine aspects of the
}daily meals, is an extremely important aspect of
}group morale.  If someone cooks a poor meal, or if
}there is a period of time when the number of
}species which end up on our plates is low, or very
}monotonous for a period of time, people become
}grumpy and somewhat dispondent.  However, feasts
}have become very important, where we all make
}great efforts to produce favorite dishes like
}cheesecake and sweet potato pies, stuffed
}chickens, ice creams, rice and peanuts, chutneys
}and crepes.  Whilst humans can, for the most part,
}tolerate poor living conditions for periods of
}time, they do nothing to contribute to group
}morale, and high morale on any long space
}expedition will be extremely important to ensure
}success.
} 
}In any food production system in space there must
}be room for unpredictablility and failure.  Plants
}will be plants.  They will grow very differently
}with only very small changes in evironmental
}parameters, and problems will arise that were not
}seen before, or planned for, as we have seen with
}the Bisophere 2 agriculture system.  Although many
}crop and variety production trials were run under
}conditions as close to those in Biosphere 2 as
}possible many plants have acted quite differently
}under actual Biopshere 2 conditions.  Bananas have
}become an extremely high producer for us in here,
}which we did not experience in our test beds.
} 
}Pests are of great importance to consider.  Even
}in NASA's environmentally controlled chambers
}where they take great precautions against the
}inclusion of pests they have seen problems with
}pests.  Learning how to exclude pests completely
}from a system is very important but there needs to
}be a back up system of pest management if
}unexpected pest populations do arise.  This
}non-toxic integrated pest management approach,
}with complex food webs, is an important aspect of
}the resarch being done in Biosphere 2.
} 
}Energy is a big concern in space, both the
}acquisition of the energy for artifial lighting
}etc. but also the dealing with the heat load
}created by electric motors, lights etc.  Using the
}sun's photons as far as possible seems the obvious
}way to go, but some artificial lighting may be
}needed for periods of time or for general
}supplementation.  Finding the optimum light levels
}for food production, which may not necessarily be
}the ideal levels for maximum production/unit area,
}is another important area of research which needs
}to be carried out.
} 
}There are many questions to be answered about food
}production systems and many yet to be asked that
}have not been thought of, but you might say that
}the Biosphere 2 Agriculture system is a
}step towards the total system's approach to space
}agriculture.  This approach and the as yet
}non-recyclable systems of hydro and airoponics
}have very different applications, just as the
}different rocket propulsion systems have their
}pros, cons and very different applications.
} 
}I would welcome food production as a new
}thread on the net.
} 
}Jane Poynter
}Biospherian in charge of
}Field Agriculture Systems in Biosphere 2

Hmmmmm.  I seem to recall that plants, aside from food 
production, also happen to be responsible for O2
production and CO2 elimination...

And guess which you can go longer without:  food or oxygen.

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