So many tons for so many dollars. The keyword to the ecology of microfarming is that it considers surfaces instead of mass or numbers. A leaf has a large surface and low weight. The large surface allows it to catch a lot of light and air as well as evaporate ample water. So it can produce much.
Human lungs are the same.
The inner surface is wrinkled and therefore very large allowing us to breathe a lot of air, so we can perform highly. The populations inhabiting the soil of the earth we stand and live on. Only by their massive and diverse total surface can all the very diverse food exchanges be implemented. Sterility is no good here. In fact it is counter productive.