Module 04: Agriculture & Food Production — Feeding 1 Million People

[zheimr]

Module 04: Agriculture & Food Production

Spec: modules/04-agriculture/SPEC.md
Status: Open — needs contributor to develop calculations and design

What this module covers

Sustaining 1 million inhabitants through integrated food production across multiple gravity zones: hydroponics (150 km²), aeroponics (100 km²), and soil farming (150 km²). Includes livestock integration (aquaculture, insect farming, algae production), specialized crop rotation, and a massive lighting power budget of 3.2×10¹³ W for grow lights.

Open questions to answer

• Optimal light spectrum for space-farming crop yields — LED vs. focused solar
• Pollination efficiency in 0.9g — bumblebee behavior, wind pollination alternatives
• Soil microbial community evolution in an enclosed system over decades
• Long-term crop genetic drift in an isolated population
• Water quality management in closed-loop aquaculture at scale
• Pathogenic disease management across 400+ km² of crops
• Labor efficiency — automation levels needed for 1M-person food system
• Nutritional completeness of controlled agriculture diet
• Emergency food stockpiling strategy and shelf-life management

What's already built

• Area allocations per farming method
• Power budget estimates for grow lights
• Basic caloric requirements per capita
• Live dashboard with ECLSS resource budgets

Required expertise

Agricultural Engineering, Botany, Nutrition Science, Controlled Environment Agriculture

How to contribute

1. Read the SPEC.md
2. Pick one or more open questions
3. Do the math — cite sources, show work
4. Submit a PR updating the SPEC with your calculations