Glenn Roberts, founder of Anson Mills in the United States, explains that the goal of polycultivating agriculture is to produce the "perfect hectare" in which grasses (wheat, rye and oats) and other compatible plants grow together and are harvested in vertical layers as they mature. The result would be healthy soil, without the need for rotation of crops or chemical fertilizers, and the tastiest versions of these plants that nature can produce.

"We are having a 30% drop worldwide in cereal systems," he said during a presentation at the International Bakery Industry Exhibition (IBIE) in mid-September. "A geneticist I work with said they started working on this problem in 1993 and were already late. Now, there are about 20 plants in the polyculture system. Polyculture is working."

During the IBIE session, he noted that the southern United States produces more rye for wildlife than the rest of the country produces grain. "These plants don't require a lot of water and all plants harvest in 90 days at most – with extreme tolerances," he said. "Animals like variety, just like us. This is an advanced fodder system, but we're not doing it for people yet. Polyculture is global, but we lose it in the modern world.

"These plants are dancing with each other. You don't need chemicals to do that." The discovery of Carolina Gourdseed White and other nearly extinct varieties of Southern corn fueled Glenn's efforts to preserve the nutrition and flavor of traditional corn. But he knew that corn would have to be ground with the same care with which it was grown.

Source: Agrolink