[wodenokoto]

Some of the trenches are there to solely produce biomass. They don’t don’t go into it in the video but it hints to me that they are trying to change the soil.

Now the ground is hard dirt and water runs off. The half moons capture water and makes it possible to grow a tree.

Roots will loosen the soil, and combined with biomass from the bushes in the trenches you can imagine there’s a path towards changing the composition to something more arable in the traditional sense.

To me it sounds like the editable crops are a carrot to keep the locals working toward a much longer term goal.