Recycling of manure nutrients in Malta
Malta is designated as a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone, with a high level of nitrates in ground and surface waters, and a high density of livestock. Malta, on the other hand, has substantial net food imports to supplement its own food production. Malta is the EU Member State with the highest population density, so the pressures on land for farming are very significant.
The majority of dairy and pig farms in Malta are landless, so livestock manure needs to be exported to third parties. Currently, slurry is typically temporarily stored in farm pits, leading to many challenges associated with the bulk storage and handling of this sludge. Periodically, ditches are emptied by tankers, leading to slurry discharge. There are some cases when this is done after separation on the farm, in which case the separated solids are kept on the farm and the liquid fraction is discarded.
The Farmers Central Cooperative Society Ltd (FCCS) is the largest fruit and vegetable farmers’ cooperative in the country. The FCCS recently launched a research project to recycle manure nutrients for fertilizers. The acronym of the project is SYNECO and aims to improve the current situation in favor of the environment, climate and society, including farmers, who are the losers of this current situation.
SYNECO is looking at the possibility of developing a mobile technology for the service of pig and cattle farms for the treatment of their manure. Research is currently underway to assemble a treatment facility that will recover biofertilizer and clear water. These products were achieved during a laboratory-scale project carried out in the autumn of 2018 where the slurry was first pre-treated using a screw press and a cyclone filter after the liquid fraction has undergone reverse osmosis of the latest technology. biofertilizer and water recovery system. The laboratory-scale project has been successfully run over a three-week period and the FCCS is now in the process of upgrading the technology to carry out a pilot project to a maximum of 60,000 tonnes per year and specifically meets the -criteria for the safe use of processed manure.
In addition to this mobile nutrient recovery technology, the FCCS will adopt CropManager for integrated nutrient management to be able to optimize fertilizers, including cases where this is based on nutrients recovered in biofertilizers. In this way, farmers will be able to optimize their yield from an economic point of view, making better use of indigenous resources instead of imported chemical fertilizers. The FCCS also plans to use Internet of Things (IoT) technology to receive real-time data and gain insights into the status of the soil. so that farmers have all the need. , first, information about the nutrients in their soil.
The project – SYNECO – which started in May 2021 will help the local farming community to adopt a more circular economy model. With this project, the farmer becomes a protagonist in shaping the economic model from a linear to a model where nutrients from slurry are exploited, while at the same time challenging climate and environmental issues with way more powerful and direct.
This project with a total grant amount of almost € 3 million is being funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) under the Rural Development Program for Malta 2014-2020 at a rate of co-financing of 75 per cent European Union Funds and 25 per cent. percent National Funds).
SYNECO would not have been possible without the direct involvement and cooperation of the Pig Breeders Cooperative Society Ltd (KIM Ltd) and the Mak Producers Cooperative Ltd (KPH Ltd) with which a joint cooperation agreement exists for successful implementation. of the project.
CropManager will be displayed in AgriFair on 21, 22 May.
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