FertiHood

The organic area is growing. An old target of doubling the 2007 area has been achieved - and organic production now makes up 11 percent of the agricultural area. However, this is only the beginning, since the EU Commission’s policy ‘Food 2030’ has a goal of organics making up 25 percent of the agricultural area in 2030.

But, are there enough nutrients for plant production? The significant increase of the organic area in Denmark and Europe challenges the availability of nutrients and requires increased recycling, yet there is a lack of overview of opportunities and solutions for better nutrient-supplying capacity of soils through recycling.

Purpose of FertiHood

The organic area is growing. An old target of doubling the 2007 area has been achieved - and organic production now makes up 11 percent of the agricultural area. However, this is only the beginning, since the EU Commission’s policy ‘Food 2030’ has a goal of organics making up 25 percent of the agricultural area in 2030.

But are there enough nutrients for plant production? The significant increase of the organic area in Denmark and Europe challenges the availability of nutrients and requires increased recycling, yet there is a lack of overview of opportunities and solutions for better nutrient-supplying capacity of soils through recycling.

Organic plant production has 1) insufficient access to nutrients, 2) is dependent on conventional manure, and 3) has a substantial climate impact per produced unit. FertiHood wants to increase the yield and reduce the climate impact by improving the soil’s fertility and ability to supply nutrients by recycling waste products from agriculture and society. The aim is to create organic fertilizers and determine the effect on soil fertility and biodiversity, as well as developing advice on nutrients for increased yield, optimized economy and sustainability.

The project gives a complete overview of possibilities and solutions regarding a better nutrient- supplying capacity of soils through recycling and thereby contributes to the ambitious goal of 20-30% organic area and reduced climate impact.

The project step by step

• Identification of waste streams and screening for implementation ability
• Research on the potential of residual products’ improvement of soil fertility
• Testing indicators of soil fertility including the Albrecth-Kinsey System
• Optimization of input to biogas plants for balanced fertilizer
• Optimization of biogas processes regarding availability of nitrogen and carbon sequestration in soil
• Optimization of sulphur fertilizer value of degassed material
• Developing organic fertilizer norms and implement economic optimization of the nutrient supply across farm types and industries to improve organics as livelihood
• Assessment of climate and environmental impacts as motivation for organic farmers