Abstract

OLIVEIRA, Verónica; PATO, Rosinda; MIGUENS, Filomena  and  SANTOS, Daniela. BioComp_2.0 - Production of biological organic composts for the control of water hyacinth and valorization of by-products resulting from agricultural, forestry and agro-industrial activities. Rev. de Ciências Agrárias [online]. 2022, vol.45, n.4, pp.331-340.  Epub Dec 01, 2022. ISSN 0871-018X.  https://doi.org/10.19084/rca.28449.

The organic farming market is rapidly growing all over the world and particularly in the European Union, which has defined the ambitious target of 25% of the agricultural area in organic production by 2030.The organic production system presents itself as a sustainable production method, consisting of a global system for the management of agricultural holdings and food production that combines the best environmental practices, a high level of biodiversity, the preservation of natural resources, the application of strict animal welfare standards and production method in line with the preference of certain consumers for products resulting from natural processes, free from synthetic molecules and environmentally friendly. Also foreseeing an increase in the need for fertilizing materials compatible with the organic production method, the BioComp_2.0 project (R&DT project in co-promotion) emerges as a proposal for the development of biological organic composts produced from the invasive water hyacinth plant and agricultural, forestry and agro-industrial by-products, which are still undervalued. The ultimate goal is to achieve, in this way, a more effective and economically viable control of water hyacinth, a common species in Portugal and Spain, while strengthening and diversifying the supply of fertilizers (amendments, substrates and fertilizers) to respond to the growing needs of the organic farming sector, with full respect for the Circular Economy. The project includes several R&D activities complemented with the validation of the life cycle and study of the economic viability of the developed solution.

Keywords : Composting; waste valorization; invasive species; organic farming; sustainability.

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