What are Biofertilisers?
- Education
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By definition, a biofertiliser is a substance which contains living micro-organisms which, when it’s applied to the soil or the surfaces of plants, can increase its growth by increasing the supply of nutrients of the plant.
Biofertilisers are created as the end product of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process. The digestate or biofertiliser produced undergoes pasteurisation to ensure that any pathogens are destroyed and is stored in large lagoons ready to be applied twice a year on farmland. The use of this high nutrient biofertiliser replaces the use of fossil-fuel derived fertilisers and ensures a complete loop of carbon and energy capture.
The advantages of biofertilisers
Using biofertilisers to generate healthy soil is a benefit to farmers as people, plants and animals all depend on healthy soil. Creating healthy soil promotes good growth for plants and, in turn, is great for animal feedstock. There are also lots of other advantages:
- It’s cheap to produce
- It can help improve the long-term health of soil
- It’s much quicker to make than compost
- Biofertilisers can be stored for longer than other forms of fertilisers.
The end product of the AD process is the generation of a high nutrient fertiliser which is used on fields and crops to sustain a longer-term growth and yield and has a better environmental impact.
What’s the difference between organic fertilisers and chemical biofertilisers?
Chemical fertilisers are impactful to the environment, created using harmful chemicals and excess amounts of water is wasted. The long-term effects of man-made chemicals on our environment are not a new topic of conversation; for years now, activists have campaigned against the use of chemicals on the land and food that it’s grown in.
Organic materials and fertilisers improve the soil texture, allowing it to hold water for longer and will increase the bacterial and fungal activity in the soil. So, they not only assist the growth of crops and plants, but they help the soil in the long-term too.
Increased demand for better agricultural yield means there is, in turn, an increased demand for organic, environmentally friendly and sustainable biofertilisers.
How is Biofertiliser produced?
Anaerobic digestion is an environmentally friendly process of creating a renewable form of energy from waste. The process is a sustainable way of recycling large amounts of food and animal waste and is backed by local, national and government regulated bodies.
Using food waste for good helps you reduce your Co2 emissions, improve your green credentials and overall sustainability as a business.
Our team is well-placed to provide a truly useful link between the Anaerobic Digestion sector and the food industry enabling more environmentally and commercially focused processes. If you’d like to know more about the services we offer or the industries we work within, then please get in touch with a member of the team for a chat.
