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Council reports on turning waste into quality fertilizers

Twenty million tonnes of agricultural waste is produced in Taiwan each year, but with a little technical dress-up the waste can be converted into high-quality fertilizers and increase agricultural production by 15 percent to 20 percent, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said earlier this week.

The COA's Taichung district agricultural research and extension station developed four fertilizers last year and patented the technologies and recipes. It has transferred the fruits of its research to 13 businesses for commercial application, station director-general Chen Jung-wu (陳榮五) said.

Agricultural waste, including animal feces, rice stalks, sugar cane pulp and wood chips, contain fertilizing components such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, he said.

"After fermentation, the 20 million tonnes of waste can be turned into 10 million tonnes of fertilizer, which is enough to nourish a million hectares of farm land," he said.

To increase the potency of the fertilizers, microorganisms are mixed into the waste, project researcher Tsai Yi-feng said. Different microorganisms are used for different kinds of waste.

"Microorganisms produce enzymes that can break down compounds in the waste and expose nutrients for the crops to absorb, making the end product [fertilizers] not only less smelly, but also more effective," Tsai said, "We have tested the compatibility of microorganisms with each type of waste and obtained several good recipes, four of which have been patented."

Every gram of the fertilizer product contains a billion active microorganisms. In addition, since most of the enzymes were found in the soil, they work very well because their survival in the soil is assured, he said.

The fertilizers have been used to grow persimmons, grapes, strawberries, pineapples, roses and potatoes, and had gained a 15 percent to 20 percent production increase in the crops, Chen said.
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