A group of Maltese farmers secured a €3 million European Union grant for a project to convert pig and cow waste into organic fertiliser.

The Farmers Central Cooperative Society Ltd (FCCS) received the green light for the scheme that aims to re-use 60,000 tonnes of slurry per year, a fifth of all farmyard waste.

Chris Ciantar, coordinator for the SYNECO project, said it will help farmers deal with the environmental and management challenges associated with pig and cow manure.

Before and after.

“We are trying to develop technology so the slurry would not be dumped anymore but taken to a facility where it is treated and turned into bio-fertiliser.”

It could also help reduce the reliance on chemical synthetic fertilisers. Malta imports some 1,400 tonnes of chemical synthetic fertilisers annually.

According to preliminary studies, the total potential recovery of bio-fertiliser from pig slurry is 326 tonnes while that from cow slurry is around 580 tonnes.

The project will span over 20 months and will be carried out in collaboration with the cow and pig breeders’ Koperattiva Produtturi tal-Ħalib and Koperattiva ta’ min Irabbi l-Majjal.

The project’s long-term vision is to recover 900 tonnes of organic fertiliser per year

Preparations for the project began in 2018 when a prototype was created to test the conversion of pig and cow manure into clean water, Ciantar said.

The pilot project was deemed successful so the project is now being taken to the next level.

Part of the process entails measuring the conductivity of recovered water.

The project’s long-term vision is to recover 900 tonnes of organic fertiliser per year to use in local agriculture.

The processing of the slurry will produce 10 per cent solid fibre, 50 per cent water and 40 per cent liquid fertiliser.

Disposing of less animal waste would mean less stress on the sewerage network and a significant boost to the circular economy, the term used to describe practices aimed at minimising waste and emissions while recycling as much as possible.

Ciantar said the project is being carried out to enhance feasibility of the proposed solution and will test the recovered products in the laboratory and on the field to assess soil and plant performance as well as to monitor whether these recovered products will have an adverse effect on the environment.

The project will focus on the north of the country.

The funding secured will be used for the treatment process of the slurry itself, the cooperation between farmers to learn more about the benefits of bio-fertiliser and the project’s promotion.

It is 75 per cent funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the remainder by national funds.