Malta is designated as a Nitrates Vulnerable Zone, having a high nitrate level in ground and surface waters, and a high livestock density. On the other hand, Malta has a substantial net food import to supplement its own food production. Malta is the EU Member State with the highest population density, so the pressures on the land for farming are very significant.  

The majority of dairy and pig farms in Malta are without land, making it necessary to export the produced livestock manure to third parties. Currently, the slurry is typically stored temporarily in cesspits on the farms, giving rise to numerous challenges associated with the bulk storage and handling of this liquid waste. Periodically, the cesspits are emptied by tankers, delivering the slurry for discharge. There are some instances when this is done after separation on the farm, in which case the separated solids are retained on farm and the liquid fraction is discharged. 

The Farmers Central Cooperative Society Ltd (FCCS) is the largest fruit and vegetable farmers’ cooperative in the country. The FCCS has recently embarked on a research project to recycle manure nutrients for fertilising. The project’s acronym is SYNECO and it aims to improve the current situation in favour of the environment, the climate and society, including the farmers, who are the losers of this current situation.

SYNECO is looking at the possibility of developing a mobile technology to service pig and cow farms for the treatment of their manure. Research is currently ongoing to assemble a treatment facility that will recover biofertiliser and clear water. These products were reached during a lab-scale project carried out in the autumn of 2018 where the slurry was first pre-treated using a screw press and a cyclone filter whereafter the liquid fraction was passed through a state-of-the-art reverse osmosis system to recover the biofertiliser and water. The lab-scale project was conducted successfully over a three-week timespan and FCCS is now in the process of upscaling the technology to conduct a pilot project on a maximum of 60,000 tonnes per year and specifically meet criteria for the safe use of processed manure.

Combined to this mobile technology to recover nutrients, the FCCS will adopt CropManager for integrated nutrient management to be able to optimise fertilising, including cases where this is based on recovered nutrients in bio-fertilisers. In this way, the farmers will be able to optimise their yields from an economic viewpoint, making better use of indigenous resources in lieu of imported chemical fertilisers. The FCCS also plans to use internet-of-things (IoT) technology to be able to receive real-time data and thus acquire knowledge, from out in the fields, on the status of the soils so that the farmers will have all the necessary, first-hand, information about the nutrients in their soils.

The project – SYNECO – which commenced in May 2021 will help the local farming community to adopt to a more circular economy model. With this project, the farmer becomes a protagonist in shaping the economic model from a linear one to a model where the nutrients from the slurry are exploited, while at the same time challenging climate and environmental issues more forcefully and directly.

This project with a total grant amount of almost €3 million is being financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) under the Rural Development Programme for Malta 2014-2020 with a co-financing rate 75 per cent European Union Funds and 25 per cent National Funds).

SYNECO would not have been possible without the direct involvement and cooperation of the Pig Breeders Cooperative Society Ltd (K.I.M Ltd) and the Milk Producers Cooperative Ltd (KPH Ltd) with whom a joint cooperation agreement exists for the successful implementation of the project.

CropManager will be showcased at the AgriFair on May 21, 22. 

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