USE OF AGRICULTURAL PARAFOLUTES IN ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTION BY COMPOSTING – AgroWasteCompost

The disposal and management of agricultural waste and by-products of the food industry is a major problem worldwide today, as their direct disposal in the field without proper treatment may lead to environmental pollution with harmful effects on crops. Composting is an economical and environmentally friendly alternative, with the final product (compost) being a high value organic soil conditioner.

The aim of the AgroWasteCompost project, which was developed by the company Evritika Kelaria S.A. . in collaboration with the Laboratory of Applied Microbiology & Biotechnology of the Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics of the Democritus University of Thrace, was the development of technology for the utilization of agricultural waste/by-products (plant biomass) of wineries, in order to produce a high added value soil conditioner (biological fertilizer). In the framework of the project, 3 systems were tested: (a) microbial composting system, (b) earthworm composting system, and (c) combination of microbial composting system and earthworm composting system.

At the different stages of composting, changes in chemical composition, microbial populations and microbiome were studied using Next Generation Sequencing technology, as new scientific data are expected to contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms and therefore to the optimization of the bioprocess.

The final products were tested for phytotoxicity and their effectiveness in vine growth was evaluated (proof of concept study), while in the final stage of the project, a feasibility study was carried out to make decisions on the exploitation of the technology developed.

The project was presented at the 29th International Exhibition of Agricultural Machinery, Equipment and Supplies Agrotica held 20 – 23 October 2022 in Thessaloniki, while part of the results were presented at the 3rd World Conference on Climate Change and Global Warming (CCGCONF) held 10 – 12 March 2023 in Prague.

Finally, it is noted that important results were published in the scientific paper “Physicochemical Changes and Microbiome Associations during Vermicomposting of Winery Waste” in the prestigious journal Sustainability, which is available online