Climate change and its environmental and financial impact poses major challenges for farmers who have to cope with crop failure and damage to natural resources

Climate change and its environmental and financial impact poses major challenges for farmers who have to cope with crop failure and damage to natural resources due to floods, droughts, soil erosion etc. Future cultivation systems will need to withstand climatic changes on the one hand but also need to produce less greenhouse gases themselves on the other hand. One starting point is to optimise on-farm nutrient recycling: the SOLMACC project found interesting ways (like composting organic residues) to close nutrient cycles as much as possible, and in parallel to reduce GHG emissions on the farm.



In order to composte organic residues the residues are built-up to a heap followed by regular turning which results into stabilised organic material (= compost) ready for field application. It is crucial to collect manure and/or plant residues with the right C:N ratio (not wider than 30:1). The compost heaps should have an optimised surface-area-to-volume ratio in order to facilitate microbiological transformation processes. And the piles should be turned regularly, covered with fleece blankets and have a solid underground for pile built. All this helps to optimise the process. By this, GHG emissions, mainly methane can be reduced efficiently compared to manure storage on an open dung heap or in a slurry pit. Compared to the application of mineral fertilisers, the application of compost on the field improves the soil structure, and therefore, improves the resilience of the farm against extreme weather events (droughts, heavy rainfall). At the same time, compost bears less hygienic risks than fresh manure – which can be of importance in vegetable production or on grasslands.



More information can be found on http://solmacc.eu