Smart Agriculture Project by the National Agricultural Research Organisation: Demonstration of concentration of digested biomass gas power generation liquid by Japan Agricultual Cooperatives, Shihoro-town in Hokkaido.
In June 2022, under the national ‘Smart Agriculture Project’ we conducted a demonstration experiment with the University of Tokyo, in the town of Shihoro, Hokkaido, to utilise liquid fertiliser, a by-product of biogas power generation. In biogas power generation, after fermentation of livestock manure, a liquid called digestate remains. Although digestate is rich in nutrients, it contains a lot of water, which means that it has not yet been used as a fertiliser. If digestion liquid could be dried at low cost and with no loss of nutrients, it would be possible to utilise digestion liquid as fertiliser, which until now has been disposed of at a high cost. Our RedoxMaster® technology, which dries organic matters at low cost and low temperatures without damaging the nutrients, has demonstrated that digestate, which used to be a nuisance, can now be utilised as fertiliser.
Japan’s calorie-based food self-sufficiency rate is less than 40%, but this figure is based on imported fertilisers, which are almost 100% dependent on imports. JA Zen-Noh has announced large price increases for fertilisers from June to October 2022, ranging from 94% for imported urea and 80% for potassium chloride, compared to the previous year. If the price of imported fertilisers continues to rise, Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate will decline further, posing a major threat to our country’s food security.
The demonstration has received high praise from farmers in Hokkaido and there are high expectation for the use of digested liquid fertiliser, as reported on NHK (Japan’s state broadcasting company).
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