Harvesting digeponic tomtatoes in Norway

Digeponics (pronounced die-jeh-ponics, as in digestion) is a method of

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

which integrates the products of

anaerobic digestion Anaerobic digestion is a sequence of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to Waste management, manage waste or to produce fuels. Mu ...

, including CO₂ and digestate, with greenhouse cultivation of vegetables.

Background

Digeponics was developed in Norway by the "Food to Waste to Food" (F2W2F) program, a part of the EU Eco-innovation Initiative, in partnership with the waste management company Lindum AS.

Overall concept

The method involves the use of various products of anaerobic digestion in the cultivation of vegetables in a greenhouse environment. The more widely used aspects include the use of

biogas Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, Wastewater treatment, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic ...

for electricity production, which is used for lighting and heating the greenhouse in the winter months, as well as the introduction of carbon dioxide into the greenhouse, which is a byproduct of biogas combustion, for increased plant growth. The more novel aspect of this method is the use of a "mix of

vermicompost Vermicompost (vermi-compost) is the product of the decomposition process using various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms, to create a mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and ...

and garden waste compost fertilized by (non-separated) digestate in a circulating system including earth worms in the substrate and aeration in a biofilter buffer tank."

Performance

Research conducted on digeponics found that this method, and others like it, could meet or exceed the production rates of mineral fertilizers. For

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

production, digeponics yielded 5430 g, compared to 4920 g for mineral fertilizers. For

cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables. In addition to increased yields, this method can provide decreased energy costs and very low carbon emissions, by producing energy on site from renewable carbon neutral sources that are readily available to the farmer, and could even provide an additional source of income by charging tipping fees for organic waste collection and selling excess electricity or gas back into the grid.

Methane emissions Increasing methane emissions are a major contributor to the rising concentration of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, and are responsible for up to one-third of near-term global heating. During 2019, about 60% (360 million tons) of methane r ...

were shown to be reduced by 98%, compared to landfilling of organic waste, and carbon emissions were reduced 95%, compared with conventional tomato greenhouse production.

References

{{reflist Recycling Agriculture

Background

Overall concept

Performance

See also

References