Towards healthy, pesticide-free farm soils

Over the last few years, agriculture has made incredible strides in increasing production output while protecting natural resources. New technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization, and policies have contributed to maximizing production due to the increase in the global population. However, there are downsides to this current pattern. The use of chemicals, or pesticides, is putting a strain on the earth’s natural resources since residual levels of these substances can be considered an important cause of pollution. Their main characteristics (the capacity of being transferred through environmental compartments and the capacity of bioaccumulation, transformation and bio-magnification) make them capable of affecting remote areas and remaining years after their application. Although these substances have increased yields and contributed to food quality, they can also be a serious threat for human health, wildlife and environment. The vast use of these chemicals worldwide led us to a global and “silent” problem: pesticide accumulation in farm soils, for which there is not a current viable solution. 

Despite the fact that the occurrence of pesticides in agricultural soils is becoming a highly significant environmental problem, the use of agrochemicals is still necessary to combat pests and diseases throughout the cultivation cycle. Even though chemical substances that are currently available on the market are less harmful, their toxic nature still requires strategies for farm soil remediation to mitigate contamination and to further protect consumers. This is the starting point of LIFE-AGREMSO3IL project, whose aim is to develop new innovative technology (industrialized equipment) by combining solarization and ozonation techniques in order to protect and restore degraded agriculture soils to a level of functionality. The project provides a new cost-effective solution for this ongoing, ‘silent’ problem while supporting the soil's true function; its wider ecosystem positively impacting the feed and food products produced. The project also plans to integrate into its work Common Agriculture Policy's environmental objectives and promote EU's agriculture and environmental policies. Life Cycle of Analysis (LCA) and economic assessment, including governance, will be performed before the wide distribution of the system to other regions in Europe.

Francisco Navarro Méndez, farmer, collaborator of LIFE-AGREMSO3IL:

“Collaboration with research institutions to implement innovation projects is a source of solutions for so many problems we have in our farms. The exchange of knowledge and experience makes us learn from each other: for researchers, to find new approaches and practical applications of their results; for farmers, even sometimes to be mindful of challenges we were not aware.”

The AGREMSOIL consortium is constituted by two research centres, Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario y Alimentario (IMIDA) and Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura (CEBAS-CSIC), and two private companies, Novedades Agrícolas S.A. (NOVAGRIC) and IDConsortium S.L. The project developed a prototype equipment and, after laboratory tests and field trials in experimental conditions, it has showed promising pesticide degradation results. Combined application of ozone and solarisation techniques to soil in a small greenhouse and controlled conditions has improved pesticide degradation in 50 % with respect to the natural degradation rate. Since July 2020, the prototype AGREMSOIL is running in Cuesta Mula (Águilas, Murcia), a commercial farm dedicated to tomato crops. This farmer is associated to the co-operative ExpoAguilas, set up in 1998 for small and medium farmers, with 70 associates and 100 hectares of vegetables production surface and commercial activity in Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Germany, etc. 

Isabel Garrido Martín, Project manager, and José Fenoll Serrano, scientific coordinator of LIFE-AGREMSO3IL “The preparatory actions and experimental results have shown a promising performance. Based on the results obtained, farmers who apply this technology will have soils with less content in pesticide residues for planting their crops and consequently the benefits for consumers’ health and environment will increase”. 

More info:

http://agremso3il.eu/