India – West Bengal ecovio Plus Project

West Bengal is located in north-east India, adjacent to Bangaladesh. The state encompasses a large portion of the Sunderbans Delta (also know as the Ganges or Bengal Delta), one of the most fertile regions in the world. For this reason agriculture is highly intensive, with year round production of three (and sometimes four) crops per year.

Crop nutrition is provided by artificial fertilisers, with some additional organic fertiliser used, largely as untreated cow manure. This is leading to a net loss of soil organic matter and, despite the inherent fertility of the area, soil health is deteriorating.

Urban food waste is a valuable nutritional resource for re-cycling back into agriculture, and one of the most effective ways to re-cycle nutrients is through the manufacture and use of compost. The West Bengal ecovio® Plus Project (WBePP) is demonstrating a simple way to manufacture compost, and its application in agriculture.

WBePP aims to utilise the potential of BASF ecovio® organic waste bags to enable food waste to be source separated in the home, for collection and transport to a compost facility safely and easily. Source separation in this manner is known as the City to Soil process.

City to Soil is a process or methodology that enables councils and farmers to work together to divert organic waste from landfill to agricultural soils as high-quality compost. By engaging communities and promoting the separation food waste organic material can be collected, processed and returned to local farms as a high value agricultural input.

Status
Open