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Driving research and innovation

How organic-based fertilizers nurture knowledge-intensive development

cellulate backgroundOrganic-based fertilizers are one of the innovative green technologies driving the development that Europe needs today. The organic-based fertilizers industry is part of a research-based, knowledge-intensive and innovation-driven sector that is pioneering solutions to challenges throughout the value chain in agriculture, food and nutrition.

Organic-based fertilizers are helping to drive the research and innovation that will deliver on the promise of the EU’s growth strategy. The organic-based fertilizers industry is already planting the seeds of the “smart growth” that the EU strategy is designed to nurture:

  • The development of organic-based fertilizers is rooted in both an environmentally respectful and deeply scientific approach to plant nutrition and the soil “food web” as a whole. Our sector conducts exploratory research to develop highly innovative formulations and production processes that nurture not only plants and soils, but also the emerging green technologies that are the engines of sustainable development.
  • Many of the components of organic-based fertilizers are derived from sustainably sourced plant and/or animal by-products, many of which would otherwise be destined for waste streams. The value added to these materials in the production of organic-based fertilizers is one of the key innovations that the sector contributes to the agricultural economy.
  • Many of the components of organic-based fertilizers are derived from responsibly sourced plant and/or animal by-products, many of which would otherwise be destined for undesirable waste streams, such as landfill. Organic-based fertilizers offer farmers scientifically advanced tools that are essentially derived from nature, thus enabling them to farm in ways that are both economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

Sectors like ours provide a “pull factor” for the pipeline of knowledge and skill creation. This encourages young people to study biological sciences and provides employment for researchers and highly skilled workers in a number of biological sciences. Achieving “smart, sustainable and inclusive” growth in Europe will require a broad pool of qualified professionals in these fields. The organic-based fertilizers industry is at the forefront of the knowledge-intensive development that this process demands.