ECOBUG · Development of an Innovative Industrial Bioreacting and Fermentation Process producing an Organic Insect Repellent-Fertilizer for Ecological farming

Our idea is to develop an “all-in-one” organic smell-free fertilizer and insecticide to increase yield of eco-crops, reduce costs, and reduce emissions to air & water that are common while using inorganic pesticides and fertilizers or fresh manure. The production of smell free fertilizer will be based on anaerobic fermenting of manure in a bioreactor. The insecticide production will be based on growing specific cyanobacteria proven to be insect repellent to cabbage root fly in a fermentation reactor for subsequent drying to a flake state. The final stage will consist of mixing the solid fertilizer with the small amounts of cyanobacterial flakes (1-10 kg flakes/100 ton fertilizer) to produce granules by protrusion technology with the moisture content of 5-10%. No industrial process can currently manufacture this combined insect repellent-fertilizer product due to lack of carrier substance for the insect repellent that also will add fertilizing value and delayed release. There exist currently no efficient organic product to control adult cabbage root fly. The following novel and innovative features will be developed: • Development of a drying technology for the cyanobacteria biomass to flakes with humidity 15-20% • Production of smell-free solid organic fertilizer from manure in <2 weeks/batch, humidity 20-30% • Development of an innovative and novel extruder chamber with an in-line humidity sensor feedback controlled heating and with vacuum drying of mixed fertilizer/insecticide to ensure rapid drying from ~20% down to 8 ± 2% before entering the compression zone of the extruder allowing a controlled co-extrusion with starch obtaining a fixed coating thickness with <10% variance • Development of a co-extrusion process to produce starch-coated pellets with a moisture content of 8 ± 2% ensuring even coating thickness of the total pellet surface that can be sold cost-effectively for €50/ton • Obtain €190 Mn in repellent-fertilizer & equipment sales for Year5