The Bio-Economy Consortium's 2nd Bio-Salon was held.

Theme: “Sharing Information on the Use of Sewage-Derived Resources as Fertilizers”

The second Bio Salon was held on Thursday, December 1, at the Machinaka Campus in Nagaoka.

JA Echigo-Nagaoka provided an overview of the current state of agriculture amid soaring fertilizer prices; Ryokusu Kogyo Co., Ltd., which manufactures fertilizer derived from sewage sludge, discussed the current status of sewage sludge fertilizer and efforts to promote its use; the Japan Sewerage Association presented on initiatives regarding fertilizer use in sewerage projects; and the NPO Association for a Circular Economy and Agriculture in Saga City, Saga Prefecture, introduced Saga City’s initiatives and current situation.

With the cooperation of its citizens, Nagaoka City ferments food waste that has been sorted by residents at the nation’s largest biogas power generation facility to generate electricity and recycle the waste. The fermentation residue produced after food waste fermentation is currently incinerated by private companies as a supplementary fuel. To effectively utilize this fermentation residue as a bio-resource, Nagaoka Agricultural High School is conducting a demonstration experiment to grow daikon radishes using fertilizer made from the residue.

In the demonstration experiment, we are growing crops using three types of fertilizer: “fermentation residue fertilizer” made from dried fermentation residue; “sludge fertilizer” produced by Ryokusui Kogyo Co., Ltd. from recycled sewage sludge; and chemical fertilizer.

Following the presentation, there was an interim report on the pilot project at Nagaoka Agricultural High School, as well as a tasting session for the daikon radishes grown as part of the project and a discussion.