PROTECTOR - Recycling and Upgrading of Bone Meal for Environmentally Friendly Crop Protection and Nutrition

The biocontrol effect targets primarily combat against crown rot of tomato and damping off plant pathogens and improvement of plant natural resistance as well. The risk of cross contamination at food chain organic waste streams requires new technological solutions. <P>The proposal utilizes animal bone char for microbiological carrier and sugar, vegetable oil and milk food industrial by-product streams (molasses, glycerin, whey) as nutrients during the solid substrate fermentation and formulation process. Natural soil borne microbiological strains are selected for entrapment into the internal sphere of the solid carrier and formulated in a way that long term storage of the substance will be viable on ambient temperature. The method and product provides enhanced survival of the protected microorganism during introduction into the soil. <P>Comprehensive work program has been developed by 12 EU partner consortium for added value transformation of food industrial waste, including waste management strategy development, selection of Phosphorus mobilizing microorganism with biocontrol effect connected to solid state fermentation and formulation, evaluation of P kinetics in soil, comprehensive risk assessment, validation and demonstration, cost benefit analysis, consumers acceptance evaluation, innovation management with intranet, development of dissemination strategy and efficient dissemination. The final achievements are the prevention, protection and preservation approaches aiming environmentally friendly and healthy food production in low input vegetable sector.

<P>For more information about this project, please visit the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/research/biosociety/food_quality/projects/080_en.ht…; target="_blank">European Commission Food Quality and Safety in Europe</a>.