A new fertilizer technique reduces the ammonia emission in Lorca by up to 60%

The Gesalor livestock cooperative, which has ninety members, has begun to apply in Lorca a system of injection of pig slurry in farmland to serve as organic fertilizer, using the latest technology. The underground injection of the slurry reduces between 30% and 60% the emission of ammonia into the atmosphere, responsible for the bad smell caused by the current techniques of fertilizing with slurry, which are carried out by the ‘cannon’ or ‘fan system. ‘.

The experience will reach 5,500 hectares of agricultural use by means of tanker trucks equipped with an advanced ‘software’ for the measurement and monitored distribution of the slurry, which will allow a comprehensive control of this novel livestock waste management system. Gesalor, dependent on the Lorca Swine Sanitary Defense Association (Adespolorca), integrates the owners of 200 farms with a total of 200,000 pigs, who with this technique will manage the efficient and environmentally sustainable use of one million cubic meters of pig excrement every year.

The operation of the injection system, which will have an initial cost of 250,000 euros, was supervised yesterday by the Minister of Water, Agriculture and Livestock, Antonio Luengo, and by the Councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, Antonio Navarro, in a farm of Campillo. According to Luengo, this application allows “a correct recovery” of the slurry for fertilization, ensuring environmental protection and reducing emissions into the atmosphere. The councilor stressed that this technique allows to convert the discharge of slurry into high quality ecological fertilizer thanks to an exhaustive control of nitrogen. The injection also allows to dose the exact quantity that is needed for each crop and to establish, through a geolocation system, the traceability of the slurry so that «it will be known exactly which farm it comes from, to which plot it is taken and in which amount is deposited ».