As climate change delivers an increasing number of extreme weather events, it is more important than ever to consider how the resilience of a vineyard can be improved. Made from upcycled chicken manure, the new fertilisers from LOHAS help to add organic matter to the soil and generally improve soil health by increasing the levels of nutrition, guarding against erosion and upping capacity for the retention of moisture. These improvements can give the edge when it comes to vines being able to survive intense periods of drought or flood.
“We have been running two live InnovateUK projects over the summer,” said co-director Lian. “These feasibility studies are testing our enzyme-based technology, creating sustainable fertiliser from the bio-based materials, i.e. poultry manure. The aim was to reduce the environmental impact of poultry manure by turning it into an eco-fertiliser.
LOHAS is moving forward within DEFRA’s Farming Innovation
Programme, which supports small-scale research and development
projects like theirs. They are looking to engage with vineyards to
collaborate and carry out field trials with their novel soil nutrient to
confirm its benefits for vineyard soil health and measure that impact.
By applying enzyme technology to chicken manure, LOHAS are
able to stabilise the carbon, ammonium and nitrogen within it. As
a consequence of this fermentation process, the waste is upcycled
into a safe and stable soil nutrient. It is high in organic matter and
stabilised carbon, with a balanced NPK nutrient profile and other micro
nutrients. The fully-fermented ECO-Fertiliser also contains valuable
amino acids and humus. Amino acids play a pivotal role in promoting
plant growth by aiding nutrient absorption and utilisation. Humus
improves soil structure, water retention and nutrient availability.
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