The results from BalticWaters’ five-year demonstration project show how nutrients can be recycled in agriculture. And there is considerable interest among Swedish farmers. Smarter use of nutrients strengthens Sweden’s food security and reduces the risk of new nutrients leaking into the Baltic Sea and exacerbating eutrophication.
‘Today, we are dependent on imported mineral fertilisers, while at the same time we have a surplus of nutrients in agriculture that has the potential to be a valuable resource. That is why we wanted to find a way to utilise the nutrients that already exist on Swedish livestock farms,’ says Helena Aronsson, collaborative lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
Sweden needs to strengthen its self-sufficiency, and an important part of this is to utilise nutrients that already exist in agriculture. In this way, we can reduce the proportion of imported inputs for crop production, which contributes to the Swedish food strategy. At the same time, the Baltic Sea is an eutriphicated sea, with approximately 50 per cent of the nutrients in the Baltic Sea coming from agriculture.
‘The next step is to disseminate knowledge about the results and find tools for policy-makers so that we can create a market that rewards circular nutrient flows. This is not only good for Sweden’s food production, but also important for the Baltic Sea environment,’ says Helene Limén, analyst ocean and science at BalticWaters.
The final report in its entirety is available here.
About the project
Agriculture in the Baltic Sea region has become more specialised, with crop production concentrated in certain regions and large-scale animal husbandry in others. This has led to areas with animal husbandry having a surplus of nutrients, particularly phosphorus. At the same time, areas with intensive crop cultivation are in great need of nutrients. However, manure is heavy and difficult to transport. The aim of the project Circular NP – better nutrient cycle for animal manure was to develop techniques for extracting nutrients from animal manure and creating a product that can be transported from areas with nutrient surpluses to areas in need of nutrients.
The project was carried out by BalticWaters in collaboration with SLU and RISE. More information is available on the project website.
