ARCHIVED - Biofertilizers seek to reduce nitrate run-off and maintain crop viability; Torre Pacheco trials underway
Alternative fertilizers are part of the work to limit contamination but maintain profitable farming around the Mar Menor
Efforts continue to be made on many fronts to minimize the runoff of nitrates and other harmful substances contained in fertilizers into the Mar Menor, where they have brought about a severe deterioration in the marine environment over the last 50 years, and in this context positive results are being obtained in trials of bio-fertilizer which are being carried out in the municipality of Torre Pacheco.
The trials are being run by the company Probelte, and result from the need for agriculture to contribute actively to the health of the lagoon rather than to its degradation. Along the same lines, the Imida agrarian research institute, which depends on the Murcia government, is also working on ways to minimize the leaching of nitrates derived from agricultural activity, the aim being to improve the efficiency of fertilizers used while at the same time maintaining the quality of agricultural produce.
An example of the progress being made by Probelte is the use of “Bulhnova” agro-biotechnology in the cultivation of celery, which enables the environmental impact of fertilizers to be lessened while still allowing farmers to grow healthy and profitable vegetables. Bulhnova provides a substitute for conventional fertilizers, supplying the required nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in a fully biological way: this avoids the degradation of soil and the contamination of aquifers like the one which lies below the Campo de Cartagena, and from which vast quantities of nitrates have found their way into the Mar Menor.