AGROBIOFILM

Development of enhanced biodegradable films for agricultural activities

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The consortium behind AGROBIOFILM project – a group of European SME suppliers and users of agricultural plastics – wishes to address a major market opportunity through the development and performance demonstration of mulch films that would be able to fulfill the three main following requirements: to be more environmentally friendly (i.e; biodegradable in soil without containing a high content in fossil carbon); to be compliant with common farming methods; and to match or improve crops performance as expected in the case of conventional plastic films and other biodegradable mulch films available in the market. Specifically, the consortium wants to enhance mulch films based on biodegradable raw materials, which will be customized to specific crops and regions, with a possible positive effect on crop yield and quality, pests and/or disease control, soil preparation and fertilization. The goal of this project is to use a very recent Mater-Bi® formulation characterized by a higher content in renewable feedstocks as compared to the other biodegradable mulch films currently used, the Novamont’s Mater-Bi® CF04P grade (which is not widely widespread), in order to produce, through a be-spoke optimization of processing conditions, customized and enhanced biodegradable mulch films (BMF) that should be more competitive and more sustainable, at both the technical and the economic point-of-view. These new mulches will be tested on four selected crops (muskmelon, bell-pepper, grapevine, strawberry open field and strawberry in greenhouse) known to require different specific expectations in terms of mulching lifetime. A full life cycle analysis is therefore fundamental in order to measure the economic viability of this new product AGROBIOFILM will significantly promote the uptake of highly productive and environmentally friendly farming practices among end-users, who are currently facing a number of competitive challenges threatening the economic stability of the sector. The project will also increase the competitiveness of the participating SME manufacturers by providing them with a state-of-the-art platform to develop competitive biodegradable mulch films, and therefore widening the applicability of their biodegradable products to new markets. Agrobiofilm project runs from 01 April 2010 to 28 March 2013, but the effective duration of the project is 30 months.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Providing crop protection against weeds and water loss, mulch films (plastic sheeting that has replaced natural mulch) play a crucial role in agriculture. Researchers have now developed new biodegradable mulch films for the agricultural market.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Mulch films are used worldwide, but they are not traditionally biodegradable. As such, they need to be manually removed after each harvest, which is environmentally unfriendly (impossible to remove all plastic pieces from the soil) and time consuming.

The EU-funded 'Development of enhanced biodegradable films for agricultural activities' (http://www.agrobiofilm.eu (AGROBIOFILM)) project set out to manufacture and test a range of starch-based biodegradable mulch films (BMFs) in field conditions. Thirty-six BMFs were manufactured in different colours, thicknesses and formulations, and they were tested on peppers, strawberries, melons and grapevines.

Overall, the BMFs showed good mechanical properties, both for short crop cycles (4-5 months) and long crop cycles (10 months). However, in the presence of nut sedge (Cyperus rotundus) large infestation the BMF solution must be reviewed in terms of elasticity and thickness.

Generally speaking, the BMFs performed as well as conventional films in terms of crop production and fruit quality. In the case of vines, mulch films anticipated the first harvest in one year (18t/ha just 17 months after planting) and greatly improved production for several years after planting, despite the fact that they degraded within a year. This early degradation, when compared with polyethylene mulch, improved the root system growth of BMF mulched vines.

BMFs biodegradation was tested both for perennial and horticultural crops. In horticultural crops the BMF mulches meant to be incorporated in the soil and thus it is crucial that mulch film biodegradation does not interfere with subsequent crops. BMF was tested according ISO 17556 and reached more than 70% in 160 days, which is ideal for annual crops grown using mulch films.

Life-cycle analysis showed that BMFs have an advantage over conventional films through reduced energy use during production.AGROBIOFILM BMF products are already commercially available to farmers in the global market.