Biomass

Biography

Biography: Saloua Fertahi

Abstract

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the production of food will need to increase by 70% in order to supply the population which expected to reach approximately 9.5 billion in 2050. To respond on this exponential growth of the global population food need, fertilizers are one of the most important elements to increase the agriculture efficiency for objective to insure the global food security. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are the three major elements required for plant growth. In the other hand, plant benefits just from a small quantity of conventional fertilizers (30–60% N, 10–20% P and 30–50% K), and the rest is lost by volatilization in the atmosphere, leaching into the groundwater or fixation in the soil. This fertilizers class has a negatively impact on the environment and are not economically efficient. The aim of our project is to produce a new generation of biofertilizers, using an eco-friendly coating based on biomass and biopolymers derived from biomass (cellulose, pectin, alginate, and chitin). These different produced biofertilizers are compared in term of the soil fertility, the physical properties, the nutrient release rate, the biodegradability in the soil after the total release and the environmental impact.