The development of this Program aims to address two great challenges faced by the São Paulo government: 1. Reducing the discharge of aquaculture effluents; 2. Developing organic-based biofertilizers (from aquaculture) for agriculture and livestock. It has a primary focus on aquaculture effluent disposal and our challenge is to develop technologies through integration to transform potentially polluting aquaculture waste into bio-inputs/biofertilizers for livestock and agriculture.
In practice, rural producers lack effective technologies with clear and actionable protocols to successfully transition from traditional monocultures to integrated farming systems.
Basic knowledge about circular and integrated aquaculture systems already exists (Technology Readiness Level - TRL 1-3), but there is still a gap in technological development and adaptation of these innovations to the reality of producers. It makes large-scale commercial implementation challenging.
The central objective of this project is to advance the technologies to a higher TRL (4-6) through Technology Showcases (TSs).
These TSs will focus on:
1. characterization of effluents and solid waste from commercial aquaculture and integrated systems in the State of São Paulo regarding their potential as bio-inputs for agriculture;
2 . selection of agricultural varieties best suited to make use of aquaculture bioinputs;
3. solutions in high-efficiency, low-cost equipment for each integrated system;
4. economic feasibility and ecological economic studies of integrated systems compared to monocultures;
5. determination of the environmental impact of integrated systems compared to monocultures, with an emphasis on water and energy consumption and the reduction of fertilizer use.
Acknowledgment CNPq Processo 406411/2022-0; FAPESP Processo 2024/00010-0