Good practice:

URSA - Alqueva byproducts circulation units

The promotion of soil fertility and the efficient use of irrigation water are basic principles of EDIA in the context of the environmentally sustainable management of Alqueva irrigation. The valorisation of organic by-products from agriculture and their return to the soil presents itself as the strongest and longest lasting possibility to recover soil quality, protect water and promote the efficient use of resources.
Some soils although deep, are poor in organic matter, reducing its capacity to retain water and nutrients, making the soil gradually more susceptible to erosion and desertification.Intense agricultural activity in areas of degraded soils results in the degradation of downstream water bodies, namely as a result of the entry of sediments and nutrients.
The URSA Project - Alqueva By-Products Recirculation Units, a constellation of units at the service of the irrigation territory, which produce an organic fertilizer by composting, returned to farmers by exchange with the agricultural by-products delivered, for crop fertilization, contributing to the increase of soil fertility and its rehabilitation as a filtering barrier, which promotes downstream water quality and long-term sustainability of irrigation. A project lije URSA can be developed further by adding an LC assessment in the future and can provide an additional environmental and resource efficiency value.

Project URSA relies on partnerships between EDIA and local farmes
Economic resources: 250 000 financed in 70% by the National Environmental fund.

URSA project responds to the problem of low organic matter content in soils, which translates into a reduction in fertility and capacity to retain water and nutrients. This objective could be better achieved using a life cycle approach that consider the incorporation of organic matter into the soil in a systematic way, being compatible with irrigation and a modern and intensive agriculture.

This project could benefit from a life cycle analysis but presents a structure based on a efficient use of resources, namely in the protection of soil and water, and the valorisation of waste / by-products, contributing to accelerate the transition to the circular economy, through an agriculture in line with the principles of this new paradigm. Thus, this good practice is applicable in every country and region where sustainable agriculture is a priority and where there are large irrigated agricultural areas.