INNOVATIVE DECISION-MAKING TOOL FOR DEFINING THE MOST SUITABLE MANURE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE A SUSTAINABLE LIVESTOCK FARMING SYSTEM DURING THE WHOLE VALUE CHAIN

ongoing

Livestock farming is a key sector that involves 40 % of the total agricultural activity in Europe. representing a total value for products equal to € 170 billion. However, there is an increasing concern due to livestock farming’s contribution to environmental pollution since it generates more than 1.4 billion tonnes/year of manure leading to significant greenhouse gases (GHG) and air pollutants emissions(NH3, NOX)as well as to soil and water contamination caused by hazardous manure chemicals and biological contaminants (called here emerging contaminants). In this context extensive effort has been carried out for years to assess the detrimental effects of farming systems and to develop abatement methods to be implemented. However, despite major advancements, many fundamental issues are beyond the scope of existing legislation. The main objective of NUTRITIVE is to develop a decision-making tool (DSS, decision support system) able to define the most efficient and sustainable (in its three pillars: environmental, economic, and social) manure management strategies for a given livestock farm limiting manure air emissions as well as soil and water contaminants. This will allow for the formulation of technical guidelines and recommendations that will support policy makers with enhanced knowledge to establish requirements for future European policies. To fulfill this objective, the project is divided into six work packages (WP): WP1 Up-to-date inventory; WP2 Novel management strategies/technologies investigation; WP3 Modelling and LCA; and WP4 Guidelines formulation; WP5 Communication, dissemination, and exploitation; WP6 Management. NUTRITIVE anticipates a wide spread of the project outcomes, with the synthesis of the consortium as a baseline: 22 partners (4 Chinese) from 8 different countries across Europe, covering 6 climatic regions (2 Chinese ones), representing the whole supply chain experts, from animal feed to soil application.