The growth in the world population is inevitably accompanied by an increase in agricultural production, while the water resource is diminishing and the amount of arable land is decreasing significantly due to the urbanisation effect.
Farmers in all countries are now faced with a double challenge: to improve the productivity and yield of crops while preserving resources. Management of resource, and of water in particular, will be a critical issue in the years to come. SUEZ here and now stands side by side with farmers, to help them develop sustainable agriculture.
Build a sustainable agriculture, a world-wide challenge
The problem is easy to understand and difficult to resolve. In 2030 the population will be 9 billion inhabitants, against 7 billion today. A growth which, according to the FAO, will entail a 70% increase in agricultural production by 2050. Only the introduction of effective solutions that allow farmers to improve productivity while preserving resources, and especially water (today 70% of water consumption is used for agriculture), will enable to meet this challenge.
Aware of these stakes, SUEZ undertakes to support farmers with a circular economy approach and continuous improvement of their practices: reducing water and fertiliser consumption throughout the production cycle and use of organic matter.
Our expertise in organic recovery, whether in material or energy, is enabling us to produce each year in France 500,000 tonnes of standardised compost resources, to triple our methanisation capacity between 2014 and 2017 and to increase by one third the production of electricity from biogas by 2020. For the benefit of the circular economy and environmental performance, SUEZ thus safeguards the resources of its clients in the food processing sectors.
Philippe Maillard , Deputy CEO France
Organic matter: a resource to be exploited
The use of organic matter enables new resources to be created: a locally-renewable energy or standardised compost. Advantage: methods of producing compost and energy are complementary and can be carried out side by side.
The Méta Bio Energies site in Combrée (Maine-et-Loire), for example, notably receives and processes biowaste from the Rungis market, about 250 tonnes per month. It produces up to 8,000 MWh electricity from the biowaste from Rungis as well as agriculture and municipal green waste, i.e. the equivalent of the electricity consumption of over 2,000 households. The electricity thus produced is distributed on the grid while the heat is sold to the neighbouring Solairgies plant, specialising in drying industrial and urban sludge. Moreover between 22,000 and 24,000 tonnes of compost are produced per year from this biowaste.
Developing effective agricultural solutions respectful of water and energy resources
SUEZ has joined forces with Terrena, the leading French agricultural cooperative with 22,000 farmers, to create a common company, a true incubator of technical solutions and services for the agricultural world. This company helps farmers better manage water on their farms, to maintain the productivity and yield of crops by means of a range of innovative solutions. The company develops 2 types of services:
SUEZ has developed a smart irrigation and fertirrigation[1] system which enables farmers to optimise their water, energy and fertiliser consumption, while maintaining or increasing their production.
This technology is based on the acquisition of external data (weather, cartography, soil, hydrological and foliar mapping, etc.) and in the field (collected by on-site sensors and hydraulic equipment), combined with multi-spectral images which, thanks to expert algorithms, permit assisted or automatic management of irrigation and fertirrigation equipment.
Currently being deployed in the almond food processing industry in Lerida in Catalonia, this technology is particularly suitable for ligneous crops (fruit, nuts, vines).
[1] Irrigation of a plant with water containing soluble fertilisers
At the heart of the territories and in partnership with their actors, local communities, inhabitants and farmers, SUEZ leads initiatives to protect the water resource. They combine education and concrete actions plans aimed at reducing the impact of human activities.
Bertrand Camus , Group Senior Executive VP - Africa, Middle East, India, Asia & Pacific
AQUASOURCE ULTRAFILTRATION
Youtube channel: SUEZ
Reusing waste water, a solution for tomorrow’s agriculture
The rationalised management of the water resource, although essential, is not sufficient to meet the challenge raised by water stress, which could affect 40% of the world population in 2035. The recycling of wastewater mainly for agricultural purposes is essential, and yet only 2% of collected wastewater is currently reused.
SUEZ is at the forefront in this field. Thanks to treatment techniques such as ultraviolet radiation, reverse osmosis or membrane filtration, the Group is in a position to recycle wastewater while avoiding polluting discharge. The use of ultrafiltration membranes is particularly effective for providing water suitable for agricultural and industrial needs. With 800 million m3 wastewater recycled every year, the SUEZ Group is now a leader in this field and is aiming to triple its supply of alternative water (obtained from recycling wastewater or desalination) by 2020.
The intensification of agricultural production leads to risks of pollution of surface and underground water, mainly by nitrates and pesticides. Farmers are now faced with a statutory obligation to take action to reduce water pollution.
The European Directive on nitrates of 4 March 2013 asks the Member States to monitor the nitrate concentration of surface and underground water, and to take the necessary measures to reduce it. SUEZ has developed Nitrascope, a tool which models the transfers of water and nitrates from the farm to the catchment area. It enables the current and future nitrate concentrations in the water tables to be diagnosed, action plans to be devised and their efficiency evaluated.