ASPIRE Research Institute for Food Security in the Drylands

Nutrient Solutions, Growth Substrates, and Organic Fertilizers

Objectives

Our team strives to develop technologies and protocols for the conversion of organic waste materials into growth substrates and fertilizers for urban farming systems. These technologies are expected to increase the efficiency by which scarce natural resources, such as mineral fertilizers, water, and energy are used for the production and provision of food to urban residents.

Group members

• Hassan Younes Almasri, Research Assistant
• Ahmad Abdulla Ali, Research Assistant
• Dr. Mohammad Affan Baig, Post Doctoral Researcher
• Dr. Elke Neumann, Group Leader / PI
• Dr. Ayesha Alam, Post Doctoral Researcher
• Reem Alothman, Student Research Assistant

Growing sustainably: Nutrient Solutions Made from Organic Waste  

We develop nutrient solutions based on recycled organic waste materials and observe how horticultural crops perform when supplied with these growth media. In a first step, aerobic methods for extraction of plant available nutritional elements from waste materials are optimized (A). In the next step, the ability of crops to grow on the waste extracts is tested, and the overall nutrient recirculation efficiency is calculated (B). Replacement of currently used mineral nutrient solutions by waste extracts has a great potential to reduce the carbon footprint of hydroponic plant production.

A

B

Sustainable Farming of Novel Food in Bioreactors  

We also develop media for in vitro cultures based on recycled waste materials, and upscale the production of heterotrophic, edible plant tissues in bioreactors.

New Fertilizers Based on Organic Waste and Symbiosis Technology  

Pot experiments are conducted to study how organic waste materials could serve as carrier substrates for plant growth promoting microorganisms in the production of biofertilizers for soils affected by salinity, drought, and heat.

We collaborate with

• The mushroom farming group, the insect farming group, and the nutraceuticals group to develop multi-level paths for organic waste material recycling
• The foodscaping group and the green urban building design group to test the growth-substrates we develop in urban farming systems.
• The antimicrobial residues group and the farm animal diseases group to make sure that waste recycling neither transmits farm animal diseases, nor antimicrobial resistances.