IBBK's First Full Online Conference!
From 25-27 January 2021, IBBK organised a 3-day online conference on progress in the treatment and application of manure and digestate products.
With about 30 international speakers and almost 115 registrations, this important topic was well received among the international audience.
Participants from Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia and even Australia joined the event to hear the latest international developments on manure and digestate treatment.
The online conference was divided into 5 unique blocks, each representing a different angle or perspective:
- State of the Art
- Results from practical Experience
- Animal manure and utilisation practices in China and Germany
- Technological Innovation
- Latest Developments in Africa and Asia on the Application of Digestate from Household Biodigesters
During the conference, IBBK was supported by two organisations.
On day 2 of the event, the (S&T platform of) Sino-German Agricultural Center in collaboration with the Department for International Cooperation and the Institute for Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture (IEDA) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) contributed a panel on “Animal manure management practices in China and Germany”.
Despite the time difference between Europe and Asia, there was a strong participation from China in the conference, showing the great interest in the topic of manure treatment and biogas, which 61 participants attended.
This session was hosted by Dr. Eva Sternfeld from DCZ and featured presentations by both the Chinese and German partners.
IBBK’s second cooperation partner was SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, who moderated a 2-hour session on January 27 to present and discuss the latest developments on the application of digestate from household biodigesters in Africa and Asia.
About 70 attendees from Asia, Africa and Europe joined this session under Wim Van Nes’ moderation.
In his closing remarks, Wim shared that organic fertilizers including bio-slurry from household biodigesters can play an important role to sustain soil fertility and to increase crop production.
In addition, the majority of smallholders operating biodigesters observes increased yields of crops and/or reduced use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides.
He concluded that interesting business models are being developed in Asia and Africa right now, adding value to the application of bio-slurry generated by these digesters.
IBBK was glad to host this fascinating event and we thank all the speakers and participants who made this event possible.
Our next event will be the online conference “Progress in Biogas V”, taking place September 22nd-24th, 2021.
