Use and management of fruit and vegetable waste for the production of new food for the livestock chain and the production of certified quality of meat.
The main goal of the project is the reduction of waste of fruits and vegetables through their re-usage in the livestock sector for the production of innovative silage bales.
From a circular economy perspective, the project will contribute to the reduction of livestock production costs, the enhancement of local economies and the preservation of the enviroment. The project will also help farmers to organize meat chain and to certify the quality of meat.
The project's activities will lead to the production of new and innovative animal feeding represented by silage bales obtained through the usage of machinery specifically designed for pressing and packaging silage into pressed bales of 20-25 kg each. The innovative silage will be produced based on the study of the most qualitative and efficient combination of different nutritional and microbiological compositions of the feeds.
For the production of the silage bales will be used fruits and vegetables discarded during the ordinary production of the partners belonging to the operative group. Before being assembled in pressed bales, the silage will be compressed using plastic films in order to reduce its initial volume.
The agri-food sector is one of the most important for the rural economy of the Sicilian island. The sector in the province of Syracuse is mainly dedicated to the production of products of excellence and assumes a prominent economic position at the regional level. There are already numerous typical quality certification brands such as DOC, IGT, DOP, and IGP. One of the goals is to certify products with more quality and traceability certification brands.
Currently, the sector is characterized by a strong industrial delay due to excessive fragmentation and mainly consists of Small and Microenterprises. This delay causes to local operators difficulties in accessing credit and a lack of competitiveness in local and extra-regional agricultural and livestock markets.
The current situation in the Province of Syracusa is also determining a progressive process of depopulation of rural areas, especially due to the exodus of the youngest towards urban areas, leaving the arable land to the destructive effect of hydrogeological instability and erosion. Therefore, one of the main aims of the project is to encourage the cultivation of ancient grains, promote water-saving agricultural practices and stimulate the repopulation of rural areas.
The remaining stalks in the fields cultivated for forage will favor the increase of the organic carbon of the soils, furtherly stimulated by the manure used as organic fertilizer derived from animals fed with silage containing re-used fruit and vegetable. Furthermore, there is a poor differentiation of the finished product and a scarce propensity towards the aggregation among operators. It would be desirable that the sector moves towards new investments in technical fields with high added value.
"The re-used fruits and vegetables are reconcentrated with laboratory analytical characterization for the evaluation of food safety and nutrition. It also undergoes a conservation process with an ancient technique but with an innovative method. This is the process consist of ensiling, a mass conservation method based on fermentation in conditions of anaerobiosis. The innovation is based on the use and dynamic combination of locally produced forage and different types of fruits and vegetables, mixed with different integrations by using a special pressing machine that l produce bales of pressed silage, wrapped in a film plastic.This is a process and product innovation because currently there is no such structured processing process, and a pressed silage product containing re-used fruits and vegetables is not yet available on the market.The food ration is completed with lines of feed specially formulated according to the nutritional value of the silage bales. The silage bales are tested on different animal genetic lines with the forage base given by the pressed fruit and vegetable silage and will produce an increase in meat production and an increase in their shelf life.
This is also due to the fact that the new food rations will be formulated to optimize the genetic standards of beef cattle, improving the well-being of the subjects and therefore helping ruminal activity, and decreasing nitrogen excretions in the atmosphere.
Livestock farms will be able to optimize the food management costs of beef cattle, due to the optimization of diets and the reduced purchase costs of the necessary raw materials. Furthermore, the food change produces an effect of improvement of life performance, increasing the economic budget of agricultural enterprises."
"The innovation consists of the new company organization needed for the the introduction of new products for animal feed deriving from the production dynamics of fruit and vegetable waste and the unique combination with innovative commercial feeds to satisfy the nutrition needs of beef calves.
Selection of beef cattle breeds for evaluation of production performance and quality of meat with further agro-industrial by-products as essential components for chains certified with the brand QS – Safe Quality guaranteed by the Sicilian region."
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