[USCC] USDA gives part of $405,000 grant to learn to compost

[CAVM@aol.com]

Tuesday, July 6,  2004
Martinsville Bulletin.com

By DOUGLAS HAIRSTON - Bulletin Staff  Writer

A state-of-the-art greenhouse and a few  thousand tons of fish waste 
is  proving to be a rich combination for Blue Ridge Aquaculture and 
Virginia Tech researchers.

Since breaking ground last November on  the approximately $85,000 
greenhouse at Blue Ridge Aquaculture in Martinsville Industrial  Park, 
the work of finding a profitable use for  the 2.8 tons of fecal waste 
and  sludge generated daily by the fishery is moving full-speed ahead.

Funded by a $405,000 grant through the  U.S. Department of 
Agriculture,  Virginia Tech and Blue Ridge Aquaculture, the largest-
producing indoor fish farm in the world,  have teamed up for the three-
year project to research ways to convert  fish waste into compost, a 
valuable soil additive for the ornamental  horticulture crops grown in 
the  greenhouse.

"I think it's going to be very  successful," said Blue Ridge 
Aquaculture President Bill Martin last  week. The growth-rate 
difference between plants seeded in  regular potting soil and those in 
various mixtures of compost is  "dramatic," he added.

>From  his office at the aquaculture facility, which houses 1.2 million 
pounds of live tilapia, a seafood popular  in northeastern markets, 
Martin  walked the couple hundred yards or so further up the property 
to the 30-foot-by-120-foot  double-polyinsulated greenhouse.

Inside the greenhouse about one-third  full of multi-colored annuals, 
Virginia Tech research technician  Stephanie Mace works in a moderate 
climate, not the oppressively hot and  humid enclosure one comes to 
expect inside such a structure.

"It has taken us a while to work the bugs  out of the (climate) 
control  system, but we've finally gotten everything up and running," 
said Mace.

Among the many features of the facility,  the climate and irrigation 
system can be remotely controlled and  irrigation water can be 
delivered using either municipal water or  waste water directly from 
the Blue  Ridge fish vats, Mace  added.

The early results of the research are  proving more than promising, 
said Mace.

The project converts foul, smelly fish  waste to earthy compost, a 
product similar in texture, odor and  color to rich black soil. For 
that, Mace has turned to vermicomposting,  a process in which a large 
vat  of Belgian Night Crawlers, a type of earthworm, are fed the raw 
sludge. The compost is the  by-product.

With that process, not only is a valuable  soil additive being 
created,  but also earthworms are being grown, a valuable bait for 
fishermen. "There is a bait dealer in Tennessee, who sells to fishing  
shops around the country, who  can take up to 500,000 worms per week," 
said Martin.

However, the greater potential lies in  the compost itself, said 
Martin.

Ornamental horticulture -- the growth of  trees and plants for 
landscaping -- is the fastest growing  agricultural industry in the 
state, and one that may prove to be a  suitable supplement or 
replacement crop for tobacco farmers hard  hit by government 
regulations,  Martin added.

Greg Eaton, a Virginia Tech researcher in  the horticulture 
department,  said in a previous visit to Blue Ridge Aquaculture that 
the state is seeing an agricultural  revival headed by the 
horticulture industry.

If so, the Martinsville fishery may play a  vital role in spurring the 
industry on.

To demonstrate the nutritive advantages  in using fish compost, Mace 
pointed to the plants in various mixtures  of compost that Martin had 
spoken of earlier -- one plant seeded in  regular potting soil, one 
with  a five percent mixture of compost, another with 15 percent 
mixture and a fourth with a 25 percent  mixture. 

The differences in growth were indeed  substantial. Placed side to 
side, the four trials looked like stair  steps, showing an increase in 
the rate of growth as the amount of  compost used increased.

Within the next week or so, Mace said she  expects the greenhouse to 
be  completely filled with plants used in various test trials.

One project will involve the introduction  of hybrid plants, the 
creation  of new types of plants through splicing of natural plants, 
said Mace. They will be promoted as  "Virginia plants," she  added.

By turning trash into treasure -- or in  this case, poop into profit --
Martin envisions a number of greenhouses  at Blue Ridge Aquaculture 
feeding a healthy horticulture industry  with hardy seedlings and rich 
compost -- with a few million squirming  fish bait thrown in for those 
who'd rather reel in their tilapia fresh  out of the river.