BioCASH

Start: 1 November 2022
Duration: 24 Months
Aim: Bio-economy and Circular Agriculture for Soil Health
Keywords: Bio-economy, circular agriculture, sustainability, agricultural production systems, soils 
Contact: Coordinator: John Helmig (john.helming@wur.nl) (Wageningen Research, WR)

The key research question guiding BioCASH is how resource management can be optimized to close nutrient, energy and biomass circles which integrate urban composts and green wastes in multi-purpose agro-ecological production systems that is economically viable, socially acceptable and long-term sustainable beyond the agricultural sector.

Soil health is here an important criterion for assessing sustainability. To address this research question, BioCASH aims at creating a modelling framework at micro level that enable scaling up of biocircular supply chains of waste streams from the level of selected and site specific production systems to landscape level.

From the soil perspective, the toolbox should consider the evaluation of indicators related to soil health (e.g. soil biodiversity, carbon sequestration, capacity of water retention, nutrient cycling) and safety (i.e. analysis of contaminants such as metals and microplastics).

From the agronomic perspective, the toolbox should also translate the results on soil functions into soil fertility and the outcomes on plant growth. From the circularity perspective, cost benefit analysis and environmental footprint analysis of biocircular supply chains of waste streams should also be seen as model components in the toolbox.

The combined use of existing modelling frameworks at macro level and the proposed modelling framework at micro level should be able to capture policies and drivers of large scale structural changes on bioeconomy as well as agricultural transitions, and their consequential effects on soils functions.