Ka Muuk’ Lu’um
IRRI and Sistema.bio have partnered to develop a Biofertilizer Resources Center focusing on the promotion of organic agriculture and empowerment of small-scale producers in Yucatán.
The IRRI- Sistema.bio project in Yucatan; running since 2012, focuses on promoting sustainable development through Sistema.bio digesters as an integrated waste management system for clean energy, and capacity building. As part of the project, in summer 2017 IRRI and Sistema.bio integrated a new component to enhance sustainable agricultural practices and technologies. This component was developed through the identification of local farmers’ need for efficient management, use, and enrichment of the biofertilizer (biol) produced from Sistema.bio digesters. The result was the Biofertilizer Resource Center (BRC); locally known as Ka Muuk’ Lu’um (The second home-land). BRC functions as a research center, biofertilizer collection center, seeds bank, training and a demonstration center for other ecotechnologies.
The objective is to provide a place for networking among local farmers, share best practices on organic agriculture as well as leverage local markets that promote social justice. This month we celebrate BRC’s first anniversary and we are very proud of the empowerment it provides local producers through applied research and building local capacities.
Engineers Without Borders working with Sistema.bio in Mexico
Steffan James; a mechanical engineer from Wales, and Andreas Kangari; a chemical engineer from Cyprus, came to Mexico through Engineers without Borders to offer experiential support to Sistema.bio team. The main objective of their stay is to collaborate with the Research and Development team to improve previous implemented models of biogas heaters.
As part of their research, they visited five farms in Puebla and Tlaxcala to understand better the conditions under which the heaters must operate. Steffan and Andreas’ challenge is to increase the efficiency of the heaters in order to distribute heat according to the different needs of the farms and at an affordable price for the farmers.
They have already designed their first prototype and in the following months they will install and monitor results of heaters in five farms. This will allow Sistema.bio to expand the line of products it offers to farmers around the world thus increasing efficiency with renewable energy by taking advantage of what was once a waste for farmers.
