Mima County, Tokushima Prefecture - History of the Chicken Manure Fertilization Project - 1994 to the 2020s

Mima County, Tokushima Prefecture - History of the Chicken Manure Fertilization Project - 1994 to the 2020s

April 1994: Project Launch
Mima-gun, Tokushima Prefecture, is a region with a thriving poultry farming industry, with approximately 300 farm households raising more than 3 million chickens. This large-scale discharge of chicken manure (about 140,000 tons per year) has long been a source of water pollution and odors in the area. In April 1994, therefore, a third sector was established to compost and reuse chicken manure in cooperation with poultry farming-related organizations and local businesses in Mima County. The project was also provided with subsidies from Tokushima Prefecture and the national government, and the total project cost amounted to approximately 1.55 billion yen. As a result, eight compost centers were established in Mima County, and a system was set up to produce 23,000 tons of compost from approximately 140,000 tons of chicken manure annually. This compost was supplied to local vegetable and fruit farmers, and was also distributed nationwide through fertilizer companies.

2000s: Expansion of Demand and Technology
In the 2000s, demand for compost increased rapidly, especially orders from inside and outside Tokushima Prefecture as organic farming became more widespread. In addition, Maruzen Oil & Chemical Trading (Tokyo) developed and marketed "Bioturf," a microbial soil conditioner made by adding humic acid to chicken manure, which was widely used at golf courses and parks throughout Japan. Bioturf" was highly acclaimed for its ability to improve soil aeration and nutrient supply while at the same time reducing the risk of disease in the soil, and was produced on the order of 800 tons per year.

2020s: Toward Sustainable Development
In the 2020s, the number of compost centers in Mima County was expanded to 10, and compost production was further increased from about 23,000 tons per year. This compost is an essential resource for the promotion of organic farming throughout the country. Production of "bioturf" has also been increased to 1,200 tons per year, further increasing demand from public facilities and sports facilities.

On the environmental front, advances have been made in the technology of the composting process, and equipment for removing offensive odor components and environmental monitoring has been introduced. This has resulted in verified improvements in water and air quality, underscoring its contribution to environmental protection. Local water quality monitoring has demonstrated that the environmental impact of poultry manure composting has been reduced.

Thus, the chicken manure fertilization project in Mima County, launched in 1994, continues to grow in the 2020s as an initiative to protect the local environment and support sustainable agriculture, and has become a model project that is attracting attention from other regions.