What is Bio Agro Oliva
Bio Agro Oliva is an organic fertilizer with excellent fertilization, plant protection and soil improvement properties. It is produced from olive oil production waste such as leaves from olive trees, olive stones and water from the oil extraction. The Blysidis production method is based on composting which enriches the organic matter with microorganisms. Bio Agro Oliva has got a continuously high quality which is ensured by permanent laboratory controls. Bio Agro Oliva contains no plant, animal or human pathogens, seeds of weed or peat.Advantages of Bio Agro Oliva
Bio Agro Oliva contains all the nutrients that are essential for the plant. The nutrients are retained inside the organic matter of Bio Agro Oliva, in a form that can be absorbed gradually by the plants, without immobilization in the soil or leaching out. The microorganisms contained in Bio Agro Oliva , guarantee the gradual release of soil nutrients as well as their easy absorption by the plants.
Chemical fertilizers feed plants only with selected elements, usually nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K). Plants that are fertilized with chemical fertilizers are therefore undernourished concerning other elements. This may not be reflected in crop yield, but it is evident in plant vigor, resistance to adverse climate (drought, cold), plant health and the quality of products produced.
Organic fertilizers like Bio Agro Oliva provide all the nutrients that are needed by plants. Although, , nutrients are not that concentrated, due to their organic composition , they are absorbed in a higher percentage by plants. For example, a chemical fertilizer may contain 5% phosphorous, however 90% of this content is retained in the soil and never reaches the plants. This means that the final percentage of the chemical fertilizer absorbed by the plants is 0.5%. The respective phosphorous concentration in Bio Agro Oliva is 0.65%. However, this phosphorous content is not fixed in the soil and reaches the plants almost without losses.
The same holds true, approximately, for the nitrogen which has the form of salts in chemical fertilizers. Salts are easily leached out . Consequently, a large part of nitrogen is lost for the plants, and ends up in underground waters, polluting water wells with nitrates. Nitrogen in Bio Agro Oliva is not leached out, but it is released gradually, according to the rate of demand by the plants.
Also, the organic content of Bio Agro Oliva improves soil structure, creating stable agglomerates that are multiplied in the soil surface and open up new pores in the soil. In this way, soil aeration is improved, rain water is drained and does not stagnate. No crust is formed on the surface of the soil, and soil moisture is retained for a longer time. This also helps the growth of plant roots.
The high percentage of organic matter is the ideal substrate for the rich development of beneficial soil microorganisms which in turn create more agglomerates, connecting the organic matter with the mineral elements of the soil.
The increase of small openings in the soil increases the internal surface of the soil. The increased surface binds more nutrients, like nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. These elements neither are washed to underground waters by leaching nor are they immobilized, as is the case with other fertilizers. Cooperation of the roots with the soil microorganisms makes the nutrients available to the plants, whenever these nutrients are most needed during plant growth.
The great concentration of humic acids in Bio Agro Oliva plays an important role in this process. Humic acids are the most stable form of organic matter It remains intact in the soil for many years.
Bio Agro Oliva contributes to a great extent to the growth of the soil's ecosystem and to the smooth operation of the food cycle. The recycling of nutrients in the soil is based on the harmonic coexistence of microorganisms (bacteria) and protozoa (worms). Plants depend on the ability of these microorganisms to convert organic nitrogen to easily absorbed nitrate salts.
These plant protection qualities are due to the action of beneficial microorganisms in the compost.
Four mechanisms are mentioned in the literature by which the compost microorganisms restrict the growth of pathogens that can be found in the soil.
- Active "competition" for nutrients
- Production of natural antibiotics
- Elimination of harmful organisms by beneficial parasites and predators
- Activation of the plant's defense mechanisms against pathogens
- The compost microorganisms can also inactivate or biodegrade harmful substances in the soil, like heavy metals and organic compounds
Bio Agro Oliva contributes to plant protection and soil health . It contains a lot of microorganisms which limit the growth of harmful microorganisms and insects in the soil, and eliminates substances harmful to humans and plants.
- Cleaning and washing of olives
- Crushing of olives
- Addition of warm water (in three phase olive oil mills)
- Mixing of olive paste
- Separation of oil from water and olivepomace
Three kinds of wastes are produced – leaves and small branches, olivepomace and waste water (amurca). In three phase olive oil mills, water and pomace are separated; in two phase olive oil mills they are combined. Often, waste is discarded in the environment with no processing, on open water or beaches – with all the negative consequences associated (unpleasant odour, devastation of plant and animal life).
The Greek state proposes the costly processing of waste water in biological treatment facilities or the storage in open evaporation ground tanks. The latter storage in tanks includes also the problems of bad smell, danger of spillage, and microbe growth.
Professor Vlyssides' awarded and patented composting method overcomes the processing problems of this waste material. At the end of this process that lasts just a few months, all waste material is consumed. Whatremains is the precious Bio Agro Oliva organic fertilizer.
Thus, not only olive oil mills are relieved of the problem of waste treatment. The substance produced that can replace large quantities of fertilizers which are at the moment imported to Greece at a high cost. If all olive oil mills in Greece applied this method, the produced fertilizer would be sufficient to fertilize all olive groves of Greece.
The majority of today's olive oil mills in Greece present a major issue to the environment, as treatment of their waste is very difficult. Solid and liquid waste contain oil and phenols slowing down the biodegradation rate. The Bio Agro Oliva method presents a solution that helps protect the environment.