Beyond Peat is a new €1.6m venture searching for alternatives to peat. But some experts have warned that it is unlikely to provide short-term solutions.
Speaking at Trinity College talk, Horticulture Researcher at Teagasc, Dr Michael Gaffney, said any alternative to peat must meet economic and environmental criteria. “We’re going to have to find something that is agronomically acceptable, as it took took three decades of research to optimise peat.”
In his view the horticulture sector would need around 400,000m3 of material to meet current demands. That’s quite a significant amount of material to find and its needs to be a low-cost material.
He said: “There is no realistic widespread replacement for peat in professional horticulture. There is ongoing some level of dilution that is currently being used in the industry and parts of the soft fruit sector have started to use coir to a greater level than peat. Where it is agronomically feasible, they are moving to use other materials.”
The Beyond Peat project is looking at coir, a fibrous material waste product of coconut production. However, Gaffney said it has a high salt content and needs washing with calcium nitrate to reduce the salt levels. It also has to be shipped from Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
Pine bark and wood fibre are additional options under review. The project will also look at transforming waste into growth material, such as through pyrolysis to create biochars that can be similar to peat.
LSL News.