OG SIMBAV. Agroavicultural symbiosis: towards the modernization of the sector through digitalization and circular economy strategies. 

SIMBAV is a supra-autonomic Operational Group that seeks to promote the modernization and improvement of the competitiveness of the poultry sector through a strategy based on the efficient management of its resources. 

This strategy focuses on three points: 

1.  The valorization of poultry manure generated in poultry farms, such as pollinasse/pavinasse, and agricultural waste, such as vine pruning residues, for their energetic use as biofuels and biofertilizers, allowing the recovery of nutrients and their application in crops. 

1.  The control of production processes through their digitalization with the aim of improving animal welfare conditions and the consumption linked to these conditions, in order to implement an intelligent management system that facilitates decision making. 

1.  Circular economy actions to reduce the environmental impact associated with production by reducing energy and water consumption.
   The complete strategy will be evaluated through the Life Cycle Analysis methodology, which will allow to quantify in an objective way and from a technical-economic point of view the environmental performance of the proposed solutions, which will allow to determine the feasibility of their introduction in the poultry sector activities. The innovation pursued by this strategy aims to achieve innovative and interactive solutions, focused on the needs of the sector, which will favor decision making with the ultimate goal of contributing to its positioning in terms of innovation and economic sustainability. 

SIMBAV’s main objective is to achieve the modernization and improvement of the competitiveness of the poultry sector through an efficient resource management strategy, the improvement of animal welfare and the achievement of an energetic symbiosis between poultry bio-waste and other agricultural vegetable waste from neighboring farms. Specifically: 

• Improve animal welfare by adopting an intelligent management system.  

• To achieve the energetic use of poultry manure/poultry manure and vegetable agricultural waste through optimized thermochemical valorization processes. 

• Reduce the environmental impact associated with the farm’s activity by minimizing consumption. 

• Define the nutrient supply capacity of ashes, their capacity to replace inorganic fertilizers and the formulation of liquid fertilizers prepared from ashes. 

The results to be achieved by the SIMBAV project are the following: 

• Reduction of the number of deaths by optimizing the existing energy consumptions. 

• Recovery of thermal energy from biofuels by optimizing the combustion system and the gasification process for use in the poultry sector. 

• Reduction of the farm’s water consumption and evaluation of the percentage of savings in overall energy costs with the solution proposed in the project. 

• Reduction in the use of inorganic fertilizers to be applied to specific crops. 

• Determination of the environmental profile and technical-economic feasibility of the implementation of the digitalization and circular economy actions. 

Consult the informative brochure of the project in: Spanish / English 

Consult the project activities in: Spanish / English 

The Operational Groups, key players in the implementation of the AEI-Agri (European Innovation Partnership for Productive and Sustainable Agriculture), are one of the key tools in the implementation of the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy (PEPAC) 2023-2027 to boost innovation in the agri-food and forestry sector at the European level. This is the grouping of agents of different profiles with common interests, such as farmers, livestock breeders, companies, research or training and dissemination centers, who associate to launch an innovation project with the aim of providing a joint and multisectoral response to a problem or need. 

Innovation project within the framework of the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy (PEPAC) 2023-2027, financed 80% by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) of the European Union and 20% by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA). The Directorate General for Rural Development, Innovation and Agri-Food Training (DGDRIFA) is the authority in charge of implementing this aid.  

Total project budget: €597,650.57. Total grant: €595,550.57.