Organic Fertilization: A Strategic Driver for Walloon Horticulture
Organic Fertilization: A Strategic Driver for Walloon Horticulture
At the heart of the IIS Wasabi 2.0 roadmap, organic fertilization stands out as one of the most fundamental pillars of the transition toward sustainable, circular, and self-sufficient horticulture. Far from being just another topic among many, it serves as a major strategic lever in three key areas: reducing dependence on synthetic and mineral inputs, strengthening input sovereignty, and promoting resource circularity within Wallonia’s agricultural sectors.
The Walloon ecosystem boasts a particularly dense network of innovative players in this field. Agripur, Pur Ver, Agricompost, APEO Solutions, and Toopi Organics together cover a remarkably broad spectrum of solutions: plant extracts, organic matter recovery, microbial biostimulants, and nutrient recycling. This diversity of approaches, driven by IIS member companies, makes it possible to develop tailored solutions for a variety of production contexts, from open-field vegetable farming to protected-culture systems.
Several strategic projects have been implemented to accelerate the deployment of these solutions in the field. The European Bioboost-Pro project, developed in collaboration with Toopi Organics and Groupe One as part of Interreg North West Europe, is the most emblematic example of this. Born out of the repurposing of a rejected ERDF project, it successfully repositioned itself to target solutions nearing market maturity, thereby moving beyond the realm of basic research to tangibly drive the transition toward new practices. Bioboost-Pro alone embodies the added value of the IIS: transforming a regional idea into a structuring European project, mobilizing an international consortium, and accelerating the maturation of high-impact solutions.
At the same time, the regional W2W LacBoost project, also supported by Toopi Organics, and the European CUF-Training project—dedicated to training in circular agricultural practices in urban settings—are helping to broaden the scope of action, notably by incorporating modules on biostimulants into training programs. Two initiatives still in the planning stages round out this picture: Woolconcept, which explores mulching solutions that incorporate organic fertilization functions, and Azolla-CHEL, which focuses on azolla as an innovative source of fertilization.
Taken together, these projects outline a sector under development, rooted in the bioeconomy and driven by a coherent vision: to support the transition of Walloon horticulture toward more resilient systems that are less dependent on fossil resources and capable of making use of locally available organic materials. Organic fertilization is no longer a niche alternative—it is on its way to becoming a central component of Wallonia’s edible horticulture of the future.
