Da Nang (VNA) - The central city of Da Nang plans to increase the use of liquidfertiliser made from organic waste in its farms and public gardens, a localofficial said.

Speaking at a reviewof a three-year (2015-2017) project on recycling organic waste last week, NguyenPhu Thai, Director of the Da Nang Institute of Socio-Economic Development, saidthis would help improve urban sanitation and support farmers in the city’ssuburban areas.

The pilot project,carried out in Hoa Vang district, was funded by the Japan International CooperationAgency (JICA).

It brought inJapanese experts from Kyushu University, Saga University, EnvironmentalBusiness Solution Inc and Chikujo town to help identify solutions that can beapplied on a big scale to help achieve the target of Da Nang becoming a greencity by 2025, he said.

The project involved40 farmers, students and teachers at junior secondary schools, with the latterplaying an important role in raising public awareness of organic waste recycle.

Hoang Thi Ngoc Hieu,an official with the city’s urban environment company, said the pilot projectcould recycle 70 tonnes of human waste from septic tanks in the city to produce3.5 tonnes of liquid fertiliser each day.

“It’s very positivesolution for dealing with human waste and dung from urban areas and farms. Itcosts around 300,000 VND (13.3 USD) to convert each cubic metres of human wasteinto environment friendly fertiliser.

However, the city will work with Japanese experts on adjusting the technologyto ensure its smooth application on a mass scale,” she said.

She said publicgardens and vegetable farms could use the organic fertiliser instead ofchemical fertilisers.

Nguyen Thi Thu Hanh,a staff of Hoa Vang district’s agricultural office, said the district has beendeveloping as an organic farm zone, providing safe vegetables and other producefor the city.

“Local farmers wishto fertilise their farm with recycled organic fertiliser as it can help improvesoil quality,” Hanh said.

She said thedistrict will build big tanks to contain liquid fertiliser near farms tofacilitate organic cultivation.

The mayor of Chikujotown, Hisami Arakawa, said the town has 24 years of experience in recyclinghuman waste into organic fertiliser.

He said the plantbuilt by the project in Hoa Vang district is similar to the one in Chikujo, andthe Japanese partners will cooperate with the city in improving fertiliserquality as well as its mass use by the local community.

The mayor also saidthat Chikujo had cut fertiliser costs in the town by 90 percent.

Da Nang dischargesnearly 700 tonnes of waste each day, of which 74 percent is food, garden andpark waste, and recycling this can produce energy and save lots of money.

The city reserves anannual fund of 7 billion VND (333,000 USD) for waste collection and treatment.

The pilot projectenabled Hoa Vang district to be the first locality in Vietnam to produce thefertilizer under a cooperation deal between Da Nang and Chikujo.

Thai Van Quang, anofficial from the city’s agriculture and rural development department, said theproject will help farmers in rural areas reduce cultivation costs.

The project, whichgot Japanese funding of 10 billion VND (442,477 USD), included construction ofa liquid fertiliser testing facility, technical training, education on thebiomass circulation system and practical training in Japan.-VNA