Bayer's solution for pesticide contamination

To tackle the damage of pesticide wastewater generated by farming, Bayer CropScience AG, the agricultural subgroup of Germany's Bayer AG, will set up more agricultural solution centers to promote water treatment chemical products in China over the next three years.

David Lembrich, global leader of the Phytobac project, an agricultural wastewater treatment technology project of BCS, said the technology and its concept are being introduced to Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region. China is the first nation in the Asia-Pacific region to promote this system.

The Phytobac system has four parts: a computer control platform, a buffer tank, a spray facility and a degradation pool.

Pesticide-laden water will be stored temporarily in the buffer tank and then sprayed evenly into the degradation pool. The capacity and spray time are set by the computer. Soil rich in microorganisms and wheat straw are mixed together proportionally in the degradation pool, and the micro-organisms will eliminate pesticide residue.

BCS launched the first commercial use of Phytobac in Danyang, Jiangsu province, in July. Lembrich said 1,000 to 1,500 liters of wastewater can be handled per year using BCS technology.

Sun Xinyou, product stewardship manager of BCS China, said that agricultural pollution has a marked influence on China's water and farmland environment, which means agricultural waste prevention and control must get priority.

To ensure grain security, the country has begun to seek practical technologies and products to improve farmland quality and sustainability.