Bordeaux: One of the largest aquaponics farms in Europe is getting ready -
20 Minutes
The start-up "Les Nouvelles Fermes" has been experimenting for two years with an aquaponics greenhouse in Lormont, in the suburbs of Bordeaux.
After raising funds of two million euros, it announces the launch of a 5,000 m2 prototype in Mérignac, which should be one of the largest aquaponics farms in Europe.
The Bordeaux company aims to create a hundred farms of this type within ten years, around large cities.
After working in a “submarine” for two years, the “Les Nouvelles Fermes” project, which offers market gardening in aquaponics, is finally coming out of the water.
The five co-founders of this start-up which wants to develop urban agriculture, have just announced a fundraising of two million euros, to create Odette, which will be one of the largest aquaponics farms in Europe, on an area of 5,000 m2 in Mérignac in the suburbs of Bordeaux.
The company has already been established for two years on a site in Lormont, where it is conducting an experiment within the Pauline farm.
Here, on 1,000 m2, Thomas Boisserie and his acolytes, grow and market blood sorrel, leek, onion, watercress, or even tomatoes, using this multi-thousand-year-old technique that is aquaponics.
Fish droppings are 80% of plant needs
"Aquaponics is the contraction of aquaculture [culture of fish] and hydroponics, which is an agriculture that can be found in Mexico 4,000 years ago, where tomatoes were grown on islets of straw that floated on a lake, ”explains the president of the company Thomas Boisserie, who in 2014 founded the start-up Loisirs Enchères in Bordeaux.
To sum up, the idea of aquaponics is to use fish droppings to feed plants.
In Lormont, the Pauline farm breaks down into an ecosystem in three parts.
“The first part brings together four tanks of 16 m3 each, in which there are just under 300 rainbow trout, ie a maximum of 18 fish per cubic meter.
They are fed with organic vegetable protein kibbles.
"
Each basin has around 300 trout - Mickaël Bosredon / 20 Minutes
The trout droppings are collected and transported to the second part of the ecosystem, filtration.
"We separate the finest sludge and remove suspended matter," continues Thomas Boisserie.
Then, we arrive at the biofilter, where bacteria will transform ammonia into nitrate.
This water, once loaded with nitrates, and other elements found in fish droppings, is sent to the plants.
Fish droppings will thus make it possible to meet 80% of the plants' needs.
It is a closed circuit, since the water from the plants then returns to the fish ponds.
"
About 50 kg of fresh produce per day
The main advantage of this system is a substantial saving in soil, of course, but also in water.
“We produce 50 kg of fresh produce per day, and we consume the equivalent of an average family in water, ten times less than a traditional farm.
"On the Odette project, water savings should represent the equivalent" of an Olympic swimming pool.
"
Pauline's farm in Lormont is experimenting with aquaponics - Mickaël Bosredon / 20 Minutes
And that's not all.
"It is agriculture without chemicals, since there is no phytosanitary in the greenhouse," insists Thomas Boisserie.
Despite everything, we cannot be labeled organic for the moment, because the roots do not grow in the earth, and because we do not reject fish effluents in nature.
"The business manager also underlines that" we do not heat and we do not air-condition the greenhouse, which means that we consume relatively little electricity.
"
Fish processed into smoked trout fillets
If the products cannot be stamped organic, “however, we get our supplies from organic seed companies.
The seedlings are planted in pots positioned on a "tide table": once a day, the water rises five centimeters in the tubs to wet the pots and stimulate the growth of the seed.
The plants then leave for the nursery, where the fish water is most loaded with nutrients to allow the young plants to gain strength.
They are positioned on floating rafts, and once the leaves touch each other, they pass into the large tub where they continue to feed on the fish droppings.
Plants grow directly in water - Mickaël Bosredon / 20 Minutes
The fish are transformed into smoked trout fillets in a Danish laboratory located in Lormont.
“They are marketed under the brand La truite smoke de Bordeaux, and we also make rillettes, which can be found in supermarkets, at retailers or on our website.
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Short circuit operation
The Nouvelles Fermes products are "15 to 20% cheaper than organic", assures Thomas Boisserie.
“We offer products that have taste, he insists, quite simply because we operate in a short circuit, so our products do not spend three to five days in transport before being consumed, which is a heresy.
We harvest when ripe.
And just because they bathe in water doesn't mean that they taste like floats, not at all.
"
Aquaponics in France is still in its infancy.
In any case from a commercial point of view.
Because the brand "Les Nouvelles Fermes" intends to develop productive and profitable sites.
“After this pilot site in Lormont, we are going to launch our prototype in Mérignac, which will be located between the airport and the bypass.
We are going to take a step forward, since we aim to produce up to 100 tonnes of fresh produce per year.
The project should emerge from the ground in September, and we hope to achieve our first harvests within ten to twelve months.
And we want to multiply this prototype later, with a hundred farms in ten years around major French cities.
"
The young plants are positioned on rafts - Mickaël Bosredon / 20 Minutes
“Les Nouvelles Fermes” do not aim to make metropolises self-sufficient, “which would be unrealistic”, but still wish to be able to reintroduce market gardening in urban areas.
But the company comes up against a major difficulty, that of the availability of land.
17 people hired for the project in Mérignac
For the Odette project, the company plans to hire 17 people, including a chief farmer, a crop manager and an aquaculture manager, and then a team of versatile urban farmers (FUP).
“There will be a reception area where people will come to collect or buy their baskets.
»Products can be ordered on the Internet and collected from the farm, or from distribution points in Chartrons and Capucins.
“We also deliver by bike in the metropolis, through the Remue-Ménage workshop.
»Half of the products are sold in supermarkets (supermarkets and medium-sized stores) and restaurants, and the other half in short circuits and direct sales.
Company of the Social and Solidarity Economy (ESS), "Les Nouvelles Fermes" plan to invest 1.2 million euros in the Odette project, financed by a regional investment fund, business angels, and bank loans .
The fundraising carried out by the start-up must also allow investments in research and development.
A farm sale (3, rue Banlin in Lormont) is organized on Saturdays April 17 and 24 (registration in advance on Facebook).
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Start-up
Agriculture
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Bordeaux
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