What if horticultural residues could become valuable resources? This question was at the heart of a conference organised by Valbiom at the wine and viticulture stand during the Libramont Agricultural Fair, one of the largest agricultural fairs in Europe and a major meeting point for the agricultural and rural sectors.
Bringing together thousands of professionals, stakeholders and visitors from across the agricultural sector, the Fair provided an ideal setting to raise awareness about the potential of horticultural residues and engage directly with actors from the field.
Growers, sector organisations and innovation actors came together to discuss opportunities for valorising horticultural residues such as pruning material, leaves, stems, downgraded fruit and production surpluses.
Following an overview of the Walloon horticultural sector by Claude Vanhemelen (Fédération Wallonne Horticole), Pauline Remouchamps (Valbiom) shared key lessons from AgriWasteValue and presented the new opportunities being explored within VALORANT.
The conference also gave the floor to Cécile Fontaine (Wagralim), who highlighted the role of collaborative projects in developing new valorisation pathways, while Aurélien Bardellin (Valbiom) presented concrete examples of horticultural residues already being transformed into commercial products.
Strawberry leaves used to produce innovative ingredients, grapevine by-products valorised in cosmetics, extraction of high-value compounds… these examples demonstrate how horticultural residues can become valuable raw materials.
From potential to value chains
The discussions also highlighted that technology alone is not enough. Developing new value chains requires a good understanding of available biomass streams, appropriate logistics, identified market outlets and, above all, strong connections between growers, companies, researchers and innovation actors.
Being present at such a major agricultural event provided VALORANT with a valuable opportunity to connect with the Walloon horticultural ecosystem, raise awareness about new valorisation opportunities and gather practical feedback from the field to support the next steps of the project.