Menterra
 
Ventures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Examples of possible ventures:
  • Exotic Mushrooms
  • Industrial Oil Crops
  • Fibre Crops
  • Unusual Herbs
  • Pharmaceutical Crops

Mushroom Trial

During the last few months the MENTERRA project has organised two meetings, the first at the Agri-Innovation Centre, Henfaes, Abergwyngregyn on 11 October, 2005 and the second at the Oakley Arms, Maentwrog on 3 November 2005. These meetings were the first stages towards choosing two farmers to trial mushrooms in Gwynedd.

MENTERRA invited farmers who had expressed an interest in the project to attend these meetings. These meetings were also attended by Mr. Richard Edwards and Mr. Mark Wassell of Humungus Fungus; a company based in Llangadog, Carmarthenshire that was established with the aim of developing profitable systems for growing organic mushrooms on a sustainable and low-impact basis. The company, and its associated growers, have been responsible for pioneering a unique mushroom growing system that utilises old shipping containers. As a result, this makes it possible to place growing facilities in locations where fresh, locally-grown mushrooms are very hard to obtain.

Following two very successful meetings, MENTERRA has now arranged a site visit to Humungus Fungus. The visit has been arranged so that all those who wanted further information about growing these exotic mushrooms could see for themselves exactly how the process of works from fruiting block production to harvesting as well as the level of commitment needed to make this sort of trial a success.

Hazel Jones
Cymad

Soft Fruits

Ever since the idea of growing berries in Gwynedd was mentioned in the early days of Menterra, Cymad has been busy dealing with a number of enquiries from farmers anxious to learn more about this exciting new opportunity. It is likely that they had not considered the possibility befor, but by browsing through books and the web, one soon realises the commercial opportunities.

Blueberries, Chokeberries and Sea Buckthorn are the three crop berries that Menterra will be introducing in 2005 on some farms in the county. The project will provide technical and financial assistance to a limited number of farmers to grow the crops under the supervision of Cymad and the University of Wales Bangor.

Sea Buckthorn
The most observant amongst you may have observed the Sea Buckthorn growing along the A55 in Eastern Gwynedd. It's name is derived from it's tendency to thrive in coastal areas. It can grow up to 2-4 metres in height. The buckthorn is a delicious plant and grows in bush form and produces egg-shaped berries that are yellow or orange in colourand are up 1cm in length. The berries are still used to this day in some parts of Eastern Europe as food, juice and for their healing qualities.

During the next few months, the University and Cymad will be moving forward to identify suitable sites for growing the plant. Sand dune ecosystems will not be considered, because of the danger the Buckthorn could overrun all other vegetation in such sites.

BIC Innovation is at this time investigating marketing opportunities for the fruit. It is acknowledged that the berries are some of the most nutritious available, with levels of up to 600g of Vitamin C for every 100g of fruit. therefore some of the possible products include a range of functional foods, healing products and pharmaceutical material. It will be vital to process and add value to what is harvested locally, to ensure full economic benefits for the area.

Salicornia - the vegetable alternative

Spring saw the start of the Salicornia project, an innovative venture investigating a production method for the cultivation of Salicornia in Wales as a sea vegetable and an oilseed crop. 

Salicornia is a succulent, leafless annual which grows natuarally in coastal estuaries and saline environments all over the world and is a common site on the salt marshes along the coastline of North Wales.  The name Salicornia comes from the Greek words sal, "salt," and cornus, "a horn," due to the salt-loving (halophytic) nature of the plants and its hornlike branches and is also referred to as samphire, sea asparagus, sea beans, sea fennel, sea pickle and passe-pierre. Originally, picked in the Middle Ages by fishermen's families living near the coasts of the Netherlands, Northern France and Great Britain, more recently its popularity is going global and it has become a highly sought after delicacy and it is currently featured in gourmet restaurants from New York to London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. Commercial cultivation of the plant to date is limited to isolated ventures in Mexico, Israel, India and France and given its high market value as a seasonal delicacy, a gap exists for UK based production of this speciality vegetable, which can be eaten fresh, cooked or pickled and is often used as a garnish in salads and fish dishes or mixed with other vegetables to add a distinct salty flavour. 

Although Salicornia is in demand as a speciality sea vegetable, current research suggests it may also offer human health benefits being known for its digestive and anti-flatulent properties. Culpepper wrote in the 17th century that samphire was useful in curing ailments relating to "ill digestions and obstructions," while being "very pleasant to taste and stomach." It also contains diuretic and depurative properties; it's cholesterol-free, low in calories and fat, whilst rich in iodine, phosphorus, calcium, silica, zinc, manganese and vitamins A, C and D. When pickled, it was often taken along by sailors on ocean voyages to combat scurvy.

In addition, this salt-loving plant may also offer a possible solution as a biofilter to the problem of nutrient rich saline aquaculture effluent and its oilseed may also have industrial and pharmaceutical applications, as it contains about 30% oil (particularly linoleic acid) and about 35% protein (similar to that of soybean and other oilseed crops).  The oil is polyunsaturated and similar to sunflower oil in its fatty acid composition. In studies in Mexico, it displayed a seed yield similar to that of soybean and sunflowers, which highlight the growing economic potential of Salicornia sp.and its diversity as a natural resource. 

The project first and foremost, aims to establish a viable production method for the cultivation of Welsh Salicornia at Llyn Aquaculture Ltd., an aquaculture company based at Afonwen farm, Pwllheli.  The trial will also explore the use of Salicornia beds as a filter for the nutrient rich, saline water which is produced as a by-product of the fish farm, thereby making the aquaculture system more environmentally friendly. Running in parallel with the cultivation trial will be a number of scientific experiments that are being conducted by the University of Wales, Bangor.  The experiments will hopefully allow us to quantify the nutrient removal capacity of Salicornia from saline waste water and shed some light on the role nitrogen plays in the plant.

By Julie Webb,
University of Wales, Bangor