Fortune  At  The Bottom  Of Gobar  Manure Pyramid

(A robust manure value chain – strengthening livelihood  security of small  holder dairy farming systems)

For  some  time,  cattle  have  been  part  of Indian  society,  providing  nutrition  to  its people,  draught  power,  fertilisers,  and transport to name but a few. ALIGNMENT WITH SDGS MOVING THE WHEEL Dairying  is  practised  by  small  holder farmers  in  India,  with  between  1  to  5 animals.  While  a  lot  of  time  and  energy go  into  managing  the  milk  economy,  little is  done  to  manage  the  country’s  manure (Gobar)  economy.  It  is  high  time  we  ensure fair  returns  to  farmers  through  efficient manure management. 2302  domestic  biogas  plants  were provided  to  small  holder  dairy  farmers, all  of  them  women,  across  the  country  for demonstration  and  to  understand  farmer response. In  a  cluster-based  pilot,  all  368  dairy farmers  in  a  village  associated  with existing  dairy  cooperative  were  provided with  2  cubic  meter  capacity  biogas  plants wherein  an  end  to  end  manure  value  chain is established. According  to  the  20th  livestock  census in  India,  cattle  and  buffalo  population is  302.79  million,  owned  by  small  and marginal  dairy  farmers,  which  generates around  1630  million  tons  of  manure  per annum.  Scientific  use  of  this  manure,  rich in organic matter, gases and nutrients can help  country  in  saving  enormous  national resources.

The  National  Dairy  Development  Board (NDDB)  of  India,  being  the  premier organisation  to  promote  India’s  dairy sector  and  having  successfully  helped establish  milk  value  chain  through network  of  cooperatives  across  India,  can contribute  immensely  to  establishing  a sustainable  manure  value  chain  for  small holder dairy farmers across the country. To  establish  an  efficient  manure  value chain  fulfilling  the  cooking  fuel  needs  of dairy  farmers  and  providing  them  a  source of  stable  income  through  sale  of  bio  slurry while  helping  in  mitigating  adverse  climate impact  of  dairying.  The  initiative  had  the further  aim  of  manufacturing  of  slurrybased  bio  fertilisers  and  selling  them  to farmers at reasonable costs. Surplus  slurry,  offered  by  these  dairy farmers,  is  aggregated  through  local women’s  dairy  cooperative  based  on defined  quality  parameters  and  payments are made digitally. Aggregated  slurry  is  processed  to manufacture  fortified  solid  (e.g.  phosphate rich  organic  manure)  and  liquid  (different grade  micronutrient,  growth  enhancers etc.)  based  bio  fertilisers  and  sold  to farmers.

HISTORY OF SUCCESS The  initiative  helped  in  savings  on  fuel expenses,  reducing  drudgery  of  solid fuel  arrangement  &  health  hazards  and providing  an  additional  source  of  income to  the  women  dairy  farmers.  Usage  of biogas  as  cooking  fuel,  mitigated  the adverse  impact  on  environment.  The biogas  also  replaced  traditional  solid  fuel (wood)  burning  which  had  environmental hazards. Enriching  of  bio  slurry  with  required nutrients/micronutrients and manufacturing of  various  bio  fertilisers  (agricultural  inputs) could considerably assist  plant growth. “The initiative helped in savings on fuel expenses, reducing drudgery of solid fuel arrangement & health hazards and providing an additional source of income to the women dairy farmers.” Shri. Dilip Rath Village  baseline  and  impact  surveys  were conducted  to  get  farmers’  impression  on usage  of  biogas  plants,  financial  and  social implications.  Pilot  flow  meters  (indicators) were used to understand biogas usage. Demonstration  and  scientific  study  of slurry-based  products  were  carried  out  on different  crops  to  understand  the  impact of slurry-based products.

A VALUABLE INITIATIVE The  main  beneficiaries  of  the  initiative were  female  dairy  farmers  who  could  save on  cooking  fuel  requirement  to  the  tune  of Rs.25,000/-  in  1.5  years  equivalent  to  the cost of biogas plants. Usage  of  bio  slurry  in  their  own  field  is reducing  requirement  of  chemical  fertiliser and  related  expenses,  showing  positive results  on  productivity.  The  sale  of  slurry at  around  INR.2/litre  has  provided  them  an additional income of Rs.100/day Scaling  up  of  this  initiative  at  the  national level  can  help  India  generate  cooking gas  to  the  tune  50%  of  present  LPG consumption  and  bio  slurry  to  the  tune  of 44% of present NPK requirement.News from IDF Member Countries @NDDB Cooperative  network  in  India  has  17 million  households  associated  with  it.  The robust  manure  value  chain  can  suffice their  cooking  fuel  requirement  generating biogas  equivalent  to  12%  of  LPG  presently consumed  in  the  country  and  can  ensure an  additional  income  to  the  tune  of INR.530  billion*.  The  initiative  can  also help  create  around  2.2  million  new  jobs resulting  in  additional  pay-outs  of  INR.483 billion.  Manufacturing  of  slurry  based solid  and  liquid  products  have  business potential  to  the  tune  of  INR.3,000  billion and  will  also  meet  approximately  12%  of NPK requirement of the country.

 OUR NEXT STEPS NDDB  is  the  process  of  leveraging,  the established  dairy  cooperatives  in  the country  to  scale  up  the  manure  value chain.  For  dairy  cooperatives,  it  would  be  a complimentary  strategy  as  their  members will be able to generate additional  income at  the  same  time  the  well-established  dairy value  chain  can  be  used  for  procurement, processing  and  sell  of  bio  slurry  and  slurry based products By  the  end  of  the  year,  NDDB,  with support  of  Government  of  India,  proposes to  create  clusters  of  manure  value  chain in  major  dairy  potential  states  on  India. NDDB  has  collaborated  with  Agriculture Universities  and  research  organisations for  testing,  validation,  and  propagation  of slurry-based bio fertilisers. @NDDB

Did you know?

• The world population of buffaloes is approximately 207 million head: more than 97 percent are in Asia; 2 percent are in Africa, particularly Egypt; 0.7 percent are in South America; and less than 0.2 percent are in Australia and Europe.
• The countries with the largest numbers of dairy buffaloes are India, Pakistan, China, Egypt and Nepal. In Pakistan, Egypt and Nepal there are more dairy buffaloes than dairy cows.
• Water buffaloes are the principle source of milk in South Asia.
• The largest water buffalo milk producers are India and Pakistan, where buffaloes