Mention of discussion of multi-ministry proposal in Govt for central level scheme for cattle dung procurement from farmers in Standing Committee of Agriculture Report

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Rohit Parakh

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Jul 16, 2021, 9:01:10 PM7/16/21
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Pages 47, 48 and 67 - Demand for Grants 2021-22 Report

" Committee specifically asked the Department to launch a Scheme at Central Level for procurement of Cattle Dung from Farmers or Coordinate with Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Water and Sanitation), which is implementing a Scheme named 'Gobardhan', the representative of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare submitted that the work relating to procurement of Cattle Dung will be performed by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying or Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare will contact and coordinate with them and for this the Department will come out with a proposal in this regard"

Procurement of Cattle Dung From Farmers 
"The Committee note that Government of Chhattisgarh is procuring Cow Dung under 'Godhan Naya Yojana' since 2020 @ Rs.2.0/kg from farmers for vermi-composting. The Committee have been informed that the Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Water and Sanitation) have been implementing a Scheme named 'Gobardhan'. The Committee are of considered view that procuring of Cattle Dung directly from the farmers will not only augment their income and provide employment opportunity but also address the problem of stray cattle and promote Organic Farming in the Country as the Country has vast cattle population. The Committee, therefore, recommend the Department to initiate a Scheme for procurement of Cattle Dung from farmers in coordination with Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying."

Selvarajan Rajeshwaran

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Jul 16, 2021, 9:45:40 PM7/16/21
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Dear colleagues,

I think this is one of the worst ideas ever generated by the Government of India. Of course, there are government and sponsored institutions who will and are already going ahead in collecting the "bull shit". . . . .

Gobar as we all know is extremely bulky and has high water content. Moving of such bulk material using non-renewable energy will defeat the very purpose of carrying out this grandiose idea of producing "organic manure".

In one such project, where I am involved we have suggested in writing that it is to be ensured that minimal transport  of the gobr takes place and that too only within the village, without the use of mechanical power / energy produced using petroleum products. Vermicompost is to be produced in small units (not in bulk) and used preferably within the village itself. Any excess could be sold as a collective through farmer groups in neighbouring villages. The Government / implementing agency only facilitates this process and does NOT get into / refrains from the actual transport of gobar or production and sales of vermicompost. It is no secret that the disposal and proper use of gobar or bio-gas slurry is an important and high leverage area.

It is another matter that the gobar produced by feeding of cattle feed which themselves have been prepared with raw material sprayed with chemicals. inorganic pesticides, weedicides etc. cannot be termed as "organic" or "chemical free"!

With best wishes.


Dr. S Rajeshwaran BVSc PGDRM PhD (IIMB)
Professor
Development Management Institute, Patna
Cell 9483503392


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Rohit Parakh

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Jul 19, 2021, 2:59:15 AM7/19/21
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Srajesh can you share your experiences as well? I remember you were mentioning mixed experiences from the CG scheme too.

Not sure if @Akash Badave or @Jacob Nellithanam have some insights on this in from CG too..

Meanwhile there is interest picking up from other state govts on it as well -
https://www.thehitavada.com/Encyc/2021/7/19/Team-of-12-IAS-officers-from-Rajasthan-on-study-tour-to-CG.html

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On Mon, 19 Jul 2021 at 12:11, Uma Shankari Naren <umanare...@gmail.com> wrote:
Just sharing some thoughts on the question of procuring dung for vermicompost.  

Recently I came across this website : https://www.dungse.com/ and listened to a presentation by a person associated with it. based in the Netherlands where dung heap is not much used in farms, they are trying to find new uses for dung. Interesting. 

I should think we in India need all the dung available for our own farms. Making them into vermicompost by farmers themselves has not been easy and that is why vermicompost making has not really taken off in a big way. Farmers continue to compost in their traditional ways. As Mr. Rajeswaran says, having a centralised unit far from the farms does not make sense either. But I have found farmers who do use vermicompost do go and buy it from those who specialise in making vermicompost - which could be even 15 to 20 kms away. And specialist vermicomposters often buy lorry loads of dung from city dairies. So some level of transportation of dung does happen in vermicomposting. So a block level vermicompost unit, I should think, is not a bad idea. 

Whether vermicompost itself is a good idea or not as compared to farm yard manure, I reserve my comments on that question. Vermicompost adds to the costs of cultivation and I don't know of any studies which proves the returns are worth the costs. If anybody knows of such studies, I would like to be enlightened. 

Uma 


On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 11:43 AM rohit...@gmail.com <rohit...@gmail.com> wrote:
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Ilse Köhler-Rollefson

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Jul 19, 2021, 3:28:35 AM7/19/21
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From my experience in South-central Rajasthan (Pali district), I can only say that manure - more so from sheep and goats, than from cattle - is a much treasured resource which is perfectly taken care of by villagers themselves. In fact, the manure trade is largely managed by women who sweep it up and pile it up. The money goes into their pockets. Because manure was a scarce resource, villages traditionally had restrictions in place to whom it could be sold; often it was not allowed to go anywhere outside the village. Within the village it was usually exchanged for grain. In any case, for shepherds, manure is the second biggest source of income.

All that said, India's manure economy is a crucial and under-researched topic. A recent estimate by my colleagues from the LIFE Network (i.e. Kamal Kishore and Dr. Athani) concluded that the fertilizer value of manure far exceeds that of meat and milk produced by indian livestock. It 'has been estimated at a massive US$ 45 billion a year, and manure is a major source of nutrients
for crops as well as for common land (Table 2). If livestock were not recycling these nutrients (and also clearing weeds from crop fields in the off-sea-son), India would have to produce or import a lot more synthetic fertilizer and herbicides'.


I think it may be more important to raise awareness about this scenario among decision makers, than engage in government projects.

Kind regards,
Ilse





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Chanda Nimbkar

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Jul 19, 2021, 4:51:39 AM7/19/21
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Thanks to Rajeshwaran, Uma and Ilse for putting forward their valid and rational views.
A few of my thoughts on the scheme for the government to buy dung and on vermicompost:

Governments should do the job of 'governing' in which they are found to be sadly lacking. In India, any such scheme where money is handed over, inevitably leads to corruption. When there were cattle camps in Maharashtra during the drought, there was massive corruption in disposal of the dung collected in the camps. Moreover, indeed the dung should go back to the fields/pastures that produce the fodder/grass for the livestock that produce the manure. 

Re. vermicompost. There are a lot of myths about it. P.R. Chiplunkar from Kolhapur (Mob. 8275450088) has studied it. According to him, it is much better to put the raw materials used for vermicomposting in the soil (and thus encourage earthworms to colonize the soil/fields) rather than make vermicompost outside (with foreign earthworm species) and put it on/in the soil at 4 to 5 times the cost. FYM and mulch will give the same results as vermicompost but slightly later as the former decompose slowly, leading to all sorts of organisms to thrive in the soil. Earthworms are just one of the species that break down/decompose biomass in nature. Crops may benefit from using vermiwash but that will not improve soil fertility. 

Regards,

Chanda Nimbkar



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Selvarajan Rajeshwaran

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Jul 19, 2021, 5:07:53 AM7/19/21
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I am in full agreement with Dr Ilse about the potential and the economic value of the manure economy in the Indian rural economy. It is totally an under researched area and not given support in any manner, especially from the public exchequer.  Importantly, the circular and non-monetary economy created  / established within a village is invariably not captured since little or no cash dealing is involved.

But having said that, we need to know the practical difficulties in handling and using it.

1. Small ruminant droppings cannot be compared to cow/buffalo dung and hence has to be addressed separately. The droppings have very little moisture in them so much that they can be collected by sweeping by the women.
2. Vermicompost prepared from droppings of goats / sheep are more costly and valuable since the animals browse on plants of their choice only and have very little or no grain in their feed.
2. As Dr Ilse has clearly stated, their droppings are already being used in a very systematic manner in Western India (especially Rajasthan). In South India, migratory goats / sheep herds are kept for 2 - 5 nights in vacant fields of farmers on payment to the shepherds for the droppings and urine, as a regular practice as a natural way of enriching the soil and increasing the humus content in the soil Migration itself has become an issue is another matter.
3. As regards both cow/buffalo dung and sheep/goat droppings, their utility will not be recognised unless and otherwise there is a monetary incentive in today's context.
4. The monetary incentive has to start working from the price of the organic agri produce which is the final product that humans will consume, be it fruits, cereals, nuts, oils (and even flowers). 
5. A portion of the consumer segment is willing to pay a premium for the organic produce but require certification that it is truly organic.
6. Technologies like blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, IPv6, IoT can play a big role in this certification by being transparent about all data collected automatically from the field. These technologies are very cost effective and are already being used in other fields and Indians are in the forefront in creating the required software for this.
7. Hence, unless and otherwise the farmer gets some monetary returns directly or indirectly, the situation is not going to change.
8. Creation of bio-gas (micro or community) units only aggravates the problem of disposal of the waste which is the slurry. Farmers have even complained about goat / sheep kids dying in the unprotected slurry pits next to gobar gas plants.

Chemical fertiliser + humus = Organic / Natural fertiliser.
Fertiliser can be produced chemically.
Humus cannot be. And it is the humus that nurtures the soil bacteria.

Best wishes.

Prof. S Rajeshwaran BVSc PGDRM PhD (IIMB)

Development Management Institute, Patna
Cell 9483503392
On Mon, 19 Jul 2021 at 12:58, 'Ilse Köhler-Rollefson' via LIFE Group <life-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Pablo Manzano Baena

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Jul 19, 2021, 5:51:17 AM7/19/21
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I agree with both of you. Just a comment on the Netherlands: dung is not used there because of the huge and cheap inputs in form of chemical fertilizer. It is a complete perversion of the system, because it ends up polluting water sources etc.

Ilse Köhler-Rollefson

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Jul 19, 2021, 6:09:43 AM7/19/21
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There is another factor involved in the Netherlands: much of the livestock feed is imported from the Americas, so there is an overload of nitrogen in the manure. Illustrates the need to keep a balance between livestock and cropland, as is basically the caee in India.

Kamal Kishore

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Jul 19, 2021, 10:56:45 AM7/19/21
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Dear All,
I accidentally got into vermicomposting in 1994 andI also had master's student in vermicomposting. I have studied it in depth and continue to do it on my farm.
In short it is the missing link between manure and plants.Its stomach carries a large number microbes which the soil recieves  from the vermicompost. There are some 400 odd varieties in India and above two thousand worldwide. As I understand it the north American continent has just two, we use only the surface variety called Esinia Foetida because it can survive a variety of climatic conditions and has a large number of useful characters.
The most important fact is first findout what farmer is doing with manure right now. I can promise you not even a gram of it is wasted.
As matter of fact lots of farmers  keep livestock only for manure.Till urbanisation started and demand for milk increased, and the so called green revolution', we in India were keeping livestock primarily for manure.
 If  you all agree RLN can do webinar on this but not immediately.


On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 3:39 PM, 'Ilse Köhler-Rollefson' via LIFE Group

Dr. D. K. Sadana

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Jul 19, 2021, 2:09:30 PM7/19/21
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Dear all,
The scheme looks to be aimed at...
1. Animal keepers getting some more income by sale of dung
2. Animals to be retained by the keepers for the sake of dung, and not let loose on roads as Stray
3. Dung to be re-utilized in soils as vermi-compost, benefitting the soils, some employment generation; saving any dung wastage (now it has a sale value)

Increased income, better for soils [less chemical use] and less of Stray cattle ~ these are positive points.

However, management would be issue: dung collection, piling (centralizing), managing for vermicomposting, sale of vermicompost, increased transport - can be problematic. Money is involved ... rather becomes a problem. 

Doubtful - in spite of the obvious benefits noted above.
-Sadana





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Selvarajan Rajeshwaran

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Jul 19, 2021, 8:55:29 PM7/19/21
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I fully agree with the scepticism that Dr Sadana evinces. Yes, if it was so easy and beneficial, it would have been done long long ago. There is some problem in solving it at every village level. We need to tease out that impediment / factor and see how it can be overcome by people themselves by way of "co-creation" of a viable solution.

Key words are: high water content, collection, transport, managing, processing etc. into vermicompost or use in bio-gas generators at every village level, nay at every household level. This involves a huge "behavioural change" of every member of the household, male, female, old and the children. So, it is not going to be easy definitely. It is and will be a long-drawn process. We (more importantly the Government) are used to quick fix solutions that we miss the long-term slow and sustainable solutions. So, probably if we remove our blinkers, we may get some light. 

Real life experiences will come in handy.

My limited experience in the establishment of individual bio-gas units in 100 households of a village or establishment of a community bio-gas unit serving 100 neighbouring households in the village involves huge behavioural change at every individual level of the community. For example, in a single room mud house, trying to put up an additional stove (double burner!?) using bio-gas is nothing but a joke. Further, the gas generation is not constant across seasons which necessitates compulsorily an additional standby cooking unit! Even the cooking speed is different as compared to wood / cow dung / LPG / kerosene! Further, what does the farmer do with the liquid slurry that comes out on a daily basis of about 10-20 kg, if not more? It needs daily cleaning, probably mechanical using machines! Huge practical difficulties.


Best wishes.

Prof. S Rajeshwaran BVSc PGDRM PhD (IIMB)
Development Management Institute, Patna
Cell 9483503392

Datta Rangnekar

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Jul 30, 2021, 11:53:59 PM7/30/21
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Dear all,

I have been reading with interest Email exchanges expressing views (mostly reservations) on "Transportation/Collection and Processing of Dung" based mainly on the GOI scheme - particularly inputs from Ilse, Prof. Rajeswaran, Dr. Kamal Kishore, Dr. Sadana etc. 

I wish to draw the attention of the members to an 'Interesting and Innovative Initiative of Banaskantha Dairy Cooperative (Gujarat)'.established last year,at Palanpur. The Unit looks like a Petrol Pump that supplies CNG produced from Dung. 

As I gather from the folder of Banas Dairy (I got through BAIF colleague and is attached for reference) main steps of the process involve ==
  • Dung collection - the farmer members bring it to the unit and get paid for it.
  • Biogas production.
  • Removal of other gasses (CO2 etc.) and Compression.
  • Spent slurry converted to Compost / Vermicompost and sold back to farmers. 
I am told by the BAIF colleague that the "Bio-CNG unit (as they call it)" is working well - would soon complete a year of operation - I hope to get more information on aspects like income to farmers and plans to set up more such units.

Best wishes.

D.V.Rangnekar

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BanasDairy.pdf

Selvarajan Rajeshwaran

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Jul 31, 2021, 12:36:17 AM7/31/21
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Thank you Dr Ranganekar for bringing this to our attention about the Bio-gas generation and dispensing unit, set up by the Banas dairy.

Yes, the idea is good but not new. Production, cleaning, dehumidification, compressing and storing in containers for use in transport vehicles is old technology. I have seen large bio-gas units being established in the private space by sago manufacturers and using the gas for direct heating then and there in sago production and for a little of electricity generation using discarded truck engines and alternators, more than 15 years ago in Salem, TN. But the cost economics were clearly worked out vis-a-vis their existing scenario. The sago manufacturer had built all costs into it and still found it worthwhile in investing in this venture.

DSC03956.JPG

DSC03961.JPG


DSC03962.JPG
Hence, cost economics need to be worked out along with the slurry disposal system. If we are going to artificially dry that slurry using energy, it is nothing but a laughing matter.

I for one would tend to look at any such intervention in Gujarat and by NGOs using public funds with suspicion for its sustainability. Being a dairy plant, it uses 100s of litres of furnace oil to run its boiler plant for steam production. Why did not the dairy plan to use the bio-gas at the site of production itself and pay its farmers on usage basis for the gas? Not sexy enough and no PR?


Best wishes.

Prof. S Rajeshwaran BVSc PGDRM PhD (IIMB)
Development Management Institute, Patna
Cell 9483503392

Datta Rangnekar

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Aug 7, 2021, 3:30:49 AM8/7/21
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Thanks to Prof. Rajeswaran for prompt response for providing interesting and useful information that Sago producing units around Salem have been using Biogas in their processing units since the last few years.

I shared information/literature of Banaskantha Dairy Coop's Bio-CNG project since I found it interesting and that I am not aware of any organisation or entrepreneur having put up such a unit based on collection of dung from farmers -  one of the major issues raised during discussions.. For information on aspects like economics / sustainability/benefit to the farmers, I think we need to wait since the unit is yet to complete one year.

Regarding disposal/use of Slurry from the biogas plant according to the information I could gather, the Banaskantha unit uses the slurry for composting agri waste and such a process does not need drying of slurry. 
 
The Sago production units near Salem may also provide answers to the major issue of == 'Collection of Dung from individual farmers' - Prof. Rajeswaran may please try to gather information about it. for our benefit.
 
Best wishes.

D,V,Rangnekar


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Jun 15, 2022, 3:50:31 AM6/15/22
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