Waste to Wealth Patterns in Livestock sector in India
“What is the waste?” Waste is any material that cannot be used, it is not needed by the producer or owner because it has lost its value. If we do not utilize waste and thrown it around, causes various pollutions which is harmful to the environment as well as the health of human beings. Waste also possess a serious threat to our life.
There are few things certain in life – one is death, second is change and the other is waste.” No one can stop these things to take place in our lives. But with better management, we can prepare ourselves. This study is dealing with livestock waste and turning of livestock waste into valuable products. India has about 535.78 million livestock population and the amount of livestock waste produces is about 3 million tonnes annually. Common livestock wastes at the farm level are dung, urine, placenta, bedding, feed wastage, milk-house wastes, etc. (Sweta et al., 2018). The livestock waste is major source of noxious gases, harmful pathogens and odour; hence, it has public health and environmental concern. Hence, livestock waste is to be managed properly to mitigate production of these pollutants to protect the environment. About 40% of global methane is produced by agriculture and livestock byproducts followed by 18% from waste disposal globally (Sorathiya et al. 2014). One of the most common practices of livestock waste utilization is usually collected at the end of the day, shaped into cakes, and used primarily as fuel. This practice is unhygienic and can spread the diseases in addition to the practice being environmentally unfriendly at the same time (Ghatoura and Fattah, 2015). According to World Health Organization, about 1.6 million people, mostly women and children, die each year due to cooking and heating with wood, dung, coal, or crop waste.
The world’s human population is projected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100 (UN, 2022). This increase in population, combined with climate change, urbanization, digitalization, natural resource overuse, agricultural land use practices, loss of biodiversity, soil degradation, carbon emissions, etc., poses major threats for humanity and has led to a worsening of global food insecurity. The livestock has been an integral part of mankind for ensuring nutritional as well as livelihood security. To overcome global challenges that mankind is facing with respect to the future of the planet, bio-economy and bio-economic innovations have become an important area of interest for policy stakeholders and the scientific community, as it seems to be the solution to all current concerning challenges. Undoubtedly livestock sector is a fundamental part of the modern global economy and in order to ensure its resilience to changes in consumer expectations, cost of production and environmental sustainability, the sector must shift to a circular economy model. India’s Bio-Economy in 2021 registered 14.1% growth and it is optimistically projected that livestock sector (bio-industry/ bio-fuels/ etc) has a potential in shaping India becoming “Energy Independent” by 2047, under Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat. Hence, livestock based ‘Circular bio-economy’ principles can offer many opportunities to become more resource efficient.
While dealing with livestock production systems, number of solid and liquid waste by-products is generated during various processes from ‘farm to fork’ operations. As per the World Bank, globally 2.07 billion tonnes of waste is generated and is predicted to reach 3.4 billion tons by 2050. Further, 44% of this waste consisted of greens and food. These products need to be managed efficiently and efforts need to be made to harvest the benefits for sustainable growth and development. It’s the responsibility of every nation and every citizen to minimize the release of emissions through reduced carbon footprints. To protect the environment from the adverse effect of global challenges, green technology (based on principles of reduce, reuse and recycle approaches) which is eco-friendly, offers a potential means to have positive impact on environment. Such technologies promotes less utilization of energy and helps to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and further slow down global warming, thereby saving natural resources and reducing ozone harming products.
Livestock waste can be recycled by latest scientific technologies to combat rising energy prices, sustainable agricultural and reduce environmental threats and ultimately increasing farmer’s income. Livestock is the vital element of agricultural circular bio-economy, transforming non-edible biomass into high-quality food and recycling large proportions of nutrients to agro-ecological system via farmyard manure. This non-edible biomass makes up the majority of the total agricultural biomass and comes from grassland, co-products of food-producing plants (e.g. straw), intercrops in the course of crop rotation and from by-products of the industrial processing. There are undoubtedly many sustainable ways to mitigate negative effects of livestock system, including the use of agro-ecological approaches, like, manure based bio-economic innovations, adoption of principles of organic farming, modern technology and increased circularity.
The aim of bio-economic practices includes, minimizing the use of primary natural resources (such as water and energy) throughout cultivation and animal production, minimizing polluting activities and unsustainable practices (such as the use of synthetic fertilizers and unsustainable use of chemicals) and recycling, transformation and reuse of livestock sector waste. To meet the ever growing demand for energy and fuel in an equitable and sustainable way without depleting finite natural resources, both solid and liquid wastes of abattoir industry can finds its application in production of biogas, biodiesel, bio-briquetting, bio-electricity and bio-hydrogen generation. It is estimated that slaughter wastes produce more biogas than simple manure and the slurry obtained from the biogas plant could be converted into organic manure which can be used for agriculture purposes to increase soil fertility. Production of second generation biodiesel, from animal fats, can offer a potential solution for global energy requirements. Efficient utilization of rumen ingesta and dung to form bio-briquettes, which are used in boilers of meatpacking plants for steam generation, for cooking in rendering plants, etc.
Effective and efficient conversion of liquid waste into value added products like bio-plastics, which is not only eco-friendly but can be recycled and is biocompatible. The slaughter wastewater finds its application for generation of bioelectricity and bio-hydrogen production. Recent studies showed micro-algae based treatment of waste water treatment offers a sustainable solution for generating valuable products, viz., biomass and pigments for human food and animal feed, nutraceuticals, biofuels, polyunsaturated fatty acids, carotenoids, phycobiliproteins and fertilizers. Additionally, application of Panchagavya or panchakavyam in Cowpathy has demonstrated beneficial uses in Ayurveda. Use of livestock waste has wide application in field of textile manufacturing. Manure fiber are being used to produce products like plant growth medium (like peat moss), seed starter pots, fertilizer garden sculptures, paper and building materials. All such approaches are incredibly useful in converting waste into remarkably high-quality, value-added products and also reducing environmental pollution, thereby turning environmental liability to a commodity. Hence, bio-economic innovations use renewable biological resources to produce not only food but also materials and energy, making resource-efficiency and the transition to a low-carbon economy possible.
The bio-economy may be dominated by plant-based processes, but the role of animals in the bio-economy is also notable. As earlier discussed increasing global population and consequently, food demand, the livestock sector represents a key actor to address the challenge of global food and nutrition security. Animal production can contribute efficiently to the Bio-economy for a sustainable food-chain, providing multiple benefits and is one of the most demanding sectors in terms of resource use and emission intensities. Smart livestock farming, ensuring reduced carbon foot-print and animal welfare, transitioning to digital animal monitoring, efficient waste to wealth management techniques, use of innovative technologies, precision farming techniques and increased awareness among all stake-holders, have the potential to decrease the impact of livestock farming on our natural resources.
Different utilization pattern of livestock wastes
livestock waste contains many beneficial constituents that if recycled effectively, can be used as fertilizer for crops, fodder for animals and to produce energy.
- Manure used as fertilizer
Manure contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients that plants need to grow. Farmers can often save money by effectively use manure as a fertilizer. Manure can be applied on land in its raw form, or after processing (for example, composting, pelletizing, and nutrient extraction). Manure nutrients can also be used to grow worms, insect larvae, algae, or other living organisms. Through “biomass conversion,” these organisms transfer manure nutrients to their bodies or castings, which can then be harvested and used as fertilizer, animal feeds, or soil amendments.
- Biogas Manure contains a lot of carbon and other elements that can be used to generate biogas. Anaerobic digestion is a technology that uses microbes to process manure into biogas. Biogas can be used to generate heat or electricity for the use on the farm or sale to the local power grid.
- Bio-oil Thermal processes of manure can produce liquid bio-oil fuels, including biodiesel, and useful byproducts like biochar. Bio-oils can be used for heating or generating electricity. Biodiesel can be used just like petroleum diesel.
- Special fiber products Manure fiber has been used to produce several specialty consumer products like plant growth medium (like peat moss), seed starter pots, fertilizer garden sculptures, paper, and building materials. Consumer products help turn manure from a potential environmental liability to a commodity.
- Animal house bedding Many dairy farms use separated manure solids for bedding which saves money.
- Panchagavya Panchagavya or panchakavyam is a mixture that is prepared by mixing five ingredients. The three direct constituents are cow dung, urine, and milk; the two derived products are curd and ghee. These are mixed in proper ratio and then allowed to ferment. When it used in Ayurvedic medicine also called cowpathy.
- Algal cultivation The carbon dioxide is a major component in the product gases from anaerobic digestion and thermo-chemical conversion processes from livestock waste which can be used for production of algal biomass.
- Livestock fish integration Integration of fish with livestock farming is the best method for recycling of organic wastes. Cattle manure has been used extensively in India as a source of manure in carp polyculture.
- Biodegradable plastic Poultry feathers are also converted into biodegradable plastic by a process called polymerization. In this process, feathers that contain keratin protein are pulverized into fine dust.
- Electricity generation The energetic potential of poultry litter is high. Several types of technologies are being implemented for conversion of this type of biomass to electrical energy. Anaerobic digestion and biomethanation of poultry litter results in methane (biogas) production which are used to run turbine to generate power.
- Technical textiles The nonwoven is prepared by using low-cost chicken feathers. The advantage of application of chicken feathers in textile field is wide. The nonwoven textile materials prepared by chicken feathers are very versatile and have a wide application in the field of technical textiles.
Benefits of livestock waste management:
- Prevents the hazardous environmental impacts on air, water, soil, wildlife, and the marine. • Protects human health in communities and at waste management facilities. • Minimizes the risks associated with the waste. • Increases business opportunities. • Achieves economic savings by improvements in human health and the environment, leading to higher productivity, lower medical costs. • Creates employment, including low, medium, and high-skilled jobs. • Delivers more attractive and pleasant human settlements and better social amenity. • Encourages changes in community attitudes and behaviours.
Livestock waste can be recycled by many modern ways to combat rising energy prices, sustainable agricultural and reduce the environmental threats from traditional livestock waste management practices. These ecofriendly utilization patterns would be the source of additional income for farmers with ecological development of agriculture and animal husbandry.
DR JASVIR NAIK, BENGALURU
