Wealth from waste: how crop residue can provide nutritious cattle fodder, make farming eco-friendly
Over the past few years, scientists at the premier institute have been working on converting rice straw and other crop residue into nutrient rich fodder for the livestock and also other value-added products such as Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) and Fermented Organic Manure (FOM).
Usually farmers resort to burning the crop residues, leading to environment pollution. Though it is already being used as cattle fodder, it is not as nutritious as other foods. Scientists have now shown that crop residue like rice straw when treated with a relatively simple chemical process could effectively help bridge the gap in the country's fodder needs, besides protecting the environment.
By separating 'lignin', a complex polymer found in plant cell walls, and adding a few essential ingredients, rice straw could be turned into a cattle fodder with improved palatability and digestibility. The process is called 'delignification', said principal scientist Polumati Anand.
After testing the process in an in house pilot plant on the institute campus in Tarnaka, the fortified fodder was evaluated in field trials. Buffalo calves and sheep were fed the fodder and their food intake, digestion and growth examined.
These field trials of the fortified fodder held at the ICAR-National Research Centre on Meat, Chengicharla, (Hyderabad) showed 'remarkable' improvements in digestibility of buffaloes as palatability increased from 20% to 60%, he explained.
Weight gain in the sheep was approximately 3.7 times higher and methane emissions from the animals also dropped. Following tests on sheep, goats and buffaloes, the treated biomass is being fed to cows as well, said Dr. Anand.
Utilising the 'delignified' paddy straw in the animal diets offers a sustainable and economical alternative, reducing feed costs and promoting eco-friendly farming practices. Studies are also being carried out at P.V. Narsimha Rao Telangana Veterinary University, Rajendranagar (Hyderabad), to evaluate the effect of fortified fodder developed by CSIR-IICT on the milk yield and quality, said the principal scientist.
Scientists are of the view that treated biomass could effectively deal with the growing need for a cost-effective animal fodder with enhanced nutritional efficiency with farmers as direct beneficiaries.
The institute has also developed a Dry Anaerobic Digester with Unique Hydrodynamics (DAD-UH) Technology for the generation of CBG and FOM from rice straw and rice husk.
A pilot plant, which is being operated on the institute campus for the past 18 months, has shown that about 100 kg and 140 kg of CBG could be generated from one tonne of rice husk and straw respectively, said scientist Sameena.
Chief Scientist A.G. Rao said that as per the Centre's SATAT (Sustainable Alternative towards Affordable Transportation) programme, a minimum of two tonnes per day capacity CBG plant can be installed by an entrepreneur, and the gas generated could be supplied to nearby CNG bunks being operated by Oil Manufacturing Companies.
These plants are remunerative with a simple payback period of four years with guaranteed CBG and FOM (Fermented Organic Manure) purchase from by the Centre, he said.
The pilot plants and the process of reinventing crop residues was showcased during a recent farmers conclave held at the institute, where Telangana Agriculture Secretary M. Raghunandan Rao expressed concern over farmers burning crop residue. The government is proposing to set up agri-based industries using biomass and others, including CNG plants on land belonging to the Agriculture department, he said.
Hailing the farm friendly products, CSIR-IICT Director D. Srinivasa Reddy said the institute, which had played a pioneering role in promoting pharma and allied industries, has also been working on developing eco-friendly technologies. 'Resources currently considered as 'waste' are being utilised as 'resources' for the generation of value-added products in addition to complimenting farmers' income,' he added.
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