In the post-2020 era, agriculture has become a powerful driver of economic transformation in India. Although it contributes a relatively small percentage to the country's Gross Value Added (GVA), the sector provides livelihoods to approximately half of India’s population.
India has the world's largest cattle herd (buffaloes), the largest area planted with wheat, rice, and cotton, and is the largest producer of milk, pulses, and spices globally. The agriculture and livestock sector in India holds several records in the world for not only generating employment for the underserved populations but also plays a vital role in addressing rising food security for a country with a population of over 1.44 billion people, serving about half of its people.
Challenges with food security in India
Challenges with Food Security in India has been a major cause of concern for the authorities over the past many years. According to the World Food Programme, 195 million people in India are undernourished. The 2023 Global Hunger Report released by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe ranks India 111 out of 125 countries. Rising population, poverty, climate change, lack of storage & distribution, low agriculture productivity, land degradation, soil health and water scarcity are few reasons why every Indian should have deep concern around Food Security in the coming years.
Not everything can be fixed at once, but it is the responsibility of every stakeholder in the Indian economy to contribute towards providing access to an adequate supply of nutritious food at an affordable price, ensuring there are no obstacles in obtaining it. On a macro scale, the Government of India is taking all necessary steps, while on micro scale, age-old technology of anaerobic digestion has taken a new form of “Modern Biogas Digesters.” These devices are becoming increasingly popular and accepted by a large number of smallholder farmers as they strive to become self-reliant.
The role of modern biodigesters
Modern biodigesters or “biogas plants,” are designed for smallholder farmers and are installed in their backyard and operated daily using dairy animal waste. These biodigesters come with unique features like prefabricated flexible reactors that can be easily transported and installed, maintenance-free operation, safety filters, biofertiliser storage and usage manuals, and above all comes with a 10-year warranty for the farmers.
Modern biodigesters transform dairy animal waste from open pits and piles storage of raw manure to full sealed treatment systems, drastically reducing flies, odors, water contamination, and methane emissions from loose dung left on the ground. Farmers can replace their cooking fuel and productive scale energy sources such as gasoline, diesel and electricity with biogas to meet their energy needs. Most importantly these farmers use home grown biofertiliser as nutrient application for their crops, improving soil quality and their harvests without spending additional money on chemical fertilisers.
Benefits of home-grown biofertiliser
Daily access to home-grown biofertiliser helps build soil, improves yields, and increases the nutrient profile of crops. Reducing the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides cuts down farm expenses, improves soil health, and enhances long-term yields. By switching to clean fuels, reducing chemical fertilisers, and treating organic waste, farmers significantly lower their GHG emissions, decrease local pollution, and make their farms more resilient and climate-smart.
This home grown biofertiliser, also called as “Bioslurry,” besides its use in agriculture also motivates farmers to experiment on crop diversification, grow more green fodder, and sell excess bioslurry to neighboring farmers to improve income. This multi-prong approach to managing and using modern biodigesters is changing the lifestyle of Indian farming.
Impact and future prospects
The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), private dairy companies, and small and medium dairy Farmer Producing Organisations (FPOs) all around the country have taken this big initiative to promote modern biodigesters in India. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has also revised its guidelines to support these modern biodigesters and has approved many Indian and multinational companies offering these technologies.
Today, progressive Indian farmers have access to improved agricultural tools & techniques. Modern biodigesters are making the entire food system more resilient in the context of a changing climate change and improving soil health and nutrition availability across the country.
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