Challenge
The Indian agricultural sector is facing many challenges, overuse of chemical fertilizers, declining water resources, and the unpredictable impacts of climate change – to name a few. One method of combatting these challenges, waste recycling, faces its own hurtles as organizations move towards adoption by farmers.
The main existing challenge is the lack of understanding that waste recycling is a business opportunity where products can be converted into high-demand items. Agriculture is the largest user of water and the demand in this sector is very high. So, recycling wastewater could positively contribute to an increase food production while reducing water usage.
Solution
Rural Development Organization (RDO)’s innovation is a circular economy model that processes two waste streams, faecal sludge and organic solid waste to produce nitrogen-rich co-compost for vegetables and tea cultivation as an effective means for integrated soil fertility management and climate smart agriculture. The use of this co-compost in agriculture improves the soil, enhancing the nutrient value and enabling the soil to retain moisture during dry spells or a reduction in irrigation water use.
The entire production process of the co-compost is undertaken by the Women Green Workers. The innovation helps women workers by promoting the production process as a women-led green social enterprise, which is solely owned by them as a business entity. Similarly, the business link of this enterprise is with farmers’ institutions, which also has a large women agri-entrepreneurs presence.
Recent News
Performance Evaluation: How Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants are Performing (Center for Science)
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