KOCHI: Dung disposal has always been a headache for cattle farmers. Although it is a highly recommended organic fertiliser, it can be hard to store and dispose it of. “This made many farmers stop investing in cattle farming,” said Pradeep Subash, managing director of Farms Dairy.Pradeep, who owns his own cattle farm, is well aware of the issues faced by the farmers.
So, to help them, and to utilise cow dung, Pradeep started a mobile unit known as ‘Chanaka Vandi’, which dries and gives a powdery product that can be used as manure.
Upon making a call, the mobile unit will come to the farmers, collect the dung. “As the pumping begins from the pit, the machine dehydrates the dung. For this, we are using an Italian machine that can convert one ton/per hour. ‘Chanaka Vandi’ cost a total of `20 lakh as investment,” he said.
“We are bridging the dairy and agriculture sectors to enhance production in the state. Especially, at this point when the government is encouraging farming, we see a huge potential in business. We are also planning to start a franchise to help farmers across the state,” he added.Only two mobile units are converting liquid waste to dry powder in India. “We buy back the dry dung if the farmer wants to sell or they can keep it. To dry the dung we charge `1 per kg. If the farmers want to sell it to us, we pay them Rs 2 per kg. We earn approximately `10,000 from four tonnes of dung,” he said.