WEALTH FROM WASTE: HOW CROP RESIDUE CAN PROVIDE NUTRITIOUS CATTLE FODDER, MAKE FARMING ECO-FRIENDLY

Burning of agricultural residue is a major cause of air pollution in the country, but what if the 'waste' material could be turned into fodder for animals and input for biogas generation? A revolutionary technology being developed by scientists at CSIR-IICT aims to do that and more

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Scientists at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) here seems to have found a solution to the country's mounting problem of dealing with agriculture residue such as paddy straw and rice and wheat husk.

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.