By HH Mohrmen & Melanie Passah
A few months ago Jowai the district headquarter of West Jantia hills faced a gigantic problem of disposing off the waste that the residents produced. The problem emerged when the Jowai Municipal Board stopped collecting garbage from every single household in the town. It compelled people living in Jowai town to throw their garbage anywhere and everywhere, but most of the garbage was dumped at the market and waste mounds appeared in many commercial areas of the town. The town’s impasse with the waste that it has generated has reached its lowest point when the JMB could not find a new landfill to replace the old one located at Mupyut village.
Necessity is the motherof all invention
The problems we face as the town dwellers compel us to look for solutions to the problems we face. It is also said that for every problem there is a solution and very often the solution is in the problem itself. We pilot-tested a project which deals directly with vegetable waste generated from households and converted the same to pig feed. This was done at our own household level. There is also a saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and although we do not claim that the project is a new invention, it in fact is something people have been doing all along but we did it a little differently.
Studies found that 23% of the waste generated from every household is kitchen waste. Therefore in order to minimize the amount of garbage going to landfills, we need to find ways and techniques to reduce generation of waste from the kitchen itself. Studies also indicate that in India in a town of normal size, each person produce 300 to 400 grams (3 to 4 kg) of solid waste per person per day. Jowai has a population of 28,430 so the waste produces is between 8,500,000 to 1,137,200 gram, or 85 to 100 tons of waste per day. 23 % of 85 or 100 tons of the total waste generated by the town dwellers which is kitchen waste will come to 20 to 23 tons per day.
Converting kitchen waste to pig feed
The efforts will not only help convert kitchen waste to pig feed but it will also inculcate in the town dweller the habit of segregation of waste at source. It involves segregating all vegetable waste which is mostly wet waste from the kitchen itself. What is left after segregation is mostly dry waste which can be used for other purposes.
It is a known fact that tribal people like the Khasi Pnar consume meat regularly and the state has to import pigs from outside to reduce the demand supply gap of pork in the state. Although pig rearing is a traditional activity of the people and most in the rural still keep pigs, but it is mostly for self-consumption. Very few take it up as a commercial activity and the main reason is because animal feed is expensive. The business of livestock farming is not cost effective. Livestock farmers and pig farmers in particular complain about the cost of purchasing feed to provide for their animals. Based on these facts the process of converting kitchen waste to pig feed was pilot-tested by the authors of this paper.
The intervention will hopefully provide feed for the animals and also cut the amount of money that the pig farmers have to spend on purchasing feed. The fact that farmers have to pay Rs 7 per kg for mere rice husk which has no nutritional value for the pigs, speaks volumes about the problems that they have to encounter with trying to provide feed for their animals. The feed produced will also provide the farmers nourishing food for their animals and at a lower cost. This will then make the business of rearing pigs cost-effective and will definitely encourage more people to engage in the business.
The three goals of the project
It will reduce the amount of garbage/domestic waste generated from every household and at the same time produce feed for pigs. The other objective is to help solve the waste problem in the locality and if the project is successful the next step is to replicate it elsewhere and hopefully it will in some way help reduce the waste problem in the town. The project is designed on the basis of Waste to Wealth and it will therefore be a business and it will help generate income or create employment for the local community.
How did it all begin?
When the JMB stopped collecting waste from the households in the town, some people started burning their waste because it was the only solution they could think of at that particular point of time. But burning our garbage or domestic waste will lead to other problems. It emits carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which is again an environmental problem. But in order to stop this crisis we need to find a solution to it. The solution to this major problem happening in Jowai town is to convert the vegetable waste into animals feed. There is a saying that charity begins at home, hence, the intervention that is proposed here is to deal with household waste only. The idea is to convert this major problem into an opportunity. Therefore, in order to solve this current problem and convert the 23% kitchen waste into animal feed we embarked on the process and were happy with the outcome of the efforts. The process not only converted kitchen waste to pig feed but in the process it also generates income for those engaged in the business.
The process
The method used is called Bokashi. The term Bokashi derives from a Japanese word which means ‘fermentation’ using ‘micro organism’ technique. This technique helps in ensuring the hygienic practices and better growth of animals.
On the first day segregate all vegetable waste and put them in the bin. Along with the biodegradable kitchen waste, we add one tea spoon each of the two micro-organisms in the container. We need to stir well every time kitchen waste is added to the container. The process is very easy; anyone can do it. Care should be taken because not all kitchen waste can be used for making pig feed. Food items that can be used in the process are vegetable waste/peels, fruits peel, food crumbs, beef bones, chicken bones, and other biodegradable kitchen waste. Kitchen items which should be avoided are onion and garlic peels, lemon/lime, bamboo shoot, chillies and egg shells. The container should be covered properly to ensure that it is airtight. The process will emit no smell and it will attract no flies; not even fruit flies will collect near the bin. The feed will be ready after 12 to 14 days and the pig farmers or pig farm owners can use the feed to provide for their pigs. It is also an advantage for the pig farmers because the food is fermented, and saves them for having to spend money to buy firewood and time to cook the feed.
The outcome is positive The feed produced from maiden project pilot-tested by us was given to the farmer and the response is very positive. The report from the farmers is that the pigs which were fed with the feed did very well and went beyond their expectations. About one ton of the fermented pig feed was provided to the pigs since the beginning of the waste imbroglio in Jowai till date and the outcome is very positive. Pig farmers we talked to are hopeful that this will be a game changer and it will help them augment their business and enhance their production.
This project will be successful only if the entire community participates in the process. Hence the next step is to take it to the community level. If the project is successful it will be the first time in the state that waste is being managed and turned to animal feed and at the same time generate income for the stake-holders. The project will definitely be a game changer and it will kill not two but three birds with one stone.
(Melanie Passah is a student of Environment, Ecology and Sustainable Development from TISS Guwahati)