Very interesting question. This is the call of the day. Farm residue management is really an issue . Will there be a different stategy in annual crop field to plantation orchards ??

Well. You may convert waste into fuel, or into secondary raw material.. It may generate new work places and augment the value addition.

very good question, yearly farm waste is produced in my country too much that we are processing them and use as animal feed especially ruminants, so this is a good way for converting farm waste to valuable ingredients in ruminants. we did many projects on this subjets and got good results

Biomass encompasses materials derived from plants, animals, humans as well as their wastes.The vast array of metabolically active microbial population may possibly have a key role in converting this waste biomass into wealth.Depending on the characteristics of these wastes, they can be converted into energy/and or fuel by combustion, gasification, co-firing with other fuels and ultimately by anaerobic digestion. Conversion of organic wastes from agriculture, livestock, industries, municipalities and other human activities into energy and fertilizer has become popular in developing countries like China, India and Nepal.In Western countries (e.g., Germany & America), biogas is converted to electricity and heat for on-farm purposes by combined heat and power units after removing water and sulphur from its mixture. Moreover if anaerobic digestion is done in a cofined way it will have least or no contribution in environmental pollution also. However the whole idea needs location specific research validation and periodic monitoring and evaluation involving all the stakeholders involved in this dream mission

Very interesting question,in my country there are a large amount of agricultural wastes that no one think in convert it into benefit products except some plants (like Wheat and Barley) residues which manufactured as dry foods ,so that it is very important to think about how to convert this wastes into many economical products.

Sincere thanks to Drs. Anoop, Monyer, Volodomyr, Tahereh, Amit, Alhayany for breaking the ice and providing the maiden replies. I agree thousands of tonnes of solid and liquid waste are produced as solid and liquid wastes. It is interesting to know that few countries convert biogas to electricity and heat from waste. Let us discuss how best waste can be converted to food, feed and fuel.

Dear @Suresh, this is fine article about the issue that you have rased.

Waste to Wealth- Value Recovery from Agrofood Processing Wastes Using Biotechnology: A Review

The concept of waste as a material “which has no use” is changing to that of seeing waste as a resource by converting into secondary material with modification. Wastes can thus be converted into useful resources used at home or even sold for wealth. Waste recycling involves the collection of discarded materials such as husks, peels, poultry droppings, cow dung, biomass etc and processing these materials, and turning them into new products. As a matter of fact, recycling helps to turn waste into other usable forms. Waste recycling is synonymous with resource recovery. It is a process of turning what has been considered as waste into useful products. The essence of recycling is to minimize the quantities of waste exposed to our environment and the consequent health hazards...

http://www.journalrepository.org/media/journals/BBJ_11/2014/Mar/Ezejiofor442013BBJ7017_1.pdf

Composting converts organic waste stream generated into very rich organic fertilizer that is useful for crops growth. The focus of the study therefore, was to develop a composting process for managing food waste and assess its quality for possible use in plantain production.

http://www.interesjournals.org/full-articles/conversion-of-food-wastes-to-organic-fertilizer-a-strategy-for-promoting-food-security-and-institutional-waste-management-in-nigeria.pdf?view=inline

Of the countless strategies for converting farm waste to a value added produce the most cost effective and beneficial would be basic composting. I have not had time to view all matters in this link but it gives a base of what you seek. Please note that dependent on a farms practices some elements may not be converted beneficial benign elements. eg. Herbicides or pesticides etc. The result of these practice is free soil that can re reintroduced into the growth system.

http://projectgrowgardens.org/cec

Farm wastes can be put to various value added applications like biogas, compost, biofuel, wood panels, extraction of bioactive phytochemicals, etc.

Thank you Dr. Jacic, various applications of biotechnology in waste removal, processing and recovering of value from wastes need examination, as these will form part of the environmental management strategies for sustainable development.

A very relevent discussion,our future depends on our efforts to materilize this.

Abhishek, my compliments to you for very informative replies. I agree with you for suggestion to work on recycling, reuse and recovery of energy in an integrated approach towards waste management

More and more companies are making wealth from waste and, in the process, saving the environment from devastation. See the following thread:-

New age alchemists

http://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/features/companies-that-are-making-wealth-from-waste/story/195163.html

Sometimes a new product from waste creates a product way more valuable than making the same from virgin material. So, it is not just the avoided waste and cheap replacing material (instead of the virgin) can be your goal.

I know a research that targeted using tobacco plant stover to produce paper for cigarettes. The product expected providing higher margins than the traditional paper using ones.

Thank You Dr. Yogesh for a link. I agee with you Dr. Robert, in some cases product developed from waste is more valuable. Therefore my curiosity is also to know about the current status of commercialization of such farm wastes converted into a variety of products for nutrient source for crop ?

Solid waste management has emerged as one of the greatest challenges facing state and local government environmental protection agencies in Nigeria. The volume of solid waste being generated continues to increase at a faster rate than the ability of the agencies to improve on the financial and technical resources needed to parallel this growth. Solid waste management in Nigeria is characterized by inefficient collection methods, insufficient coverage of the collection system and improper disposal of solid waste. The quantity of solid waste generated in urban areas in industrialized countries is higher than in developing countries; still municipal solid waste management remains inadequate in the latter. Solid waste in developing countries differs from developed countries. Most developing countries, including Nigeria have solid waste management problems different from those found in industrialized countries in areas of composition, density, political, and economic framework, waste amount, access to waste for collection, awareness and attitude. The wastes are heavier, wetter and more corrosive in developing cities than developed cities (Ogwueleka, 2009).

The concept of Waste-to-Wealth literally means moving waste from a platform of exhausted utility to valuable and desirable level. Its transformation: in engineering, requires some form of energy, and in economics requires factor of production. The latent issue here is that “waste” in itself can never be wealth otherwise generator will never discard it. Likewise, wealth is created and process of creating wealth has some cost implications that the market forces construe as the price. . This means that not all wastes are potentially of secondary benefit. In all, the slogan “waste-to-wealth connotes that waste management operations must transcend delivery of service to provision of goods or value like energy. The aim of this work is to examine the operation of waste markets in the State, identify the challenges facing its operation, and create awareness on the need to explore opportunities inherent in waste market for environmental and economic benefits. PDF enclosed for reference..

Great discussion with respect to environmental conservation, livelihood adaptation and improvement. My concern with composting is the quality of compost produced since the biomass to be used in this case is likely to contain some toxic substances due to the agricultural activities. Novel techniques to produce high quality compose is required.

Another issue is the economical aspect of the compost and acceptability by farmers. An intervention from the state in providing incentives to keep the business on-going is necessary.

Two very pertinent points. This is the reason , we need to have compost quality standards based on the nature of feedstock...

Surely if the quality of compost is good , it will be crop responsive , therefore , it will find acceptability by the farmers...

One of the easiest is to move grading to farm level and leave the organic waste there itself , saving transportation cost & adding to urban waste. This can be put back into the soil and thus reduce the use of organic fertilizers to enrich soil.

Thanks for important points by Mr. Alhasan, Anoop, Abhishek and Emmanuel. The Food, Energy, Water (FEW) framework is extremely topical, given the current state of affairs of deployment of factors of farm production, viz water, agri inputs, soil and energy. Therefore waste management will create an extra income opportunities for farmers as one of subsidiary source for doubling income of farmers.

I agree with you Dr Malhotra. Involvement of energy units is an important issue to realise the success of the concept using waste - to wealth ...

How about aquaculture!? Promising!

As aquaculture is still in an early stage of growth compared to other food animal production, there are many areas available for investment: health, nutrition, production technology, waste management, breeding and genetics, and value-added processing and machinery. But early-stage investing is not for the faint of heart, technology ventures serving the aquaculture sector will need patient capital providers, not those looking for a quick turnaround, according to de Lapérouse. Venture capital funds tend to have very short time horizons, sometimes just a few years, de Lapérouse said.

“Family offices, sovereign wealth funds, and endowments would be well-suited to consider investing in early-stage companies in the aquaculture sector, whereas pension funds and life-insurance companies would be well suited to allocate capital to mature-stage investments in the sector which are in the growth stage,” he told SeafoodSource.

De Lapérouse  predicted that at a certain stage, companies involved in catching and processing wild fish will make strategic purchases in aquaculture to ensure steady supply. This will then offer an opportunity for early-stage investors to cash out.

He was also upbeat about the prospects for land-based aquaculture, despite its generally higher operation costs. He said that these can be offset by citing production near consumption areas, sharply reducing transportation costs, which are often significant. In addition, the controlled environment can aid in eliminating biohazards and allow production of an organic product...

https://www.seafoodsource.com/commentary/investing-expert-sees-big-opportunities-in-aquaculture

Thank you Prof. Jacic, good points on aquaculture. How farm waste can be utilized as feed to fish could be another area.

Dear @Suresh, yes, farm waste may be food! There are results already!

Fish farm waste: junk-food of the sea?

When waste from aquaculture flows into the marine environment, it becomes a food source for many marine animals. While rich in energy, this food contains a high proportion of terrestrial fats and oils, which are normally alien in the diets of marine consumers. The impact that this “junk-food resource” has on the ecology of marine ecosystems is poorly understood.

In a new study, University of Melbourne PhD student Camille White and colleagues investigated consumption of aquaculture waste by the white sea urchin in Norway. Camille spent many chilly days immersed in the spectacular western fjords of Norway to pull off this research...

https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/saltt/2017/05/28/fish-farm-waste-junk-food-of-the-sea/

Another fine example!

Making Fish Farming More Sustainable

http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2016/04/13/making-fish-farming-more-sustainable/

Interest points on aquaculture, but not study ecologicaly !!!

Dear Jacic, thank you, you have cited very good example for using farm waste as feed for fish. Example with pictures superb.

Thank you Abhishek for providing links and information for using farm waste in useful means

Really interesting topic. Recycling farm waste products is an interesting way to reduce waste overload. However, farm waste products can be classified roughly into animal or plant origin. For example, bacillus bacteria are still viable after composting. Pig manure have been found to habour a lot of bacillus organism some of which are Clostridium difficile. C. difficile is an increasing problem in health care facilities. From the perspective of infectious pathogens, there is a need to rethink/approach composting safely. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S10. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286766880_Persistence_of_Clostridium_difficile_RT_237_infection_in_a_Western_Australian_piggery.

Suresh K Malhotra There are many positive threads forming of your question... This is good. Yet, of all the good I see there remain a couple if items that persist which form a base prompting your question. Of an article put forth in this forum by Abhishek Raj “Waste to wealth S. Kathiravale & M. N. Muhd Yunus” a number of words and concepts step forth that have brought us to this topic... A lot of what has brought us as a species to this point is the manner of our own thought. ie. “control” The making of things to do as we believe they could or should be rather then taking the time to understand and learn how to walk/work with such in a balanced way that benefits all. Not just our species but all of this earth we walk within... In essence, we as a species should perhaps reconsider our own thoughts in how we see our relation to this realm... Just something to think on.

Dear Mr Peter, i agree with you recycling farm waste products is an interesting way to reduce waste overload. Links which you have provided are very useful.

Mr. Nogonosh, I liked your philosophical views.

Thank you Abhishek for excellent references.

Season,s greetings to all

By-products of fruits and vegetables from commercialization and industrial transformation are an interesting and cheap source of medicinal and nutritional ingredients, especially when huge amount of byproducts are produced (sometimes 50% of the harvested material). In this context, development of healthcare products from fruit and vegetable residues could be a feasible approach for their value added utilization contributing to environmental clean-up at the same through their safe and efficient disposal.

Any other possibility that exists in converting waste into wealth without intervention of microbial technology...??

Organic/crop wastes can be converted in to good quality composts viz; biodynamic, NADEP, vermi and microbe mediated composts.Even in fields these wastes can immediately be decomposed with application of bio-enhancers viz; cow pat pit, amritpani, jeevamrita etc. Otherwise these organic wastes can be used as mulch in line sown crops.

Thank you Dr. Ram Avadh for good suggestions regarding application of bio-enhancers viz; cow pat pit, amritpani, jeevamrita etc. I have no doubt on performance but for commercialization we need to have quality regulation and assurance system for such products. Is there any guidelines for such products registration and quality assurance.

Abhishek you have provided a good link but the problem is composting takes little more time, how we can reduce time of composting is question before us. The process needs to be reengineered for different locations.

Yes It is Indore method, and there is one secret to making fast compost, it is finely shredding the carbon rich ingredients such as fallen leaves, hay, straw, paper and cardboard. Shredding increases the surface area that the compost microbes have to work on and provides a more even distribution of air and moisture among the materials. The type of chipper or shreddder used is not important, provided it can handle the materials. Rotary lawn mowers can also be used by for shredding leaves by running the mower back and forth over a pile a few times although this method is not quite as good as using a shredder.

Thanks again for valuable input

Please have a look at an interesting PDF..hope you like it...

Good feed back colleagues. Yes, manure is an inevitable by-product of livestock production. But improperly managed manure can pose a threat to soil, water and air quality, and human and animal health. I feel that new ideas and opportunities should be investigated, with respect to optimising of already existing manure processing technologies and concerning new technologies. Examples are, among others, algae production from liquid manure products, bio-electrochemical systems to recover/produce new products and energy, or the management of different waste types (livestock, biomass, industrial, municipal) at integrated plants to take advantage of potential synergies.

wr can use him like a fertilizer to soill and to plant

Thank you Mr. Basheer, you are correct we can use waste as manure.

One aspect of the discussion - converting waste into value added compost, successful value addition through microbial inoculation had been reported. Mixing such compost with fertilizer was also feasible, but it's been crop and soil specific. Another option may be the mixing with CaO powder.

Thanks for your kind gesture - Abhishek Raj

Yes it is correct that composting is the most common method used for waste treatment. However, there is a need to digest enzymatically complex fiber-rich polysaccharides to obtain simple sugars suitable for biofermentations.

Crop planning of farm must include waste management based on 4Rs-- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover:

• Reduce the amount of waste product generated;

• Reuse the waste product on the farm or provide it for others to use; and

• After reducing and reusing as much of the waste product as possible, recycle the product either on-farm, such as with land application of manure, or off-farm, such as with plastic recycling programs.

• Recover methane gas from manure waste.

How do you usually dispose of the agricultural wastes, such as crop straw, rice husk, peanut shell, corncob and giant grass? Burn them? Pile them up? Or just leave them where they are? The lucrative method is to produce them into pellets with the help of biomass pellet plant.

On-farm composting is the best option....

Yes in situ management through composting is one of the alternatives.

Excellent results. In NICRA villages, in situ incorporation of paddy, wheat and cotton residues and biomass of green manuring crops was demonstrated in 1166 ha covering 1698 farmers across several districts: Faridkot, Aurangabad, Buxar, Saran, Jehnabad, Koderma, Malda, Supaul, Kushinagar, Amravati, Baramati, Gondia, Kurnool, Nalgonda, Bharatpur, Kota, Kutch, Bilaspur, Dantewada, Chitrakoot, Datia, Guna, Belgaum and Namakkal.

Convert waste to organic manure, fuel, animal feed and other value added products depending on the nature of farm wastes.:

Dear Dr. Tripathi, you are correct natural waste conversion is easy but what about non-natural agricultural wastes which primarily include discarded pesticide containers, plastics, bags and sheets, tyres, batteries, clinical waste, old machinery, oil, packaging waste etc etc.

Converting wastes to paper, board, and energy is an important strategy as discussed in this article:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315427845_Agricultural_Residues_Wastes_for_Manufacture_of_Paper_Board_and_Miscellaneous_Products_Background_Overview_and_Future_Prospects

Correct Ashwini, recycling is crucial and every small intervention carry meaning in providing significant benefits for the environment.

Thanks for good points Tamer, agriculture waste can be appreiciably converted into wealth. But small and marginal farmers ask for support from industry. Carrying residue from one place to another add transport cost to them. Industry should have crop residue collection points at village level during crop harvesting season.