<p>On November 25, 2024, the Government of India launched the National Mission for Natural Farming (NMNF) to reduce dependency on chemical fertilisers by supporting one crore farmers to adopt organic farming. The mission with a budget outlay of Rs 2,481 crore, of which 63 per cent (Rs 1,584 crore) is the Government of India share and 37 per cent (Rs 897 crore) is the state share, will be implemented through the Ministry of Agriculture. The ministry will identify farmers wanting to shift to organic farming, train, and handhold them.</p>.<p>While the mission focuses on promoting cow dung-based manure and other locally available non-chemical-based fertilisers, using organic compost from municipal solid waste is not yet integrated into the mission. India generates around 5.8 crore tonnes of solid waste annually, with the potential to produce nearly one crore tonnes of organic compost. The average organic manure requirement per farmer is about four to five tonnes per year and could meet the manure needs of 15 to 20 lakh farmers. Linking segregated wet waste with NMNF could provide a solution by improving waste management under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and promoting organic farming under NMNF.</p>.<p>There are 4,900 cities across the country, of which 4,300 are small cities surrounded by rural areas. Each small city is surrounded by hundreds of villages and thousands of farmers. Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) often transport collected waste to landfills in nearby rural areas, about 8-10 km away from the cities, creating environmental issues like methane emissions. Although SBM provides funding to ULBs to set up waste processing facilities to convert wet waste into organic compost, and the government supports the capital costs, operational costs remain a challenge. ULBs are only able to process 30-40 per cent of the waste at present. ULBs pay nearly 60-70 per cent in operational subsidies through tipping fees (fee paid to waste processing plants to meet operational deficits) to keep the plants operational. Despite these efforts, the compost produced at these waste processing plants finds less acceptance among the consumers (farmers) due to the added transportation costs.</p>.<p>At the same time, farmers incur high transportation costs for organic manure, forcing them to prefer chemical fertilisers. Typically, one acre of agricultural land needs about 100-150 kg of chemical fertilisers, whereas organic compost requirement is about 2-3 tonnes per acre. Farmers spend more on tractors and trucks to transport the organic compost due to its demand for higher quantity, despite its lower price of Rs 2,000-3,000 per tonne, almost half of chemical fertilisers.</p>.<p><strong>Direct supply, reduced costs</strong></p>.<p>Segregated wet waste can be converted into organic compost directly at farmlands using a simple, traditional pit composting method. Instead of transporting the waste to processing facilities, ULBs can deliver it straight to farmlands. The biodegradable waste can be fed into composting pits and mixed with cow dung slurry and bio-culture. Within two to three months, through regular turning and moisture adjustments by the farmers, the waste becomes nutrient-rich organic compost. This approach provides farmers with free organic compost at their own farm, reducing agricultural input costs, transportation costs, and the need for chemical fertilisers. Meanwhile, ULBs save on operational subsidies or tipping fees spent on waste processing plants.</p>.<p>A small city with a population of around one lakh generates approximately 10-15 tonnes of wet waste daily, out of the 25-30 tonnes of the total waste. Each day’s waste could be supplied to one beneficiary farmer, producing about three tonnes of organic manure which is enough to meet one farmer’s fertiliser demand for a single crop cycle. With a composting turnaround time of 120-150 days and a pit-drying period of 30-40 days, each farmer could get segregated wet waste twice a year. This system allows each city to support 180-200 farmers annually, providing them with consistent access to organic compost through ULB waste deliveries.</p>.<p>While this partnership appears to be simple and straightforward, several challenges must be addressed, such as ensuring segregation of waste at source, building capacity of farmers in composting methods, and facilitating coordination between ULBs and farmers. To overcome these hurdles, ULBs can collaborate with institutions, not-for-profits, and local self-help groups (SHGs) to provide training, ensure proper waste segregation, and manage logistics between farmers and municipal authorities.</p>.<p>This model has been successfully tested in Chikkaballapura, Karnataka, under the City-Farmer Partnership for Solid Waste Management (SWM) project. As part of this initiative, more than 200 farmers have received around 2,300 tonnes of segregated wet waste, which beneficiary farmers transformed into approximately 600 tonnes of organic compost. The farmers were taught how to compost segregated wet waste through a series of training programmes and regular monitoring of operations. This effort has reduced the use of chemical fertilisers by 50-60 tonnes. Soil tests before and after composting were conducted to ensure there is no contamination of soil by the pit composting method.</p>.<p>This city-farmer partnership model presents a win-win strategy for both NMNF and SBM. By scaling this model, approximately 5,000 Indian cities could provide at least 15-20 lakh farmers with access to organic compost at their own farms. In addition to reducing operational costs for ULBs and promoting organic farming, this model also benefits the environment by minimising methane emissions and cutting down on the government’s expenditure on chemical fertiliser subsidies.</p>.<p>This partnership could enable NMNF to support 15-20 per cent of its targeted farmers while supporting SBM’s objective of improved waste processing efficiency, making it a valuable and scalable solution for sustainable agriculture and waste management.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is a solid waste management professional with the <br>Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru)</em></p>
<p>On November 25, 2024, the Government of India launched the National Mission for Natural Farming (NMNF) to reduce dependency on chemical fertilisers by supporting one crore farmers to adopt organic farming. The mission with a budget outlay of Rs 2,481 crore, of which 63 per cent (Rs 1,584 crore) is the Government of India share and 37 per cent (Rs 897 crore) is the state share, will be implemented through the Ministry of Agriculture. The ministry will identify farmers wanting to shift to organic farming, train, and handhold them.</p>.<p>While the mission focuses on promoting cow dung-based manure and other locally available non-chemical-based fertilisers, using organic compost from municipal solid waste is not yet integrated into the mission. India generates around 5.8 crore tonnes of solid waste annually, with the potential to produce nearly one crore tonnes of organic compost. The average organic manure requirement per farmer is about four to five tonnes per year and could meet the manure needs of 15 to 20 lakh farmers. Linking segregated wet waste with NMNF could provide a solution by improving waste management under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and promoting organic farming under NMNF.</p>.<p>There are 4,900 cities across the country, of which 4,300 are small cities surrounded by rural areas. Each small city is surrounded by hundreds of villages and thousands of farmers. Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) often transport collected waste to landfills in nearby rural areas, about 8-10 km away from the cities, creating environmental issues like methane emissions. Although SBM provides funding to ULBs to set up waste processing facilities to convert wet waste into organic compost, and the government supports the capital costs, operational costs remain a challenge. ULBs are only able to process 30-40 per cent of the waste at present. ULBs pay nearly 60-70 per cent in operational subsidies through tipping fees (fee paid to waste processing plants to meet operational deficits) to keep the plants operational. Despite these efforts, the compost produced at these waste processing plants finds less acceptance among the consumers (farmers) due to the added transportation costs.</p>.<p>At the same time, farmers incur high transportation costs for organic manure, forcing them to prefer chemical fertilisers. Typically, one acre of agricultural land needs about 100-150 kg of chemical fertilisers, whereas organic compost requirement is about 2-3 tonnes per acre. Farmers spend more on tractors and trucks to transport the organic compost due to its demand for higher quantity, despite its lower price of Rs 2,000-3,000 per tonne, almost half of chemical fertilisers.</p>.<p><strong>Direct supply, reduced costs</strong></p>.<p>Segregated wet waste can be converted into organic compost directly at farmlands using a simple, traditional pit composting method. Instead of transporting the waste to processing facilities, ULBs can deliver it straight to farmlands. The biodegradable waste can be fed into composting pits and mixed with cow dung slurry and bio-culture. Within two to three months, through regular turning and moisture adjustments by the farmers, the waste becomes nutrient-rich organic compost. This approach provides farmers with free organic compost at their own farm, reducing agricultural input costs, transportation costs, and the need for chemical fertilisers. Meanwhile, ULBs save on operational subsidies or tipping fees spent on waste processing plants.</p>.<p>A small city with a population of around one lakh generates approximately 10-15 tonnes of wet waste daily, out of the 25-30 tonnes of the total waste. Each day’s waste could be supplied to one beneficiary farmer, producing about three tonnes of organic manure which is enough to meet one farmer’s fertiliser demand for a single crop cycle. With a composting turnaround time of 120-150 days and a pit-drying period of 30-40 days, each farmer could get segregated wet waste twice a year. This system allows each city to support 180-200 farmers annually, providing them with consistent access to organic compost through ULB waste deliveries.</p>.<p>While this partnership appears to be simple and straightforward, several challenges must be addressed, such as ensuring segregation of waste at source, building capacity of farmers in composting methods, and facilitating coordination between ULBs and farmers. To overcome these hurdles, ULBs can collaborate with institutions, not-for-profits, and local self-help groups (SHGs) to provide training, ensure proper waste segregation, and manage logistics between farmers and municipal authorities.</p>.<p>This model has been successfully tested in Chikkaballapura, Karnataka, under the City-Farmer Partnership for Solid Waste Management (SWM) project. As part of this initiative, more than 200 farmers have received around 2,300 tonnes of segregated wet waste, which beneficiary farmers transformed into approximately 600 tonnes of organic compost. The farmers were taught how to compost segregated wet waste through a series of training programmes and regular monitoring of operations. This effort has reduced the use of chemical fertilisers by 50-60 tonnes. Soil tests before and after composting were conducted to ensure there is no contamination of soil by the pit composting method.</p>.<p>This city-farmer partnership model presents a win-win strategy for both NMNF and SBM. By scaling this model, approximately 5,000 Indian cities could provide at least 15-20 lakh farmers with access to organic compost at their own farms. In addition to reducing operational costs for ULBs and promoting organic farming, this model also benefits the environment by minimising methane emissions and cutting down on the government’s expenditure on chemical fertiliser subsidies.</p>.<p>This partnership could enable NMNF to support 15-20 per cent of its targeted farmers while supporting SBM’s objective of improved waste processing efficiency, making it a valuable and scalable solution for sustainable agriculture and waste management.</p>.<p><em>(The writer is a solid waste management professional with the <br>Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru)</em></p>
