NDDB Mrida Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary company of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) signed an agreement with Sistema.bio, India’s leading biogas company, to work with smallholder dairy farmers and provide sustainable solutions in waste-to-energy and open avenues of generating additional income for farmers. Shri Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB & NDDB Mrida Ltd. and Shri Piyush Sohani, MD, Sistema.bio India graced the occasion.
NDDB Mrida Ltd. and Sistema.bio will jointly work with dairy cooperatives, dairy federations, milk producer organisations and other farmer-centric institutions to install modern flexi biogas plants for small and medium dairy farmers of India and disseminate knowledge about the same and about manure management and bioslurry applications as well.
This collaborative effort will promote biogas plants and create a value chain that will improve the livelihoods of dairy farmers and at the same time contribute towards the Swachh Bharat Mission and encourage generation and use of green energy. NDDB has first-hand experience of working with Sistema Bio while developing the Zakariyapura Manure Management Model which is part of the Gobardhan Scheme in Gujarat now.
The primary objective of this partnership is to improve the socioeconomic stature of dairy farmers, particularly smallholder women dairy farmers, through usage of biogas plants. Sistema.bio through carbon financing will provide affordable modern flexi biogas plants to dairy farmers in NDDB’s rural network.
The plan is to reach out to more than 25,000 farmers with biogas plants in this year, and with a vision to serve 3,00,000 dairy farms in the coming 2-3 years. NDDB Mrida Ltd. will also promote the usage of bio-slurry produced directly or as an organic fertilizer through sale of slurry-based products for agriculture in an enterprise mode.
This partnership is a perfect synergy of the capabilities and focus of both organisations. This initiative will successfully help promote organic manure leading to reduction in usage of chemical fertilizers as well as endorse clean cooking energy at rural household level. At present, 40,000 farmers use biodigesters developed by Sistema.bio to create value from waste.
