Utilization of cow dung residues of biogas plant for sustainable development of a rural community

Ziala Village of Satkhira District in Bangladesh is well known for cow dung management and biogas production. Biogas plants produce huge quantities of organic residues and biogas. Cow dung is widely used in the plant as a part of waste management and biogas production. The residues are used as organic fertilizer and biogas is used as fuel in the Ziala Village. Therefore, the study was conducted to observe the effectiveness of using cow dung residues produced in biogas plants and its subsequent impacts on socio-economic profile. The study was based on face to face interview of randomly selected dairy farmers in 2014. Twelve representative samples of biogas plants were randomly selected for interviewing. Findings suggested that renewable energy transfer system in the form of biogas plant was successful in converting cow dung into energy and nutrient rich organic fertilizer, which reduced the cost of purchasing chemical fertilizer for plant owners. Renewable energy transfer plants noticeably improved the overall cooking environment of the biogas digesters and reduced the time needed to collect firewood. This facilitates livestock management and preservation of forest resources. Biogas plants eventually contributed to elevate environmental condition and resource recovery which ultimately improved socio-economic profiles in terms of occupational distribution and educational attainment of the participating households. However, agricultural wastes and cow dung were not optimally managed by some households in surveyed area. This causes environmental degradation in terms of water and air pollution in the study area.