Name and contacts of farmer: Mr. Hafijur Rahaman, 8777498890, Address: Vill.- Chandamari , P.O.: Chandamari, Block- Kalyani, Pin: 741245, District: Nadia, West Bengal
Name and contacts of KVK: Dr. Kaushik Mukhopadhyay, SMS (Soil Science) Nadia KVK, Mob: 9231625971, nadiakvk@gmail.com
Title: Waste turning to wealth, journey of a successful poultry farmer
Background information of the farmer: Mr. Hafijur Rahaman, a 56 year old farmer of Chandamari village under Kalyani block is a successful entrepreneur of poultry bird farming. Regardless of the fact that he was successful as a poultry farmer but he was rather worried about the fates of the huge wastes i.e tons of poultry litters coming out from his poultry unit during every season. Though he was little aware that poultry litter could be a rich source of nutrient for agricultural fields if used in a proper way but he wasn’t aware of the method by which this waste could be turned to a wealth for the soil. So, he was in search of the process by which good quality poultry litter compost could be prepared and obviously the byproduct of his poultry unit could boost him with additional income support.
Intervention of Nadia KVK: In the mean time he noticed regarding composting of water hyacinth through NOVCOM composting method from the Facebook page of Nadia Krishi Vigyan Kendra. Instantly he had a contact with Nadia Krishi Vigyan Kendra during April, 2022 and Nadia KVK got involved with him and introduced the process of NOVCOM composting method by using poultry litter of his farm. The KVK scientists visited his farm and guided him regarding preparation of some semi-permanent bamboo structures and other pre-requisites for preparing poultry litter compost through NOVCOM composting method. The scientists of Nadia KVK also got involved throughout the process through method demonstration during the initial day and also during the time of 1st and 2nd turning. Thus, following the methodologies the labourers of his farm got trained and accustomed with the composting process. By using this method good quality poultry litter compost was prepared from Mr. Rahaman’s farm only within 30 days.
Coverage/ impact of the intervention: During the entire tenure of entrepreneurship with poultry farming Mr. Rahaman’s major concern was regarding conversion of the poultry litter into a valuable resource. He was astonished to notice the success when he produced almost 5 tons of poultry litter compost from his nearly 7 ton raw poultry litter in just within a month. Analytical results also showed that the produced compost possesses all the attributes of good quality compost. Average values of the end product showed that the matured poultry litter compost having great content of organic carbon (28.74%), NPK (5.04%), C/N ratio (21:1) and with Compost Mineralization Index of 1.68 except slight limitation in terms of EC (which is 1.23 dsm-1) only. The microbial population (desirable range 10X1012) within the ready compost is probably the most indicative parameter for its effectivity post soil application. The compost sample showed much higher population of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes (in the order of 1016c.f.u to 1014c.f.u). In terms of stability and phyto-toxicity the average values of the poultry litter compost produced in the farm are within the stipulated value of matured and good quality compost.
Economics: Mr. Rahaman was excited to notice the minimum cost involvement for producing the poultry litter compost. According to his estimation for producing 5 tons of this compost with a heap size of 10ft x 5ft x 6ft (L X B X H) only Rs. 12,500 is the investment cost which included the cost of raw poultry litter, cow dung, NOVCOM solution, labour and miscellaneous. Thus, it involved production cost of just Rs. 2.5/kg and he sold the same within the range of Rs. 5-7/kg which expressed the profit margin to a tune of 100-180%. Till date he was successfully involved in preparing poultry litter compost and earning an additional income of at least 20% per annum through his poultry farm.
Horizontal spread: Mr. Hafijur Rahaman’s poultry farm is now a perfect example of integrated farming in which the left over material of one unit is used as the basic raw material of another unit. Now he is also exploring his expertise in this field and encouraging other rural youths of his vicinity to gain hands on experience with the simplest method of compost preparation and thereby find an alternative avenue of self-establishment.