25 July: Shri Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying launched NDDB MRIDA Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary company of the National Dairy Development Board to take forward manure management initiatives across the country in presence of Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, MoS, FAHD, and Dr. L Murugan, MoS, FAHD. Shri Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, DAHD, Govt. of India, Shri Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB, Ms. Varsha Joshi, Additional Secretary (CDD), DAHD, and Shri Sandeep Bharti, newly appointed Managing Director of NDDB MRIDA Limited.
NDDB has established NDDB MRIDA Limited, an Unlisted Public Limited Company under the Companies Act, 2013 on July 1, 2022, as with a paid-up capital of Rs. 9.50 crore.
On the occasion, Shri Rupala said NDDB Mrida Ltd will open avenues of additional income to dairy farmers from the sale of slurry/ dung. He added that it will help in savings to the farmers by virtue of the replacement of cooking fuel with biogas. He further said that efforts are being made for better utilization of bovine dung but most are individual initiatives and this new company will provide structured impetus to manure management efforts.
Promoting usage of dung-based manure will gradually lead to the replacement of chemical fertilizers with organic manure thereby reducing dependency on India’s dependency on imports, said the Union minister.
On this occasion, Dr. Balyan launched a brochure on NDDB MRIDA Limited and Dr. Murugan handed over NDDB’s SUDHAN trademark to Chairman and MD, NDDB MRIDA Limited.
Dr. Balyan said this is a first-of-its-kind company focussing on the efficient utilization of dung by creating a manure management value chain which will immensely contribute to enhancing the livelihoods of dairy farmers and at the same time contribute towards the Swachh Bharat Mission and promotion of green energy.
Dr. Murugan said the manure management initiatives have the potential to generate biogas equivalent to 50 percent of India’s present LPG consumption & also produce bio-slurry equivalent to 44 percent of India’s NPK requirement. He added that efficient manure management promotes general well-being & cleanliness, and contributes to increasing the productive economic life cycle of the milch animals beyond milking thereby helping tackle the problem of stray cattle & lowering of GHG emissions.
Shri Chaturvedi said that NDDB has also taken up projects for the utilization of cattle dung to meet the energy needs of dairy plants. He added that the foundation stone for the first such project was laid by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India in Varanasi on December 23, 2021. NDDB has also registered a trademark named “SuDhan” to provide a common identity for dung-based organic fertilizers.
Shri Shah said NDDB Mrida Ltd will take up the setting up of manure value chain, biogas-based CNG generation, and biogas-based energy generation for dairy plants. He added that the new company will explore opportunities to efficiently use cattle dung as an ingredient for various applications in different industries and as a replacement for traditional wood, clay, paint, etc.
Chairman, NDDB, and NDDB Mrida Ltd said the company will undertake research and development on cost-effective technologies for efficient dung management and a major area of focus will be establishing revenue generation models at the village level through the sale of cattle dung-based products. He added that the company will provide marketing and sale support to agencies manufacturing gobar-gas slurry-based fertilizers and establish mechanisms to accrue carbon revenue from the projects to generate an additional revenue stream for dairy farmers.
