17.11.2013 Energising farmers
Farmers can now set up biogas plants for Rs170,000 each and run tube-wells for seven hours a day
By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed
The persistent energy crisis has harmed the agriculture sector to a great extent and left farmers with very few choices. They have no electricity to run tube-wells. They use engines which consume expensive diesel in large quantities, making the whole exercise non-viable. They cannot think of using cheaper natural gas to run tube-wells as this commodity is hardly available to them.
The question here is that what the farmers shall do in this situation to get sufficient agricultural output from their fields and keep the prices of the end products within limits. No doubt, the input costs will have to be reduced to achieve this end.
A viable solution in this regard, as suggested by energy sector experts, is immediate conversion to biogas which is quite economical as well. They believe there is immense potential for biogas generation in the country, especially in Punjab, which has a large number of cattle.
An encouraging news for farmers is that an experiment, carried out recently, has achieved success and now they can set up a medium-sized biogas plant for as low as Rs170,000.
This cost is far less than the previous Rs850,000 per plant incurred on installation of 50 plants of same capacity, during the previous tenure of the Punjab government. These plants were established under a pilot project but could not succeed mainly due to their dependence on advanced technologies. Based on floating dome technology, their domes could move upwards and downwards depending on the pressure of gas and required engines, electricity and diesel for their operation. This technology is non-viable due to dependence on these commodities. Another negative of this project was that subsidy amount was too high — Rs570,000 per plant — making farmers devoid of a sense of ownership.
The recent experiment was conducted at the Ravi Campus of the University of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences (UVAS), Pattoki. The technical committee on biogas, headed by MPA Chaudhry Arshad Jutt, executed the project with financial assistance coming from UVAS and succeeded in bringing down the cost drastically, through introduction of fixed dome technology.
Engineer Naveed Sadiq, member of the technical committee, tells TNS the size of the plant is 25 cubic meters and the gas produced from it can help run a tube-well six to seven hours a day. This is sufficient for the needs of a small farmer who has landholdings up to 12.5 acres. In addition, this gas can also be used in kitchen and the end residue can be sold or used as pure organic fertilizer for crops. If the farmer wants he can use the same gas to run a 12 KVA generator for seven hours, he adds. The raw material required for this purpose is 160 kg to 180 kg cow dung per day.
He says they were entrusted the task to bring the cost of biogas plant down to an affordable level. Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif wanted a breakthrough in this regard as he had plans to set up at least 100,000 biogas plants throughout the province. “You can well imagine how much cost has been saved. This will also reduce the subsidy amount considerably which the government intends to pass on to the consumers,” Naveed adds.
Explaining the scientific concept, Naveed says biogas is produced during the decomposition of biodegradable material in the presence of bacteria. Therefore, anything which can decompose can be used to produce biogas. So, he says, it is not only cow dung which is used as raw material. Poultry wastes, plant wastes such as husk, grass, weeds, human excreta, industrial wastes such as saw dust and those generated in food processing industries and domestic wastes including vegetable peels, wasted food materials can all be used to produce biogas, he adds.
The technology used in these low-cost biogas plants is simple and suited to local needs. It is called fixed-dome technology. All that is required is a small well with concrete dome, a distiller where dung is mixed with water and mixed manually to form slurry and a storage tank. Besides, there are pipes and compressor involved if one wants to take gas to a distance. The slurry is passed on the well where it decomposes over days. The gas thus produced rises upwards and is diverted through valves and pipes to the place where it is needed.
Veterinary Officer with Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development department, Dr Asif Sahi, highlights the need for tapping of indigenous energy sources by farmers and explains the potential in detail. He tells TNS there are more than 822,809 diesel tube-wells in operation in Punjab which consume about 2.63 billion liters of diesel oil per annum at the rate of 1600 operational hours and fuel consumption of two litres per hour.
In monetary terms, the cost comes to Rs276 billion per annum. Repeated hikes in prices of petroleum products and devaluation of Pakistani currency have further increased the operational cost of diesel tube-wells. Therefore, there is a dire need to look into alternate energy options which are efficient, sustainable and cost effective to address this issue.
Biogas, he says, is the best option keeping in view the fact that there are more than 34 million cattle, buffaloes and bullocks in Punjab. Animal dung can be utilised to generate biogas through anaerobic process. Each cow provides 12-15 kg of dung daily which can produce 0.62-0.75 cubic meter gas, he adds.
Punjab CM’s Special Assistant on Biogas Committee, Chaudhry Arshad Jutt, tells TNS there is maximum need of 20HP peter engine to operate a tube-well but farmers are using 50HP to 80HP tractor engine for this purpose and wasting huge quantities of fossil fuels. These biogas plants will make optimum use of the fuel. Secondly, he says, the fixed dome plants are simple in construction and operation and do not require any maintenance. A 25 cubic-metre plant would save a farmer Rs 3200 a day or Rs 1.15 million per year, which otherwise would have been spent on buying diesel.
He says the construction of plants will not be awarded to contractors. Instead, sub-engineers and masons from all districts of Punjab will be trained and farmers will be given technical guidance/assistance. The farmers will directly hire sub-engineers and masons and construct plants. The subsidy amount of around Rs50,000 per plant will be paid directly to the farmer.
On the timeline, he says the project is in approval phase and farmers will be able to avail the option shortly. The farmers, he says, shall apply vide city district governments where committees will be formed to scrutinise their applications. The farmers will also be provided with detailed drawings and necessary technical assistance.
Half of the subsidy will be paid at the time of approval and the rest will be paid to the farmers on completion of the project and approval by the inspection committee, he adds.
shahzada.irfan@gmail.com