Biogas and Biofertilizer from Organic Waste in the APMC Network of Maharashtra: An Assessment

Abstract

 Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMC), known as Bazaar Samitis, have played a key role in marketing agricultural produce in Maharashtra, India, for decades. They deal with a wide range of commodities; and while grading, sorting and handling these commodities, a proportion of produce is deemed unmarketable; the discarded produce becomes organic waste. This paper reviews the literature on organic waste with a specific focus on its conversion into biogas, electricity and biofertilizer for revenue generation. The shortage of organic manure is a key issue in Maharashtra's agriculture. To address this issue, this study has looked at government initiatives like SATAT and GOBARdhan to outline a pilot organic waste-to-biogas, electricity, and biofertilizer conversion project for Maharashtra's five main APMCs: Vashi (Mumbai), Gultekdi (Pune), Kalamna (Nagpur), Nashik City and Kalyan (Thane). For better insight, this study has taken inferences from a survey of 400 tomato farmers in Pune and Nashik districts and a survey of 400 banana farmers in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. This assessment found that the five APMCs can generate 1958 tonnes of biogas/or 7.29 GWh of electricity and 6095 tonnes of biofertilizer concentrate annually. For the implementation of this assessment study, the paper suggests three business models: (i) Supply, Installation, Testing & Commissioning, (ii) Hybrid Annuity Model and (iii) Public–Private Partnership. In conclusion, this study recommends scaling up all APMCs in Maharashtra after the initial rollout in the leading five APMCs.