SIMPLE WAYS TO TURN WASTE TO WEALTH IN THE FARM

One of the common excesses encountered in the farm on daily basis are items considered as waste materials. These waste materials cut across many aspects of the farm, and could be of different categories such as biodegradable wastes and non-biodegradable wastes.
For biodegradable wastes(such as post harvest scraps, woody stems, weeded grasses and shrubs, etc.), they are said to be able to decompose within a period of time while non-biodegradable wastes (such as cellophane, plastics, metallic or aluminum materials, etc.) will not decompose and can hamper the penetration of plant roots when turned in the soil.
Waste can constitute nuisance in the farm if not properly managed. In the process of managing waste, a farmer can generate a level of income or create an alternative means of reducing cost of production in the farm by adopting the following strategies.

• WASTE DISPOSAL CATEGORIZATION.
  This simply means that you can setup a standard in your farm whereby biodegradable waste items and non-biodegradable waste items are segmented and disposed in different containers in order to separate the ones going for recycling or utilization in the farm, especially the biodegradable wastes. This technique can give room for sales of the non-biodegradable waste items to recyclers in exchange for money.
• COMPOSTING.
  Compost consist mainly of organic, biodegradable materials. The biodegradable wastes in the farm could be used as compost materials. You can setup different compost pits or bins in the farm where these biodegradable wastes are dumped and properly managed to form compost. This can help reduce the cost of input on fertilizers and improve crop yield for maximum profit.
• MANAGEMENT OF WASTE WATER.
  One important input source in crop production is water. If water is not available, a vegetable farmer finds it hard to thrive. Excess water from rainfall, fish ponds, or any other points in the farm where water is running off, could be trapped and channeled to irrigate the vegetable crops or grow rice, Azolla and duckweed which could serve as food, livestock feed or compost materials. Doing this can save some level of input cost in the farm.
• BIOGAS PRODUCTION.
  Biogas can be described as a process whereby microorganisms are made to digest biomass or organic materials in an airtight container in the absence of oxygen. The gas produced from a biogas system can be used as cooking gas, source of fuel to power farm generator. You can produce biogas from rabbit poo, pig feces, etc. Although it can only be produced on a small scale basis, it however can reduce your cost of production at a significant amount.
• MAGGOT PRODUCTION.
  When houseflies perch on rotten food items and lay eggs, the hatched eggs form maggots which enhances the breaking down of such materials. Although alternatively, black soldier flies have been discovered to produce better maggots compared to houseflies. Maggots in it’s actual sense can be transformed into maggot meal as alternative protein source in poultry, pig feeds. As a farmer, you can select some of the post harvest scraps as your substrate to grow maggots and use in your animal farm or sell to other farmers.
  There are many other waste in the farm that can be transformed into wealth and the list is inexhaustible.
  What are you turning to waste in your farm? And how can this post help you turn waste to wealth in your farm?
  Kindly share with us in the comment section below.