Agricultural wastes are excess of agricultural production that have not been effectively utilized. Most waste management approaches are methods of concentration of waste, such as source separation, biological waste treatment, incineration, or land disposal. Recycling, reprocessing, and utilization of the wastes in a positive manner offers the possibility of returning the excess to beneficial use as opposed to the traditional methods of waste disposal and relocation. The keys to successful process of this nature are a beneficial use, an adequate market, and an economical, although not necessarily profit-making process. Many such processes would be satisfactory if they caused the overall costs of waste management to be less than other alternatives. Any additional steps in utilization should repay extra stronger, processing and distribution costs that are incurred. A return greater than the extra cost of utilization is desirable in that is reduces the total cost of waste management but such reduction may not sufficient to result in an overall profit for the producer.
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The utilization of waste materials from agricultural production operations can assist in reducing some waste management problems. Many examples can be citied. Fruit and vegetable wastes are being utilized as stock feed. Tomato skins and seeds have been dehydrated and use as part of animal feeds as have been corn husks, cobs, grapefruit, oranges and some of solids screened from the liquid wastes of other processes have been converted into a dried and pelletized for soil conditioners, animal feed supplement and fertilizer base. Peach pits have been converted into charcoal broquets.The use of horse manure as a medium for growing mushroom s is a specific agricultural by-product utilization.
Other possibilities that have been studied include paper-making from rice or cereal straw, chemicals such as furfural extracted from cereals straw tartarate from wine grape residue, and monosodium glutamate from bagasse. Several industries including soap, leather, glue, gelatin and animal feed manufacturing have been based on meat-packaging waste product. Biochemical such as hormones, vitamins and enzymes also have been produced from packinghouse residues. While these methods offer the possibility of waste utilization, they rarely solve the entire waste problem since the material produced or removed from the waste may be only a small component leaving the problem of managing a large volume of residue.
The amount of residue such as straw, leaves and tree limbs from crops and orchards is on the order of hundreds of millions of tons. In some areas drastic measures, such as burning, are used to dispose of troublesome residues and to control plant disease and weeds. Burning as a disposal method is being reduce and more of the material is being utilized by returning it to the soil as a mulch which is later plowed under. A small fraction of the residue, such as straw, and peanut hulls, is being used as a bedding for farm animals. This material eventually is returned to the soil.
Efforts are needed to develop methods to utilize additional excesses from agricultural production. All activities in this direction must be directed toward effective and economically feasible solutions and towards development of adequate markets for the usable by-products.
There are many utilization processes that can be used with agricultural waste. The fundamental of the processes and their real or potential application with agricultural wastes are indicated. The processes are compositing, drying and dehydration, by-product development, methane generation, and water reclamation.
The benefiting of Animal waste
What is the animal waste in agriculture?
Animal excrement is rich in organic nitrogen, as are the carcasses of dead animal and plant. When the waste is broken down by bacteria (and fungi) ammonium is created, which is then converted into nitrates by other bacteria. Plants absorb ammonium and nitrate ions through their roots, ensuring their survival and growth. Interestingly, all of the nitrogen present in animal wastes comes from plants the animal has eaten. Therefore, this is known as the Nitrogen cycle. But some of the waste products from product from animals contain certain vitamins, minerals and element that are vital for the soil so farmers tend to spread the muck across fields which acts as a type of fertilizer and therefore increasing soil quality. Besides that, animal waste also is used as fuel and feed. All the animal waste must be manage properly for maintain a healthy for farm animal and our environment
What is waste management?
The proper management of waste from agriculture operations can contribute in a significant way to farm operations. Waste management helps to maintain a healthy environment for farm animal and can reduce the need for commercial for fertilizer while providing other nutrients needed for crop production. Agriculture waste typically associated with animals includes but is not limited to manure, bedding and litter , wasted feed, runoff from feedlots and holding area and wastewater from building like dairy parlors.
Best management practices (BMPs) such as rotational grazing and pasture renovation to maintain adequate vegetative cover, riparian buffers, and structure built to trap or retain waste should be utilized in order to prevent contamination of both surface waters and groundwater. When this waste is carried in overland flow from rain events, it is categorized as a nonpoint source pollutant or one that originates from diffuse area of land. Nonpoint source pollutant is one of the primary water quality problems. Furthermore, runoff and waste that do not pass through a vegetated buffer zone along the water body is likely to the result in bank erosion and subsequent property loss
Why be concerned about waste management?
If not managed properly, agriculture waste from farm operations can pollute the environment resulting in impacts to water quality and a general loss of aesthesis. The degradation of water quality can impact adjacent waterways and groundwater both onsite and offsite. This degradation reduces the ability of this resource to support aquatic life and water for human and animal consumption. Nitrates, which commonly associated with fertilizer and agricultural waste runoff, can seep into groundwater. Well water contaminated with nitrates is hazardous to human, particularly for infants, as it results in oxygen depletion in the blood. As eluded to above, proper waste management can reduce operating cost associated with fertilizer application if managed properly.
In an extreme case of improper management, livestock waste is concentrated in a riparian area causing severe water quality problem.
What are the benefits of waste management?
Like most other aspect of agricultural production. There are requirement for the application and management of agricultural waste on farms. However, the primary reasons behind managing agricultural waste make good sense both environmentally and economically. Where feasible, the reuse of animals waste in farming operations can reduce the quality and hauling costs of commercial fertilizer. The contribution of animal waste increases the organic matter content of soils, which not only increases nutrient availability for crops but also improves the water holding capacity and tithe of the soil. Good waste management reduces the instances of well water contamination and minimizes surface water pollution.
How would one implement waste management?
Fortunately, there are planning document and BMP option available to farmer for managing agricultural waste. Waste management is commonly part of an overall nutrient management plan developed for a farmer. These plans play an integral role in the comprehensive waste management planning process and are used to spell out how farmers intend to maximize the benefit of nutrient available from farm waste products to benefit crop production and minimize environment impact. Although State and Federal governments are demanding more accountability in agricultural waste management, many such plans are developed voluntarily as an important aspect of the business. Developing a plan for how waste is managed on your farm not only aids in the tracking of operational costs and the making of better management decisions; it can also be used to leverage State and Federal funding assistance. Self-regulation protects private property rights and reduces the need for governmental control and regulations.
Site-specific waste management strategies should be developed and adhered to in order to maximize the cost efficiency and adequately protect local environment resources. This will require that routine soil and waste testing take place to match the crop needs to the nutrient available. By tracking the timing and application rates (quality) of agricultural waste required to store operational waste can be determined.
A covered livestock feeding area located on an upland section of pasture is an one example of good waste management
Waste can be stored as solid in building structures or as a liquid in holding ponds or anaerobic lagoons. Being able to store waste in an acceptable form until it is needed is a critical component of a waste management strategy. If waste is not handled properly or is not applied at the right time, valuable nutrients are lost and environment and human and animal health problems are created. Besides the management practices noted above, the BMPs listed below can be used to improve waste handling and application:
Avoid over-application by applying manure to crops that can benefit from the nutrient
Do not apply waste to fields when heavy rain is expected and runoff potential is high
Excluded livestock from sensitive areas such as riparian buffer and wetlands
Located winter feeding areas in a relatively flat upland area
Do not spread waste near waterways
Employ other conservation practice that minimize runoff and erosion to field where waste is applied
Other ways to improve waste management on farms is to routinely check area where fuel and chemicals are stored for spills and leaks and to be sure your farm is in compliance with applicable storage and handling regulations. Keeping up-to-date on technologies designed to improve waste management such as composters for disposing of livestock mortalities and integrating them in your waste management strategy is also good practice.
The benefit of agriculture waste palm oil
The Malaysian palm oil industry and the global palm oil industry are among the most sustainable industries in the world. It is universally recognized that oil palm plantations are the most efficient, effective and highest yield form of edible oil production. In Malaysia, the area planted with the crop had increased from 2.03 million hectares in 1990 to 3.05 million hectares in 2001. The palm oil industry currently supplies one third of the supply of global edible vegetable oils, yet in 2009 oil palm plantations covered only 14.7 million hectares of land. This represents only 5.7 per cent of the global land devoted for oil crops.
Even though that the most important things about the palm oil is the oil production, but the reality is almost all the by-product from the oil palm plantation can be used in our industry and daily life. At present, Malaysia has produced more than half of the world’s total output of palm oil. Oil palm wastes are in the form of leaves, fronds, and old trunks from the palm plantation. The palm mill wastes include empty fruit bunches, shells, pericarp, and effluent. Limited efforts had been carried out in the past to gain economical benefits from these wastes as construction material in concrete. We were conducting a group research of these agricultural wastes of the oil palm.
Biomass is one of the benefits from agricultural waste of the oil palm. It is a renewable energy source, an example of biological material from living organism such as wood, waste, gas, and alcohol fuels. Biomass is commonly plant matter grown to generate electricity or produce heat. Instead of using coal and other fossil fuels compound to produced heat and generate electricity, biomass come up to mitigate the situation. Biomass is produced by absorbing solar rays from the sun and, by photosynthesis, combines it with carbon dioxide to produce solar energy. This is a natural energy, which can be harnessed to produce a tremendous amount of power. The use of Biomass as an alternative energy has already been put to use in many places throughout the world. This is because; this fuel can be re-cycles itself. As it is burned the solar energy within its mass returns to the atmosphere. The results are then sent back to the earth with new solar rays and the process begins again. When Biomass is burned, it does release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, this is considered neutral carbon dioxide and will not affect climate change. Biomass alternative energy is definitely a step into the future, both as a continuous source of energy but one that will not cause any harm to the environment. Since Malaysia produced a lot of palm oil production, this situation cause high produce of biomass energy. For example, Sabah’s palm oil industry produces enough waste to generate up to 700MW of electricity.
Oil palm trunk fibre is very light and can absorb a lot of water without congealing. It can withstand extremes temperature and moisture conditions during food processing. That is why the matured palm oil do not need a daily water supply compare to the crops plantation because of its fibre. This natural fibre have a wide range of applications in foods where fibre usually be added, such as yogurts, breads, pastries and other products using wheat. A careal made using oil palm trunk fibre has been introduced in Malaysia through Sukhe International, the Selangor Darul Ehsan-based company which extract oil palm trunk fibre using a patented process. The success of oil palm trunk fibre in the functional foods market mean Malaysia can generate revenue out of a waste product that has, until now, proved problematic. Malaysia produces 50 percent of the world’s palm oil and has three million hectares of the trees under cultivation. Every year, 9 million trees become nascent and must be cut down, with saplings planted in their stead. Oil palm fibres can be used by manufactures to make various fibre composites such as furniture, infrastructures and mattress. To become the useable fibre, the empty fruit bunches goes through process which involve empty fruit bunches to be shredded, separated, refined and dried. No chemicals were involved in the production of oil palm fibres. High quality oil palm fibres are clean and toxic free. After the process, the end product of high quality oil palm fibre can be used by manufactures to make various fibres composite such as furniture, infrastructures, mattress, erosion control, paper production and also landscaping.
Other than the biomass and the oil palm fibre, the palm kernel cake (PKC) also one of the agricultural waste of oil palm that can be used as an animal’s feed. PKC is a by-product of oil extraction from palm kernel. This by-product is ever increasing due to the increasing growth of the oil palm industry in Asia and Africa. Malaysia is also the largest producer and exporter of palm kernel products, especially palm kernel oil and palm kernel cake. In the year 200, Malaysia produced 1.38 million tonnes of palm kernel oil and 1.64 tonnes of PKC. Currently, most of the palm kernel cake produced in Malaysia is exported at low price to Europe for use as cattle feed concentrates in dairy cows. In Malaysia, the production of PKC is started with the palm kernels are being crushed to yield palm kernel oil and PKC. PKC is an established feed ingredient for ruminants, supplying valuable dietary sources of protein, energy and fibre. PKC has also been successfully tested in poultry feeds at low level of incorporation. The low cost and availability of PKC in many tropical countries where aquaculture is practiced have recently generates much interest in its potential use in fish diets.
Uses of Paddy straw (jerami padi) in Malaysia
Rice straw has been used as ruminant feed in traditional livestock farming communities in Asia. It is used to meet part of the nutrient requirements of ruminants in the rice-producing areas during the cropping season and in dry or drought periods. Rice straw is usually categorized as poor quality roughage, but its feeding value can vary over a wide range. It was reported that rice straws from Malaysia showed great variability in their chemical composition. Rice harvest will produce waste, particularly straw. Burning of rice straw after harvest is one common process in rice farming systems in the country. In fact, the burning of rice straw by farmers can reduce the risk of disease and pest attack in the next season. Although these methods can help in field work, but it invites the problem of pollution of the environment in which rice straw burning in an open can affect air quality and local residents. More seriously, it invited the occurrence of road accidents caused by burning of thick smoke. This is evident when a serious road accident in the North-South Highway in early 2004 involving 20 vehicles due to open burning.
Benefits from recycle the paddy straw will reduce the dependence on chemicals and to move towards more natural and healthier methods of food production. Besides, this will help farmers to increase their sosio-economic and also country income. This is also reducing the cost of animal feeding. Waste agricultural of paddy straw will reduce indiscriminate disposal or burning of waste products which cause both soil, water and air pollution. Fertility of the soil is maintained by recycle of the paddy straw. There are several ways that we can recycle the rice straw:
Paper making
Mushroom culture
Livestock feed
Animal bedding
Handicraft
Ingredient in animal feed
Mulching mat for erosion control
Biofuel
Wood substitute (particle board, fire-retardant board etc.)
Fiber board
Compost and vermiculture
Chemical extraction (ethanol, polymer precursors, etc.)
Vermicomposting is the breakdown of organic material that, in contrast to composting, involves the joint action of earthworms and micro-organisms and does not involve the generation of high heat as is with composting. The worms consume organic wastes such as food waste, animal waste, agricultural waste and turn and fragment the waste which produces a soil conditioner. Waste produced from rice plants can be used as a whole. Straw can be used as fertilizer or animal feed, husk to litter, rice bran for animal feed and straw as a medium for fungal growth. The benefit of rice as animal feed ingredients can be improved in two ways, namely by optimize the digestive tract environment or by increasing the nutritional value of straw. Optimization of the digestive tract, especially rumen environment, can be done by providing supplemental feed material that is able to trigger the growth of fiber-digesting rumen microbes as a source of protein feedstuffs.
Figure show The Mushroom cultivation of paddy straw.
The benefiting of sugarcane
Bagasse is among the world’s most widely used and available non wood fibres. Bagasse is the most eco-friendly renewable resource for paper making. Bagasse is the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice. It is currently used as a biofuel and as a renewable resource in the manufacture of pulp and paper products and building materials. Agave bagasse is a similar material which consists of the tissue of the blue agave after extraction of the sap.
Paper mills located close to sugar cane farming regions can take advantage of a year-round supply of fibre, as bagasse (waste from sugar cane after extraction) can be stored in warehouses and used on demand.
For each 10 tonnes of sugarcane crushed, a sugar factory produces nearly 3 tonnes of wet bagasse. Since bagasse is a by-product of the cane sugar industry, the quantity of production in each country is in line with the quantity of sugarcane produced.
The high moisture content of bagasse, typically 40 to 50%, is detrimental to its use as a fuel. Generally, bagasse is stored prior to further processing. For electricity production, it is stored under moist conditions and the mild exothermic reaction which results from the degradation of residual sugars dries the bagasse pile slightly. For paper and pulp production, it is normally stored wet in order to assist in removal of the short pith fibres which impede the papermaking process as well as to remove any remaining sugar.A typical chemical analysis of bagasse might be (on a washed and dried basis) is cellulose 45-55%, hemicellulose 20-25%, lignin 18-24%, ash 1-4% and waxes <1%.
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Bagasse is an extremely inhomogeneous material comprising around 30-40% of “pith” fibre which is derived from the core of the plant and is mainly parenchyma material, and “bast”, “rind” or “stem” fibre which comprises the balance and is largely derived from sclerenchyma material. These properties make bagasse particularly problematic for paper manufacture and have been the subject of a large body of literature.
Paper mills located close to sugar cane farming regions can take advantage of a year-round supply of fibre, as bagasse (waste from sugar cane after extraction) can be stored in warehouses and used on demand.
Bagasse is used to make disposable food containers, replacing materials such as styroform, which are increasingly regarded as environmentally unacceptable. Bagasse is considered a renewable material because it is the waste material from sugacane, a crop that is harvested annually. In addition, several bagasse products have been certified 100% compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute. Bagasse products have many qualities that allow them to be an environmentally friendly substitute without sacrificing quality. These attributes include high water/oil temperature resistance, as well as safe for use in microwave and freezer.
Around 5-10% of paper production worldwide is produced from agricultural crops, valuing agricultural paper production at between $5 and $10 billion. One of the most notable of these is bagasse. Paper production is the second largest revenue stream from bagasse, after electricity cogeneration. Using agricultural crops rather than wood has the advantage of reducing deforestation. It is thought that bagasse has the added advantage over other forms of papermaking feedstock in that it requires fewer greenhouse gases to collect, compared to harvesting of wood chips, as the fibre has already been transported to the factory for extracting the sugar.
However, there has not been a full life cycle analysis to support this claim. Due to the ease with which bagasse can be chemically pulped; bagasse requires less bleaching chemicals than wood pulp to achieve a bright, white sheet of paper. The fibers vary in length depending on the country and cane variety but are typically about 1.3 to 1.7 mm long. Bagasse fibres are well suited for tissue, corrugating medium, newsprint, and writing paper.
The benefiting of corn waste
Corn waste converted to chemicals
Biofuel waste could be turned into building blocks for industrial chemicals, the enzyme-based process developed by European scientists which is Tijs Lammens, at Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and colleagues studied about the conversion of glutamic acid to -aminobutyric acid (GABA) using a decarboxylase enzyme.
Glutamic acid is a major component of the waste formed when grains, such as corn or maize, are converted into bioethanol. Because glutamic acid contains nitrogen, it could be used to make nitrogen-containing industrial chemicals more cheaply than the energy intensive, fossil fuel- and ammonia-based routes that usually used.
GABA is a useful intermediate in the pathway from glutamic acid to industrial chemicals because it can be turned into many useful products. Although the enzymatic conversion of glutamic acid to GABA is known, Lammens showed that the process could be scaled up for industrial production by remove the enzyme in a batch reactor.
“There is a scientific basis for making bulk chemicals from agricultural waste” says Lammens. This study shows industry that this process can be economically be able by using an enzyme.
“Apart from being scalable, this process could also contribute to improving the green credentials and the economics of biofuel production” comments Rafael Luque, a biofuel expert at the University of Cordoba, Spain. The process would be too expensive if only glutamic acid produced by fermentation be used. So the next step is to investigate further if it can isolate amino acids, such as glutamic acid, from agricultural waste streams in a cost effective way.
Uncovered Enzymes Turn Corn Plant Waste into Biofuel
Cellulose (fungi) can cut biofuel costs by enabling existing corn ethanol plants to process cheaper, woody feedstock such as corn stover. The corn stover is the remnants or stover of corn after it’s harvested. It can be a good source of biofuel, especially when combined with the right enzymes.
Visualize three tons of moldy bread. It’s not the most appealing image, but it’s a description of the moist mound of growth media tended by bioscientist Cliff Bradley and his partner, chemical engineer Bob Kearns at their biofuel facility in Butte, Mont., that could help cut ethanol costs at the fuel pump.
The selected soil fungi that eat cellulose which is the hard to digest, structural component of woody plants thrive on the big pile of putrefaction from which certain powerful enzymes. The special enzymes allow standard biofuel plants to produce ethanol at lower cost by replacing some of the high-priced corn (starch) that process with cheaper one which is the corn stover, the waste from the corn plant. It’s also including the leaves, stalks, husks and cobs of the corn or maize plant itself.
Replacing 35 percent of the corn now used in a typical ethanol plant with inexpensive corn stover could save a quarter on each a gallon of ethanol the facility produces, the researchers calculate. And that’s before any blender’s credit or tax benefits from government for processing cellulose. The basic integrated starch cellulose process also works for biofuels produced in Brazil.
Supporting development of the promising new technology is Cupertino, Calif-based AE Biofuels, which has constructed a commercial pilot facility, where the pair demonstrates their integrated fermentation technology to potential licensing customers. The patent pending process “can be a bridge to cellulosic ethanol,” says Andy Foster, executive vice president at AE Biofuels. The use of cellulosic feedstocks effectively enables farmers and producers to squeeze more ethanol from each acre of farmland.
Corn waste into board
The specifics of building your home by getting down to the actual materials, today have been found that this is really interesting product that uses corn husks, remnants after corn is picked, which is currently a waste product.
In a two acre plot of corn, there are enough corn husks left over. Now in 2009, 86 million acres of these husks were created in America. From reading around there is discovered that as these husks brake down, they actually release Co2, but with these boards, it don’t have that release, in fact, it has shown that the boards still remove Co2 which is the resin that use is a non-toxic low-VOC formula that is non-petrochemically based. But, more safely.
Corn waste generate electricity
A team of Penn State researchers found that the corn stover can be used not only to manufacture ethanol, but to generate electricity directly. People are looking at using cellulose to make ethanol,” says Dr. Bruce E. Logan, the Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering. “You can make ethanol from exploded corn stover, but once you have the sugars, you can make electricity directly.”
Logan’s process uses a microbial fuel cell to convert organic material into electricity. Previous work has shown that these fuel cells can generate electricity from glucose and from municipal wastewater and that these cells can also directly generate hydrogen gas.
Corn stalks and leaves, amassing 250 million tons a year, make up a third of the total solid waste produced in the United States. Currently, 90 percent of corn stover is left unused in the field. Corn stover is about 70 percent cellulose or hemicellulose, complex carbohydrates that are locked in chains. A steam explosion process releases the organic sugars and other compounds in the corn waste and these compounds can be fed to microbial fuel cells.
The microbial fuel cells contain two electrodes and anaerobic bacteria. That bacteria do not need oxygen that consume the sugars and other organic material and release electrons. These electrons travel to the anode and flow in a wire to the cathode, producing electrical current. The water in the fuel cell donates positive hydrogen atoms that combine with the electrons and oxygen to form water.
The microbial fuel cells were inoculated with domestic wastewater and a nutrient medium containing glucose, the researchers report in the journal Energy and Fuels. Once established, the bacteria colonies were fed the sugary organic liquid obtained from steam exploding of corn stover.
In essence, there is no organic matter left to cause problems when disposing of the remaining liquid because there is nothing left to oxidize. The process converts all the available energy to electricity. The electrical production is about one watt for every square meter of surface area at about 0.5 volts. A typical light bulb uses 60 watts. To increase wattage, the surface area needs to increase. To increase voltage, fuel cells can be linked in series.
“Producing electricity from steam exploded corn stover adds to the energy diversity of our portfolio,” says Logan. “Electricity can be used to pump water uphill for later use, directly run light, heat and equipment or electrolyze water to create hydrogen.”
The Penn State researcher and colleagues have also used microbial fuel cells and wastewater to produce hydrogen gas directly.
Corn starch is biodegradable material
Biodegradable bag is made of corn starch which is environmentally friendly or as a renewable resources. Biodegradable bag such biodegradable T-shirt bag, biodegradable shopping bag, biodegradable die-cut bag, biodegradable promotional bag, and biodegradable collect bag. It’s materials is come from corn starch. That bag is available in different sizes.
Biodegradable bag is 100% biodegradable bag corn starch bag. Material is 100% BIOGRADE B-F; is a Compostable and Biodegradable plastic based on a blend of thermoplastic starch (TPS), aliphatic polyesters (AP) and natural plasticizers. The testing shows that the plastic film samples used in this test are completely compostable as demonstrated by their 100% disintegration after 3 months and > 90% mineralization in less than 6 months.
The bag has good smell, good touch-feeling, and good strength. Competitive price to the competitor for the same product in western countries. The most important of all, it is enverionment friendly product. The characteristics is the real environment and endurable poll.
Use Corn Stalks as Dairy Heifer Feed
Producers short on forage may want to consider including corn stover in their cattle’s forage rat
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