Water hyacinth good for compost manure, say reseachers
The problematic water hyacinth can be used to make high quality compost manure by mixing it with paddy straw and cow dung in a simple technique, according to researchers at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
The waterweed has been a big challenge in Lake Victoria and other lakes in the Great Lakes region- choking fish, hindering navigation and even hindering effective flow of irrigation water in rice rowing regions.
ICRISAT scientists are now working towards developing digital tools and techniques to monitor this weed using satellite data thus, facilitating efficient utilisation of water hyacinth biomass.
“Utilisation of water hyacinth biomass through aerobic composting technique has potential for wide-scale adoption and impact,” observed Dr Aviraj Datta, Scientist, ICRISAT Development Center
Dr Datta said scaling-up of such interventions is possible even for large-scale infested water bodies such as Lake Victoria in Africa, which has an approximate water surface area of 59,947 square kilometres.
According to the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), the water hyacinth covers around 17,000 hectares of Lake Victoria waters on the Kenyan side alone. This is roughly five per cent of the Kenya’s lake water surface.
The researcher also noted that for efficient utilisation of water hyacinth biomass on such a large scale requires on-ground data.
Digital tools have the potential to assess details about the biomass quantity expected during different seasons on a large water body on a real-time basis.
Scientists are now developing tools based on drones, apps, and satellite data to capture data to monitor large-scale water hyacinth infestation for eventual harvesting.
They can enhance preparedness to develop a financially viable business model for a large-scale processing unit based on weed mining.
“The combination of the known science of composting and cutting-edge AI-based tools aims to turn the global challenge into an opportunity,” said Dr Sreenath Dixit, Global Research Programme Director, Resilient Farm and Food Systems, ICRISAT.
