On 32-year-old Mandeep Sekhon’s eight-hectare (20-acre) farm in northern Punjab state, the gas for the kitchen stove comes from the manure of eight water buffalos that the family keeps for milk. Started by his grandfather during the 1970s, Sekhon says the off-grid biogas system provides more than his 8-person household needs. “It never turns off, like the electricity does sometimes, and it’s a free resource,” Sekhon said. “It just makes sense, and it’s easy. Why wouldn’t we do it?” The biogas and the compost are useable components of what would otherwise be an idle waste product of Sekhon’s farm. But harvested and used on a small-scale level, the system increases both the farm’s efficiency and yield, in addition to lessening the need for external inputs like natural gas and fertilizer.

India Punjab Mandeep Sekhon biogas biodigester system natural gas alternative off-grid manure poop water buffalo small-scale solution farm farmer farming fertilizer compost water food energy choke point circle of blue wilson center aubrey ann parker

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