About 25,000 million tons of feathers are thrown away every year. ‘ As a result of the amount of feather waste generated, India is currently ranked fifth in terms of waste disposal. Sri Dharani Agrotech, a DBT-Birac supported startup (‘wealth from waste’ project), has developed technology to convert chicken feather waste into poultry feed & organic mature efforts by the Sri Padmavat Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam to turn it into feed and soil nutrients are being pursued.
Key Highlight:
- An estimated 25,000 million tonnes of feathers are thrown away around the world.
- India is ranked fifth in the world for the amount of feather waste generated.
- Efforts by the Sri Padmavat Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam to turn it into feed and soil nutrients are being pursued.
- The process is complete with the extraction of three products, making it completely eco-friendly.
- Poultry farmers can now make their nutritional feed from feathers.
Chicken feather, a long-lasting pollutant that permeates the area around a poultry farm, is challenging to dispose of because it decomposes slowly. However, this problem can be solved by converting the waste into chicken feed and soil nutrients, which is being done by the Sri Padmavati Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.
According to a study, with the processing of 400 million chicks worldwide every week, an estimated 25,000 million tonnes of feathers are thrown away around the world.
Like hair, feathers are examples of pure keratin proteins, in which nutrients are locked up and bound in keratines. ” Fifteenth in the world for the amount of feather waste generated, India uses landfills or incinerators to dispose of it. Retired microbiology professor V.V. Lakshmi’s project under DSIR’s Promotion of Research in Individuals, Startups and MSMEs (PRISM) adheres to the adage ‘wealth from waste’ by repurposing waste material. A grant from DBT’s Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) helped raise the project’s profile and expand its scope (BIG).
Chemical treatment can be used to process keratin waste, but it is either low in nutritional value or economically uncompetitive and thus is not considered a viable option.
Animal feed and organic fertilizer can be made from feather meal. Still, the slow release of nitrogen makes it less nutritive and less profitable. Dr. Lakshmi started a fermentation process by introducing soil microorganisms from Tirumala. When it comes to biotech and biomedical industries, the keratenase enzyme is a sought-after product. It is isolated within three days of harvesting. Organic manure and poultry feed are made from the resulting Keratenase Treated Feather (KTF).
Dr. Lakshmi exclaims, “The process is complete with the extraction of three products, making it completely eco-friendly.” Poultry farmers can now make their nutritional feed from feathers, allowing them to compete with fish waste and soyabean.
Women Biotechnology Incubation Facility (WBIF) at the SPMVV campus is now home to her startup ‘Sri Dharani Agrotech,’ mentored by IKP Knowledge Park, Hyderabad. Patents have been filed for an indigenous method of making organic fertilizer from feather waste.
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