In my last trip to Uganda, we visited the Devenish project, a model pig farm funded by IrishAid. The project, bring new breed of pigs. The farm is currently functioning at 1/3 of its capacity, with about 30 pigs for breedings. Piglets are sold to farmers.
The farm manager mentioned that their major issue is manure management. The lagoon is already almost full in the few months of operation at 1/3 capacity. The manure is mixed with the water used for cleaning, and is stored in the open lagoon, which produces a lot of green house gazes that could actually be managed (for example with a biodigester).
The lagoon is too small for the farm, also because local farmer do not come and pick the free manure. Indeed local farmer have no idea on how to use it and it is quite difficult to transport liquid manure.
The most worrying part is soaking pit, where the overflow directly infiltrates next to the borehole for drinking water...
It is not very clear to what extend this is a problem at this stage, but in a near future ground water pollution could become a serious problem, especially if the pig intensification is about to bring up more bigger farms.
Better manure management is therefore critical and our team is looking into testing biodigesters in theses systems. A story to follow!
The lagoon is too small for the farm, also because local farmer do not come and pick the free manure. Indeed local farmer have no idea on how to use it and it is quite difficult to transport liquid manure.
It is not very clear to what extend this is a problem at this stage, but in a near future ground water pollution could become a serious problem, especially if the pig intensification is about to bring up more bigger farms.
Better manure management is therefore critical and our team is looking into testing biodigesters in theses systems. A story to follow!
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