Effectiveness of biogas pit construction movement

(Baonghean) -After 10 years (2003-2013) participating in the Project "Supporting Livestock Development in Some Provinces in Vietnam" implemented by the Department of Livestock, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Netherlands Development Cooperation Organization (SNV), the movement to build biogas digesters in Nghe An has brought practical results, contributing to solving environmental pollution, creating a source of fertilizer for production and a source of energy for lighting.

As one of the provinces with the leading livestock movement in the country, Nghe An currently has over 750,000 cows, 1.3 million pigs, 15 million poultry, and many concentrated farms. If in the past, waste in livestock farming was a difficult problem for livestock households as well as for the community, since the movement to build biogas tanks supported by the Project "Supporting Livestock Development in Some Provinces in Vietnam" in terms of technology, techniques and part of the funding, the existing difficulties surrounding the waste in livestock farming of households have been solved.

The biogas program (BGP) is supported by the Dutch Government, divided into 3 phases: Phase I (2003-2006): implemented in 12 provinces and cities; Bridging phase (2006): preparation for phase II; Phase II (2007-2014): implementation of the project nationwide. From 2003 to present, the whole province has built 7,928 BGP works that meet standards, built according to KT1, KT2 designs, the size of the works built by people is from 6-15 m3, the cost is from 4 - 12 million VND/work. Many districts have the potential to develop BGP technology such as Dien Chau with more than 1,523 BGP tanks, Quynh Luu 1,013 tanks, Yen Thanh 962 tanks, Thanh Chuong 740 tanks, Nam Dan 618 tanks, ...



Building biogas digester in Hung Tien (Hung Nguyen).

The project management board has organized 9 demonstration sites using waste from biogas tanks in Yen Thanh and Dien Chau districts with 21 participating households. The model was tested on food crops, winter vegetables and monosex tilapia farming. The results were positive and yielded higher income than normal production. In addition, 5 demonstration sites using gas for water heaters and generators in Nghi Loc district were successfully implemented. The project also contributed positively to raising people's awareness of reducing environmental pollution in livestock waste treatment. In Dien Nguyen commune (Dien Chau), there are currently 1,000 biogas plants and here, the construction of biogas plants in livestock farming has been included in the resolution of the People's Council of the commune. This proves that local authorities have really paid attention to this issue.

Mr. Vo Van Sinh's pig farm in Quan Bau ward - Vinh city has over 20 breeding pigs. Previously, because the farm's waste treatment system was not effective, the neighborhood had many opinions about the environmental pollution issue. In 2008, when hearing information about waste treatment in livestock farming using biogas tanks, Mr. Sinh researched and spent money to build a biogas tank with a capacity of over 500m3, under the technical guidance of agricultural extension officers. Since then, his family's project has been in good use, not only completely solving the problem of environmental pollution but also helping his family have more energy for lighting and cooking. Mr. Sinh also said that biogas by-products are also used by his family such as: residue as fertilizer, wastewater used to water vegetables... The same is true for Ms. Tran Thi Binh's family in Trung Nghia block, Dong Vinh ward. Previously, waste from pig farming was mainly discharged into ditches, causing environmental pollution. The residential area had opinions, but Ms. Thuong still had not found a solution.

In 2009, after being informed by agricultural extension officers about the biogas project, her family built a biogas tank worth over 10 million VND, with a capacity of over 11m3. Of which, the Dutch Government project supported 1.2 million VND. Ms. Binh was excited: Since the biogas tank was put into use, all waste from livestock farming has been collected for fuel and lighting. Thanks to biogas, each day we can cook over 20 liters of alcohol for sale, used for daily cooking, saving fuel costs from 600,000-800,000 VND/month. According to Ms. Luong Thi Tan in Hung Tien commune - Hung Nguyen: Previously, her family raised pigs for meat, so they built a biogas tank and found it very effective. Now, due to the epidemic and expensive food, they no longer raise pigs, but her family still uses a biogas tank from chicken manure and waste.

However, in the past 2 years, the number of biogas digesters built has decreased. In 2012 alone, the whole province built more than 637 projects, while the target assigned by the province was 1,000 projects. Mr. Cao Xuan Tuan - an officer of the provincial Agricultural Extension Center said: The main reason is that in recent years, there has been a blue ear disease epidemic, so farmers are afraid of risks, the price of feed in livestock farming has increased, the selling price of livestock products is unstable, leading to farmers reducing the scale and number of livestock households. Besides, there is another reason that the current support cost is low (1,200,000 VND/project, only accounting for 15-20% of the people's spending to build a small project), thereby creating a waiting mentality of some households.

After 10 years of implementation, the biogas technology project has contributed to promoting sustainable livestock development, reducing environmental pollution, limiting deforestation for fuel, and creating new energy sources for households. However, in order for this model to be more effective, it requires specific and close attention and direction from leaders at all levels as well as support and propaganda policies for people, especially in remote areas.

Hai Yen (Nghe An Center for Science, Technology and Informatics Information)