Cow dung products by rural Chhattisgarh women selling online now

Chhattisgarh had earlier initiated a scheme called ‘Godhan Nyay Yojana’, to buy cow dung from dairy farmers at ₹2 per kg to offer them financial support.

Thousands of rural and poor women engaged in making products from cow dung in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district have received a fillip with the administration now ensuring that their products reach a wider market through e-commerce platforms, following a rising demand including from other states, said an official.

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Cow dung products such as manure, cow dung cakes (used as fuel), diyas (lamps) and flower pots made by more than 4,000 women of 354 self-help groups (SHGs) are now available on e-commerce platforms with the help of administration, officials claimed.

Cow dung products now available Online

“Rajnandgaon has become the first district of the state to sell products made from cow dung on online platforms. Till now, manure and other products made of cow dung worth ₹5 crore have been sold to help the women of the district. Online sale, which started a few days ago, has sold products worth ₹1 lakh so far. The aim is to further increase makers’ profits by expanding the market leading to increase in production. The online sale has increased in the last few days,” said Taran Prakash Sinha, collector Rajnandgaon.

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The collector added that around 365 Gauthans or cowsheds are engaged in this work using 66,400 quintals of cow dung procured by the administration under a state government scheme this year.

Chhattisgarh had earlier initiated a scheme called ‘Godhan Nyay Yojana’, to buy cow dung from dairy farmers at ₹2 per kg to offer them financial support.

1.5 crore vermicompost sold

“Till now, 53,000 quintals of vermicompost worth ₹1.5 crore, made by women self help groups, have been sold. Earlier, manure was being sold only at the cowsheds, but now it is selling online on platforms such as Amazon due to the increasing demand for manure from other states as well. So far, orders worth lakhs of rupees have been received from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other states,” the collector said.

Mehtareen Yadav, a woman engaged in Jai Maa Vaishnavi Swayam Sahayata Samuh- a self help group, claimed to have earned ₹8,000 by selling cow dung made products in the last 6 months.

“I have been told that the administration is selling our cow dung products online now. We hope we can earn more now,” she said.