October 8, 1995
Web posted at: 12:10 p.m. EDT (1610 GMT)
From Correspondent Ashis Ray
BANGALORE, India (CNN) -- Some call him trash baron. Others label him garbage king. Either way, 36-year-old Rangegowda Ganesha doesn't mind his title. Garbage is his business and he's cashing in on it.
Ganesha's company collects garbage from Bangalore and dumps it at a farm on the outskirts of the city. There, non-degradable substances are separated out, leaving only organic wastes. Then agro-wastes are added and countless earthworms are let loose on the mess (995K QT movie). The worms break down the organic matter into smaller compositions. These, mixed with microbes and bacteria produced in a laboratory, become organic manure. It is said to be a boon for Indian farmers.
"He can save earth, plus he can get more productivity at lesser cost. So, we call it Black Gold," Ganesha said.
Black Gold is half the price of comparable chemical fertilizers and is particularly suitable for soils growing tea or coffee. Ganesha hopes to expand to at least 20 Indian cities in a couple of years, when he would handle 600,000 tons of garbage and produce 150,000 tons of organic manure.
Converting garbage into organic manure has been talked about in India for a long time, but it had never been implemented in a big way. Instead, India had continued to rely on chemical fertilizers, which can damage the top soil. Environment-friendly organic manure does no such damage. And with the profit motive to spur garbage collection, Indian cities could end up cleaner and healthier, too.
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