Public perception of the reuse of co-compost from FS in Bhubaneswar (India)

The primary data was collected through surveys, interviews and focus group discussions from farmers, retailers of fertiliser, urban households practicing kitchen gardening (UHPKG), farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and the Odisha State government. The major findings of the study were that only 5.2% of farmers and 28% of UHPKG were willing to consume all food grown with FS co- compost as fertiliser. The remaining 94.8% of farmers and 72% of UHPKG were unwilling to eat all food crops fertilised with FS co-compost for various reasons, namely fear of infection (health risk), socio-cultural taboos and religious beliefs, disgust, bad smell and low awareness of the benefits of the FS co-compost.

Fertiliser retailers do not sell FS co-compost because there is no market or demand, it is not available for them to sell, or it is less profitable and not a reliable business option. FPOs are willing to use FS co-compost and promote it to their members if they are convinced of its health safety, high crop yield, product quality, lack of unpleasant odour, easy access and availability. In addition, the Odisha State government plans to develop a policy for the reuse of FS co-compost and to use the dried sludge from faecal sludge treatment plants (FSTPs) in the next few years to make FS co-compost for reuse in agriculture. Overall, public awareness about FS co-compost reuse in agriculture was very low, which contributed to the negative perceptions held by some stakeholders.