Talking Shit

Animal dung (“shit” is in very common parlance here, but I’ll stick with one of the words that is more acceptable to the American ear) has been used for centuries as a building material among many cultures around the world. In India, it still is. Today, we spent a few hours patching holes in the wall of the seed bank and re-covering the floor in a mixture of clay and cow dung. In talking about cow dung, I will be referring to this clay/dung mixture simply as “cow dung.”

Cow dung is excellent at regulating temperatures, which is why it is such an important building material in the seed bank, where the temperature needs to remain relatively stable to ensure the viability of the seeds. Seed saving is one of the main reasons the Navdanya farm exists, helping to maintain a genetic diversity among the crops that farmers can grow in India against the growing threat of hybrid and GMO seeds and seed patenting.

In addition to the building itself being made from cow dung, a few of the storage methods for the seeds also use cow dung. Baskets are woven and covered in cow dung to maintain a stable internal temperature, and large metal containers used to store seeds are sealed with cow dung. Though Navdanya uses other methods of seed storage in order to provide examples for farmers to use the option that best suits their available resources, these two methods are considered to be the best for safely storing seeds for use next year.

The process is simple: take clay, mix in water and cow dung, apply to the necessary surface, and smooth out with water. To re-apply the floor, use a more liquid moisture than used on the walls. Sheela Didi, one of the staff members here, taught us the process and supervised our work, frequently chiming in with “Sister, you missed a spot.” (“Didi” in Hindi means “sister” as well.)

The floor after our re-application.

Those of you who know about my job perhaps already know my favorite part of the tours I give at Traders Point Creamery: the manure. I love talking about the recycling process that we use and how much sense it makes compared to industrial farming models. Well, Navdanya also recycles cow dung other than as a building material: composting. The primary method of composting is vermicomposting, but their worms live a very different life than mine do at home: they only eat cow dung. Navdanya has found that this type of processing of the manure and the use of only dung in the compost pits provides the most beneficial nutrients to the fields.

The cow dung must sit in the shade for 10-15 days to dry out. The moisture level is tested by squeezing a handful of it – if a few drops of water come out, it is perfect; if no water comes out, they need to add some water; if a stream of water comes out, they leave it to sit longer. They add it into the worm pits (again, created with simple construction so that the farmers they train can easily replicate the process) with 1 kg of worms for 150 kg of dung, let it sit for about 45 days, turning it after 30, and then harvest it and put it on the fields within 6 months (if they aren’t applying it immediately, they put it in jute bags and store in the shade).

Many of the other composting methods also use cow dung in various quantities and methods. Anandji, our teacher for the composting lesson, said that cow dung is more beneficial than that of other animals, although dung from other animals can be used.

Finally, there is a biogas generator on the farm that seals cow dung in an anaerobic environment and captures the methane for use in cooking. We were told that they only get enough to make the chai here, but there are only six cows on the farm, and they do so many other things with the manure as well.

Perhaps this is why cows in India are considered sacred, along with their use as draft animals and to provide milk out of plants that are inedible to humans.