Assessment of indigenous mound burning practice using animal and human waste in Myanmar | |
| Author | Mya Hpoo Ngone |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.EV-18-02 |
| Subject(s) | Sanitation--Myanmar Sewage sludge--Developing countries |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Engineering and Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. EV-18-02 |
| Abstract | Degradation of soil fertility is threatening the sustainability of the global agricultural production system, especially in developing countries. Unimproved onsite sanitation systems along with inappropriate disposal of faecal sludge (FS) are predominant in rural and urban areas of low-income countries where animal wastes are often used as soil fertilizer, but the use of human wastes, having high nutrient values, is still limited. Since global issues of waste disposal and soil infertility are becoming more serious, improvement of mound or heap burning, an indigenous agricultural practice in Myanmar could be a promising option in solving soil quality degradation and recover resources from organic wastes. In traditional mound burning (MB) practice, dried cow dung (CD) is burnt and covered with soil to form a mound. Due to the expansion of mechanized agriculture system, cattle breeding rate is decreasing with the decreased availability of cow manure. Poor FS management system with inappropriate FS disposal is contributing the frequent diarrhoea infections caused by pathogen contamination in the study area. This research was conducted to; (1) examine the nutrient recovery from MB practice with respect to different sizes of mound, maturation period, nutrient distribution dynamic and feasibility of replacing CD with FS in MB, (2) identify the environmental challenges of the practice, such as pathogens contamination and air pollution, and (3) find out knowledge and perception of farmers and consumers in using FS on farms and FS fertilized crops. Field experiments of MB were conducted in Kyauk Pon village, Ywa Ngan Township in the Taunggyi District of Shan State, Myanmar, to study plant available nutrient recovery and perception of farmers. Air emission analysis experiments were done under hood condition in Energy Park, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) campus, Pathum Thani, Thailand. Out of three different ratio/sizes of mound, both MBFS (1) and MBCD (1) contributed pathogen free product with maximum nutrient values. In both sizes of mound plant nutrients such as available nitrogen (nitrate), phosphorous and potassium were increased from 9 ± 0.5 to 140 ± 6 and 5 ± 1 to 139 ± 3 mg kg-1, 353 ± 3 to 686 ± 1 and 355 ± 6 to 753 ± 7 mg kg-1, and 13 ± 2 to 29 ± 3 and 26 ± 1 mg kg-1 in MBFS and MBCD, respectively, after the 3-month maturation period. Nutrient recovery from both biomass (FS and CD) used in MB was comparable, indicating the feasibility of using FS in MB. Moreover, it is observed that nutrients were recovered diversely within a single mound (by analysis of samples from different sampling points in a mound). The emission factors of CO, NOx, PM2.1 and PM10 from both MBFS and MBCD were comparable to other burning processes. The perceptions of farmers in the study area also revealed that 80% of respondents preferred to use the dried/treated FS in their farms, which was similar to the perceptions of consumers. This research revealed that MB could recover the nutrients from both human and animal wastes, which could then be used as fertilizers applied in agricultural fields with less environmental impact from pathogen contamination and air pollution. |
| Year | 2018 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. EV-18-02 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Thammarat Koottatep; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Chongrak Polprasert;Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh;Anal, Anil Kumar;Jung, Jinyoung ; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2018 |