Micro-AD for India’s Smallholders
Company: National Dairy Development Board (NDDB)
Country: India
The Decentralised Biogas Model, promoted by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), demonstrates how household biogas plants can be transformed into a scalable Micro-Anaerobic Digestion (Micro-AD) system that delivers clean energy, sustainable agriculture, women-led enterprise development, and climate benefits. Designed for India’s smallholder dairy farmers, the model integrates household digesters (having 2 cubic meter biogas generation capacity per digester) with slurry aggregation and processing unit in a cluster form, ensuring full utilisation of both biogas and digestate. By converting surplus slurry into Fertiliser Control Order (FCO) compliant organic fertilizers and aggregating micro-scale assets for carbon finance, the initiative eliminates waste, improves soil health, reduces dependence on imported LPG and chemical fertilisers, and generates new income streams. Successfully implemented and replicated across multiple states, the Zakariyapura Model offers a proven, decentralised blueprint for micro and small-scale AD systems with measurable economic, environmental, and social impact.
