USE OF COW DUNG

Manure or cow dung as called in India, finds its use in various places in traditional Indian culture. Manure is known in many Indian languages as
go-var; go meaning cow and var meaning boon. It indicates how much the traditional Indians revered this excrement. Even the sacred texts of
India, the vedas, which condemn all forms of excrements as abominable, hail cow dung as all auspicious. So much so that one finds is use in
many sacred ceremonies and worship. So what’s so special about cow dung?
From a pure utility perspective, cow dung is one of the best forms of natural fertilizer. Application of cow dung for soil enrichment is an age old
agricultural practice which was lost post introduction of chemical fertilizers. With rising demand for chemical free food and growing acceptance
of organic farming, cow dung forms a very important link in chemical free farming.
Another growing trend is the use of cow dung in producing biogas, a cheap alternative source of energy that can be used as a fuel for cooking or
to even produce electricity. Researchers at Hewlett Packard Co.’s HP Labs have found ways to power their data servers using cow manure. So its
not just milk and food, but cows can even help us power our laptops and ipods!
Cow Dung Fact and Statistics
Dung available from one fully grown cow/ bull is around 5.4 tonnes per annum. so dry dung will be around 54. x 0.30 = 1620 kg per annum. This
is equivalent to 712 kg of dry wood. This amount of wood comes from 6 large trees. So by keeping one old cow or bull alive we protect 6 large
trees per annum from felling.
Around beginning of 20th century states where cow slaughter was banned only cow dung cakes were used for pryre to give agni samskar to dead
bodies as per vedic custom. So that much forest was saved as that many tree were not cut. A tree has great value when it is alive. It decreases
pollution, maintains rain cycle, turns CO2 into O2 etc etc. It also provieds shade, fruits, flowers. Also as forest were cut down to provide fuel we
saw that many medicinal herbs easily available in forests were lost because of deforestation.
By killing of one old bull we deplete cow dung cakes required for funeral pyre of 10 people per year. So if a bull is allowed to live for 10 years
beyond the age of slaughter then he can provide for 100 people funeral pyre thus protecting many full grown trees.
In Vedic culture there are 16 samskaras. These samskaras are ment to put a person in right state of consciousness or mind. In performing all the
samskaras actually cow dung is required. So in abscence of dung the vedic culture cannot exist.
Also most of ayurvedic medicines are to be prepared on slowly burnning cow dung cakes. Without using the dung cakes the medicines don’t get
proper medical properties. Actually on one side government is making a show of giving encouragement to ayurveda and on other side allowing
cow slaughter there by creating shortage of cow dung cakes. This is nothing but duplicity.
Ayurveda cannot exist without cow dung and urine. If such medicines are made on fire coal or electricity then it is like running a petrol vehicle
on kerosene. It can’t work and even if it works it won’t work properly. Similarly ayuvedic medicines have to be made on cow dung cakes only to
have full effect.
For eg for hundreds of years mid wifes in Indian villages had been using cow dung fomentation to pregnant women, small babies and women
who had just delivered babies. These mid wives used to give cow dung cake fomentation to babies and just delivered women with burnning dung
which would take care of all there health. But with abscence of cow dung cakes the health of so many ladies is sacrificed. Because of loss and
abscence of this lakhs and crores of ladies are inflicted with diseases associated with child birth and painful life there after till death.
Source:mgdas.com/2010/07/cow-dung-facts-and-statistics/
Good uses for cow dung
1. Fuel - cow dung patties (gootte) for cooking
2. Fertilizer - composting makes it even more powerful
3. Heat source - cow dung is naturally hot -compost makes hotter put in glass house to heat glass house or run pipes thru it to get hot water.
4. Purifier - natural antiseptic qualities
5. Floor coating - used mixed with mud and water on floors in mud houses. Improves water absorption of mud. Prevents muddy puddles resulting
from spilt water.
6. Mud brick additive - improves resistance to disintegration
7. Smoke producer - smoldering cow patties keep away mosquitoes. Can also make smoked paneer over such smoke. Tastes great in pasta! Ash -
from patties used in cooking.
8. Pot cleaner - used dry absorbs oil and fat wet as a general cleaner
9. Brass polisher - tamarind removes oxidation - wet ashes polishes
10. Fertilizer - alkaline - cow dung ash is basically lime with a few other mineral mixed in
11. Mud additive - dries up slippery mud puddles
12. Mud brick additive - mud and lime (cow dung ashes) becomes like cement
13. Pond PH balancer - thrown into pond neutralizes acid.
14. Tooth polish -
15. Sun-dried organic recreational-aerodynamic-device -cow patty Frisbees
16. Fan for fire - large cow patties can be used as make shift fans.
17. Deity worship - ingredient in panca gavya
18. Skin tonic - mixed with crushed neem leaves smeared on skin - good for boils and heat rash.