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“Making the Farm Machineries more Energy Efficient to Develop
Competitive Advantage of Farmers” (EEFarM)
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The farmers are increasingly loosing their
product profitability because of rapid increase of cost of
various inputs – seed, fertilizer, pesticide, labour, fuel,
etc. Moreover, due to various market failures, such as
distribution, market syndicates, hoarding, etc.,
availability of these products particularly fuel and
fertilizer are severely hampering the desired profitability
and sustenance of farmers. It was found that the critical
factor in the overall cost is the gradual increase of price
of diesel – the primary fuel used for irrigation, tilling
and harvesting equipments. |
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The
importance of lowering production cost of the agriculture
produce is increasingly getting significance in the country. A
typical cost analysis of the most significant crop i.e., the
boro rice in dry season shows that apart from cost of seed,
fertilizer and pesticides which is 41% of total production cost,
the major cost of production lies in cost of diesel which is 37%
(25% for irrigation, 10% for tilling and 3% for threshing).
This project intends to lower the production cost of farming
through the use of low-cost alternatives fuels available in the
market i.e., CNG/LPG. LPG as an alternative to diesel fuel in
irrigation can save 12% cost total production which is 47% of
irrigation cost. ChangeMaker has developed a low-cost technology
for converting existing farm machineries into CNG/LPG.
ChangeMaker
would develop private sector enterprises for conversion, create
awareness among the farmers (market development and promotion),
increase their access to this new technology (linking them with
MFIs) and develop supply chain for CNG/LPG gas so that the
farmers can easily access this fuel. Currently LPG, which is
primarily used for cooking) has a fairly established nation wide
network.
Bangladesh
is a petroleum importing country. Only for irrigation. it
imports about 8.25 million barrels of diesel which accounts
close to 595 million USD. By using CNG/LPG, the country can save
about 50% of this cost. Apart from this the importance of using
LPG/CNG in diesel operated engines has great environmental
benefits. The major benefits of using alternative are given
below:
1.
Lowering cost:
a.
Energy Cost Savings: Provides increased
flexibility in fuel use thus resulting in cost savings to users.
b.
Reduction of Maintenance Cost: Reduces engine
maintenance because it burns a cleaner fuel.
c.
Waste Reduction - Reduces oil and filter
replacement and disposal.
2.
Reducing Environmental Pollution:
a.
Emissions - Reduces amount of emissions released
into the atmosphere, especially particulates and NOX.
National interest in developing alternative fuels for Internal
Combustion (IC) engines continues to be strong due to high price
of diesel fuel in the national as well as international market,
environmental concerns and the given uncertainties involving the
future availability of fossil fuel. This interest lies in
identifying alternative sources of fuel energy supply. Natural
gas has been the main alternative sources of fuel for IC engines
in Bangladesh. So, recent interest has centered on the use of
natural gas/petroleum gas in diesel engine. ChangeMaker has
identified the supply chain of LPG in the local market. The
project intends to strengthen the private sector supply chain of
the conversion kit for an uninterrupted and sustainable
provision of the kit. |
