Profitable waste

Rice husks and water hyacinths have long been considered waste material in the Mekong Delta.

However, opinions of these products are changing after a joint project (Project VIE/020) with the Luxembourg government was launched to recycle agricultural waste and put water hyacinths to work to help the local economy.

Water hyacinths. A project in the Mekong Delta is looking for ways to make use of the common water weed pest.

Water hyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes) causes headaches for local farmers by impeding river transport, decreasing local biodiversity and carrying germs.

“The water hyacinth can cause disaster if we do not know how to use it, but if we know what to do we can find beneficial uses for it,” said Dr. Do Ngoc Quynh, technical consultant to Project VIE/020.

Project researchers have managed to use hyacinths and other agricultural waste in the production of breeding fish, mushrooms and fish food, said Pham Hong Thai, director of the project management board, at the opening ceremony of the Hoa An Center for Research – Application – Biodiversity.

The center, based in the Mekong Delta’s An Giang Province, is devoted to the project.

Hyacinth extract can help increase the pH (the measure of acidity or alkalinity) of water from 3.2 to 4.5, creating an ideal environment for chlorella algae, the food of some native fish species.

Researchers have also made fertilizers and bio-gas from water hyacinth for local families, Thai said.

About 2,340 farmers in Hau Giang Province have a monthly income of less than VND300,000 (US$18.33) and no land.

They are expected to receive training on how to use agricultural waste like rice husks and hyacinths to improve their income, Quynh said.

The center’s experts will train 450 farmers in the method of processing hyacinths and bio-gas, Quynh said.

A further 1,800 people will be trained in seafood and agriculture farming methods.

“Once it is successful, the project will make a considerable contribution to the transformation of problematic hyacinths into something socio-economically effective in Hau Giang Province in particular and the Mekong Delta in general,” Thai said.

Another source of fuel

The center also introduced husk firewood made from rice husks by a VND15 million ($916.65) pressing machine bought from the southern Tien Giang Province.

The presser is able to produce 70 to 80 kilograms of firewood per hour and consumes around 6 to 7 kilowatts an hour.

Every 1.05 kilograms of husks produces one kilogram of firewood, which is sufficient for cooking a meal for four.

Husk firewood has the diameter of 73 millimeters and the length of 21 centimeters.

Hoa An Center for Research, Application and Biodiversity engineer Phong said husk firewood burnt at a slower pace than husks or charcoal and could be used to cook any kind of food.

It is even suitable for grilling, he said.

Tran Thanh Chac, who lives in the Hoa An Commune, said husk firewood was easy to use.

The most important factor is that the firewood is completely burnt, leaving no waste.

It also has a sweet fragrance.

Other families nearby the center have also given positive feedback about the husk firewood.

However, after the trial period, they have yet to buy the firewood, since their own firewood is easily accessed in the garden.

The price of VND1,000 ($0.06) per kilogram, meanwhile, is not good, according to Truong, who lives in Can Tho City and buys around five to six tons of husk firewood per day for his business.

Phong, meanwhile, says this is just a trial price, adding that the center will transfer the technology to those families who have the need to use it.

The important thing was to encourage rice milling factories to buy the machine to make firewood from rice husks, he said.

It will help tackle the overwhelming amount of rice husks and bring benefits to them.

The three-year-project was started in 2006 with €5 million (US$7.4 million) in sponsorship from the Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation to help local farmers improve their incomes.

Source: TBKTSG, SGTT

Reported by Phu Sa Loc - Gia Khiem