| Summary: | India generates an estimated 3 million tonnes of livestock waste annually, with over half disposed of directly into the environment. This contributes to rising methane emissions and accounts for nearly 9.54 percent of national livestock-related methane output. Improper waste management has been linked to zoonotic disease outbreaks, which represent 8.3 percent of all reported disease events. Livestock rearing in Uttarakhand typically complements household livelihoods, yet its growing waste footprint presents escalating environmental and public health risks.
This study analyzes stakeholder perceptions, preferences, and barriers related to livestock waste recovery solutions in Uttarakhand, focusing on implications for circular bioeconomy pathways and pollution reduction in major tributaries of the Ganges. A household survey of 597 livestock farmers was conducted across Dehradun (42 percent) and Haridwar (58 percent), proportional to their rural population shares. Results show widespread reliance on open dumping (62 percent) and limited awareness (52 percent) of associated health impacts. About 65 percent of respondents expressed willingness to adopt resource recovery practices like composting and biogas generation at household scale although identifying constraints like limited time, unclear financial returns, and low familiarity with biogas systems.
Although community-based models offer advantages such as lower operational costs, local energy access, and collective waste management, respondents mentioned about challenges related to capital mobilization, governance gaps, and conflict management limit uptake. The findings underscore that effective policy and investment strategies must account for farmers' risk preferences and design business models that balance individual autonomy with cooperative benefits to enable sustainable and inclusive livestock waste recovery in Uttarakhand.
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