ICAR-IARI Explores Potential Of Bio-enriched Manure Made Of Steel Industry Byproducts In Agriculture
Expert believes technology represents a potential opportunity, where waste generated by one sector is converted into a useful input for another, reports Chanchal Mukherjee.
Published : September 2, 2026 at 7:12 PM IST
|Updated : September 2, 2026 at 8:54 PM IST
New Delhi: Dr Bhupender Singh, principal scientist and radiological safety officer in the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-IARI), maintains that industry waste, iron ore tailings and steel slag, can be managed in an environment-friendly and sustainable manner by converting it into bio-enriched manure that will help increase farm production by 10-20 per cent and reduce use of chemical fertilizer.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat on Wednesday, Singh said this developed bio-enriched manure can help reduce farmers’ dependence on conventional chemical fertilisers while maintaining, and potentially improving, crop production. It contains more than 10 essential nutrients such as organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, molybdenum, silica, and cobalt that support crops and plants growth and improve soil health.
“Despite using 20 per cent less recommended chemical fertiliser dose, it has shown encouraging results as a 10-20 per cent increase in crop production. There is a lot of potential to convert industrial by-products into useful agricultural inputs,” Singh explained.
The idea of using iron ore tailings (IoT) and steel slag as agricultural manure began taking shape around 2017–18. In 2018, a brainstorming session was organised with the participation of the Ministry of Steel, agriculture universities and representatives from the steel industry. The discussions focused on exploring how industrial by-products could be converted into useful agricultural inputs rather than being dumped or sent to landfills.
“The concept was also inspired by practices in developed countries, where steel slag is already being used in agriculture and IoTs are used in certain applications. However, in India, such industrial waste has largely been used towards construction activities or dumping sites, often without adequate understanding of its long-term environmental implications,” the principal scientist said.
The expert maintains that instead of allowing IoTs and steel slag to be dumped illegally or without proper assessment, there is a need for a clear policy framework and scientific studies to regulate their use. Such a framework could help protect the environment, ensure the production of safe food, maintain agricultural productivity and reduce the dependence on conventional chemical fertilisers.
The project moved from discussions to field-level experimentation in 2019. Although the project and associated collaborations began taking shape in 2018, on-field trials started from 2019, followed by testing and evaluation over the subsequent years. The researchers gradually expanded the trials to assess how the material performed under practical agricultural conditions.
“Trials were eventually conducted across multiple IARI and regional research stations. The first project involving steel slag and related products was tested at around eight locations, including regional research stations at Katrani, Kulum, Kalimpong, Dharwad, Delhi and Karnal along with IARI. These multi-location trials helped researchers evaluate the technology in different soil, climate and cropping conditions,” Singh added.
The next challenge is to take the technology from research stations to farmers. Researchers are now looking towards an appropriate policy and regulatory mechanism, including standards, certification and monitoring, to ensure that such products are scientifically assessed before reaching farmers. At present, there are concerns that industrial waste-based materials could be packaged and sold without adequate regulation or monitoring.
“A formal policy framework could, therefore, serve two purposes: preventing the indiscriminate or illegal dumping of industrial waste and ensuring that only scientifically evaluated and safe products are used in agriculture. This would allow industrial waste to be converted into a productive agricultural input while protecting soil, the environment and food safety,” he said.
Singh believes that the technology can also help reduce India's dependence on imported fertilisers. At present, a significant quantity of urea and other fertiliser inputs is imported and supported through government subsidies. Even if the use of conventional NPK fertilisers — nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) — can be reduced by 10–15 per cent, or potentially by around 20 per cent, it could have a significant impact. Such a reduction would not only lower the country's import requirement but could also help reduce the financial burden of fertiliser subsidies.
He mentioned that the technology, therefore, represents a potential opportunity, where waste generated by one sector is converted into a useful input for another. If the encouraging field results are replicated on a larger scale, the technology could help farmers cut conventional fertilizer use while maintaining or potentially increasing crop production while simultaneously turning mining and steel industry waste into a valuable agricultural resource.
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