Impact of Agricultural Wastes on Environment and Possible Management Strategies

The world population is growing rapidly and needs more resources exploration. The global population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by the end of 2050, which exerts a huge pressure on the agriculture sector. The agricultural activities increased to meet the need of the rapidly growing population in the past decades. Agricultural activities provide food, feed, and shelter to human. At the same time, the agricultural activities also contribute to global waste generation, environmental threats, and health hazards. At least 1/3 (1.3 billion metric tons/year) of the global food produced is lost as waste each year. Fruits and vegetables cultivation (peels, seeds, sugarcane bagasse, and woody trenches) and processing, dairy and poultry farming (urine, feaces, waste milk, bedding materials, birth tissues, bones, and blood) are the main sources of agricultural waste generation. Agricultural wastes pose threats to environment (CH4 and CO2), release bad smell, and influence the air and water quality, and soil health. These concerns can be addressed by proper management measures. The management practices include 3R technology (reuse, recycling, and reduction), energy recovery from wastes, rational management, bioactive compound recovery, biological application (animal feed and biofuel i.e., bioethanol, biodiesel, and biogas), and conventional food waste management (landfilling, anaerobic digestion, and composting/vermicomposting). Economic incentives can attract industrial sector to waste disposal and generate extra revenue. Similarly, waste can be converted to economical and precious compounds and can provide raw materials for other agro-based industries and generate high revenue and jobs market.