Turning Fish Waste Into Fertiliser: What India’s ‘Waste-To-Wealth’ Breakthrough Means For African Farmers
On any busy fish market day in Mzilikazi, Birchenough Bridge, or Mbare, you see the same sight: piles of heads, guts, and bones heaped in corners, buzzing with flies and edging towards the nearest drain. For most cities, fish waste is a nuisance to be hauled away or, too often, dumped in the open.
In Chennai, on India’s south-eastern coast, scientists have taken that same problem and turned it into a product that feeds crops and ponds instead of landfills. Their work offers a template African coastal and lakeside communities could adapt from Beira to Beitbridge.
Researchers at the ICAR–Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) have developed two soil‑friendly, fish‑waste biofertilisers that they say can replace part of the chemical fertiliser load in both aquaculture and crop fields — while cleaning up a major waste stream.
Their products, CIBA‑PlanktonPlus and CIBA‑HortiPlus, are derived entirely from fish market waste. Early results from multi‑state field trials in India suggest they can boost yields, cut chemical fertiliser use, and restore tired soils.
From Fish Gut To Farm Input
India produces nearly 195 lakh tonnes of fish every year. That success comes with a hidden cost: more than 60 lakh tonnes of fish waste, much of which is poorly managed.
Scientists at CIBA looked at those heaps of offal and saw not just a sanitation headache, but a nutrient mine. According to the institute, this waste stream could yield about 48 lakh tonnes of CIBA‑PlanktonPlus and 3 lakh tonnes of CIBA‑HortiPlus annually if fully processed.
“These products represent a win‑win solution by addressing the twin challenges of scientific fish waste disposal and the growing need for eco‑friendly nutrient sources that enhance soil fertility and agricultural productivity,” said CIBA director Kuldeep K. Lal.
CIBA‑PlanktonPlus is formulated for aquaculture, while CIBA‑HortiPlus is a solid organic manure for crops. Both are built around the same idea: take fish waste that would otherwise rot in markets or dumps and turn it into a controlled, value‑adding input farmers can buy and apply.
FFA Explainer:
Biofertilisers are products that contain living micro‑organisms or biologically active compounds. They help plants by improving nutrient availability, soil structure, or biological activity. Unlike straight chemical fertilisers, they often build long‑term soil health while still supporting good yields.
CIBA‑PlanktonPlus: Supercharging Ponds, Saving Feed
Lal says CIBA‑PlanktonPlus has already been tested in real farms across aquaculture‑heavy Indian states including Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha.
The results reported are striking:
- Fish and shrimp pond production increased by 0,6–0,8 tonnes per hectare;
- Survival rates improved by 10% to 15%;
- Feed requirements dropped by 20% to 50%.
In pond systems where feed is usually the single biggest cost, cutting feed use nearly in half can transform profit margins. For small‑scale fish farmers around Lake Kariba, Lake Malawi, or the Niger Delta, that kind of saving could be the difference between scraping by and reinvesting.
PlanktonPlus works by stimulating the growth of natural plankton in ponds. Those tiny organisms form the base of the food web, feeding fish and shrimp directly and cleaning the water as they grow.
Better water quality and more natural food mean lower disease risk and less purchased feed. The product also recycles organic matter that would otherwise create pollution when dumped.
FFA Explainer:
In many African ponds, farmers rely heavily on commercial pellets or chicken mash. If they can boost natural productivity in the water — with fertilisers built from local waste streams — they reduce cash outflows and make systems more resilient when feed prices spike.
CIBA‑HortiPlus: Organic Manure For Fields And Gardens
The second product, CIBA‑HortiPlus, targets terrestrial crops. It is a nutrient‑rich organic manure produced from processed fish waste, designed to complement or partially replace chemical fertilisers.
Field trials have shown that applying 1,5–2 tonnes per hectare of CIBA‑HortiPlus can:
- Increase potato yields by up to 23,8%;
- Replace 100–150 kg of DAP fertiliser per hectare;
- Improve soil fertility and raise mineral content in harvested crops.
Other tests in paddy and vegetables showed that CIBA‑PlanktonPlus, when used as a foliar spray, allowed farmers to significantly cut back on nitrogen fertiliser (urea) without losing yield. Beans, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, and beetroot all recorded notable improvements in output under trial conditions.
Debasis De, the principal scientist who led the development, emphasised that the benefits go beyond short‑term yield bumps.
He said the products not only improve crop productivity but also play a major role in restoring soil health and easing dependence on synthetic fertilisers.
Waste-To-Wealth And Jobs On The Coast
To move from lab success to real‑world impact, CIBA has started training coastal fisher self‑help groups, fish farmer producer organisations, and entrepreneurs to run their own production units.
According to the institute, units are already operating in several Indian states, including West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra. These facilities turn truckloads of smelly market discards into bagged products farmers want to buy.
The model supports the goals of India’s Swachh Bharat (Clean India) Mission by:
- Reducing uncontrolled fish waste dumping in markets and canals;
- Creating local processing jobs, many of them suitable for women and youth;
- Lowering the cost of organic fertiliser for nearby farmers.
“ICAR‑CIBA’s ‘Waste‑to‑Wealth’ innovation stands out as a model of scientific ingenuity that benefits farmers, fishers, consumers, and the environment alike,” De said.
What This Could Mean For Africa’s Coasts And Lakes
The science may have been developed in Chennai, but the underlying problem is painfully familiar in African ports and lake towns.
From Beira and Maputo to Lagos, Tema, Walvis Bay, and Dar es Salaam — and on inland waters like Lake Victoria and Lake Kariba — fish markets battle the same twin headaches:
- Huge volumes of organic waste attracting pests, clogging drains, and polluting local waters;
- Smallholder farmers nearby paying high prices for fertilisers trucked from far away.
Zimbabwe’s own fish sector is smaller than India’s, but it is growing fast along Kariba, Chivero, Mutirikwi, and in new dam‑based aquaculture sites. Town councils often struggle to manage fish waste from markets and filleting facilities.
If adapted, a CIBA‑style model could see:
- Kariba or Chiredzi fish markets supplying waste to small processing units;
- Local youth and women’s groups trained to run “waste‑to‑fertiliser” enterprises;
- Nearby horticulture farmers in Nyanga, Mazowe, or Bulawayo peri‑urban areas using fish‑based composts and sprays to cut back on expensive synthetic inputs.
For governments working under National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), and continental frameworks like AU Agenda 2063 and the UN SDGs, this kind of circular approach ticks multiple boxes: waste reduction, soil restoration, climate‑smart agriculture, and local job creation.
FFA Explainer:
“Waste‑to‑wealth” means designing value chains where by‑products from one activity become raw materials for another. In agriculture, that can be as simple as turning manure into biogas and fertiliser, or as sophisticated as deriving bio‑stimulants from food processing waste. The key is closing loops so that little is truly thrown away.
Questions African Policy-Makers Should Ask Now
India’s experience doesn’t offer a copy‑and‑paste solution, but it does surface practical questions for African ministries, city councils, and farmer organisations:
- Where is fish waste already concentrated? Large landing sites and urban markets offer the easiest starting points.
- Who could own and run processing units? Co‑operatives, women’s groups, youth enterprises, or private firms linked to councils.
- What standards are needed? Clear regulations on processing, odour control, pathogen reduction, and product quality.
- How to build demand? On‑farm trials, extension demonstrations, and integration into existing input support schemes.
Under NDS1, Zimbabwe already supports biofertiliser and organic input use through various schemes. Integrating fish‑waste fertiliser into that mix — especially in irrigation and high‑value horticulture zones — could both lighten the chemical fertiliser import bill and clean up markets.
From Chennai To Chitungwiza
In Chennai, what used to be a smelly pile at the back of the market is now leaving the gate in branded bags as CIBA‑PlanktonPlus and CIBA‑HortiPlus. The same journey is possible in African cities where fish and vegetables share the same streets but not yet the same value chain.
On a small plot in Chitungwiza, a tomato grower fights rising fertiliser prices and tired soils. A few hundred kilometres away at Binga’s landing sites, heaps of fish waste bake in the sun. The technology coming out of CIBA shows that, with the right science and organisation, those two problems can start to solve each other.
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