Fuel In some parts of Eurasia, and in the past in mountain regions of Europe, caked and
dried cow dung is used as
fuel. In India, it is dried into cake like shapes called or , and used as replacement for firewood for cooking in (traditional
kitchen stove). Dung may also be collected and used to produce
biogas to generate
electricity and heat. The gas is rich in
methane and is used in rural areas of
India and
Pakistan and elsewhere to provide a renewable and stable (but unsustainable) source of electricity.
Fertilizer Cow dung, which is usually a dark brown colour, is often used as
manure (agricultural
fertilizer). If not recycled into the soil by species such as earthworms and
dung beetles, cow dung can dry out and remain on the pasture, creating an area of grazing land which is unpalatable to livestock. Cow dung is nowadays used for making flower and plant pots. It is plastic free, biodegradable and eco-friendly. Unlike plastic grow bags which harm nature, cow dung pots dissolves naturally and becomes excellent manure for the plant. From 20 July 2020,
State Government of
Chhattisgarh India started buying cow dung under the
Godhan Nyay Yojana scheme. Cow dung procured under this scheme will be utilised for the production of
vermicompost fertilizer.
Floor and wall coating In several cultures, cow dung is traditionally used to coat floors and walls. In parts of Africa, floors of rural huts are smeared with cow dung: this is believed to improve interior hygiene and repel insects. This practice has various names, such as "ukusinda" in
Xhosa, and "gwaya" in
Ruruuli-Lunyala. Similarly, in India, floors are traditionally smeared with cow dung to clean and smoothen them. mentions women of Tamil Nadu smear cow dung on the floors at the 13th day after her husband's death to purify the house. The Italian traveler
Pietro Della Valle, who visited India in 1624, observed that the locals, including Christians, smeared floor with cow dung to purify it and repel insects.
Tryambaka's
Strī-dharma-paddhati (18th century), which narrates a modified version of the
Mahabharata legend about how the goddess
Lakshmi came to reside in cow dung, instructs women to make their homes pure and prosperous by coating them with cow-dung. In 2021, the Government of India's
Khadi and Village Industries Commission launched the Khadi Prakritik paint, which has cow dung as its main ingredient, promoting it as an eco-friendly paint with anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.
Other uses In central Africa,
Maasai villages have burned cow dung inside to repel
mosquitos. In cold places, cow dung is used to line the walls of rustic houses as a cheap
thermal insulator. Villagers in India spray fresh cow dung mixed with water in front of the houses to repel insects. In Rwanda, it is used in an art form called
imigongo. Cow dung is also an optional ingredient in the manufacture of adobe
mud brick housing depending on the availability of materials at hand. A deposit of cow dung is referred to in American English as a "cow pie" or less commonly "cow chip" (usually when dried) and in British English as a "cowpat". When dry, it is used in the practice of "cow chip throwing" popularized in
Beaver, Oklahoma in 1970. On April 21, 2001 Robert Deevers of
Elgin, Oklahoma, set the record for cow chip throwing with a distance of . ==Ecology==