A detailed note on cow manure

Xafir Ummul^*
*Correspondence: Xafir Ummul, Department of Agircilture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh, Email:

Received: 30-Apr-2021 Published: 26-May-2021

Editorial Note

Cow dung, also known as cow pats, cow pies or cow manure, is the waste product (faeces) of bovine animal species. These species include domestic cattle (cows), bison (buffalo), yak, and water buffalo. Cow dung is the undigested residue of plant matter which has passed through the animal’s gut. The resultant faecal matter is rich in minerals. Color ranges from greenish to blackish, often darkening soon after exposure to air.

Cow dung, which is usually a dark brown color, 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. In many parts of the developing world, and in the past in mountain regions of Europe, caked and dried cow dung is used as fuel.

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. 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. Most of villagers in India spray fresh cow dung mixed with water in front of the houses to repel insects. It is also dried into cake like shapes and used as replacement for firewood. 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,” 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 56.52 m.Cow dung is also used in Hindu religious fire yajna as an important ingredient.

Cow dung is also used in the making of panchgavya, for use in Hindu rituals. Cow dung is nowadays used for making flower and plant pots. It is plastic free, bio degradable and eco- friendly. Unlike plastic grow bags, which harms nature, cow dung pots dissolves naturally and becomes excellent manure for the plant. A buffalo chip, also called a meadow muffin, is the name for a large, flat, dried piece of dung deposited by the American bison. Well dried buffalo chips were among the few things that could be collected and burned on the prairie and were used by the Plains Indians, settlers and pioneers, and homesteaders as a source of cooking heat and warmth.