Archive · 8 Aug 2026
One Woman's Idea Gives 368 Gujarat Families Cleaner Cooking, Earnings
In a village called Zakariyapura in India, cooking used to make lots of smoke that hurt people's eyes and lungs.
A woman named Madhuben visited another village and saw a biogas plant.
She thought her own village could use one too.
Biogas plants turn cow dung and water into gas for cooking.
With help from a big dairy organisation, every family that owned cattle got one.
Now there is no more smoke in the kitchens, and families save money on fuel.
The leftover goop from the plants is great plant food.
The women of the village sell it to others as fertiliser.
This gives each family extra money every month.
Girls also have more time to study instead of helping with chores.
Madhuben of Zakariyapura village decided to bring biogas to her village after visiting a plant in a neighbouring village.
With support from the National Dairy Development Board, biogas plants were installed in all 368 cattle-owning households.
Each plant uses cattle dung and water to produce biogas for cooking and nutrient-rich slurry as a byproduct.
Women formed the country's first all-women manual cooperative to process and sell the organic fertiliser.
Households now earn between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 monthly, while health and education opportunities have improved.
- Who
- Madhuben, a woman of Zakariyapura village, and the 368 cattle-owning households, supported by the National Dairy Development Board.
- What
- Biogas plants were installed in every cattle-owning household, replacing smoky wood-fired stoves and LPG expenses with clean cooking fuel and a fertiliser-selling livelihood.
- When
- No specific date is stated; the article describes the transformation as already completed.
- Where
- Zakariyapura village in Gujarat, India.
- Why
- To relieve smoke-related health problems, reduce household expenses, and turn cattle dung waste into an income source.
- Village
- Zakariyapura, Gujarat, India
- Households with biogas plants
- 368 cattle-owning households (all of them)
- Fuel source
- Cattle dung and water
- Implementing partner
- National Dairy Development Board
- Monthly household earnings
- Rs 3,000 - Rs 5,000 from fertiliser sales
- Cooperative
- Country's first all-women manual cooperative for organic fertiliser
- Origin of idea
- Madhuben's visit to a biogas plant in a neighbouring village