Abstract-Cloud Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has

Cereal residues are an important feed source for ruminants in smallholder crop-livestock systems in the (sub)tropics. In many areas of India maize is a relatively new cash crop where farmers and development agents alike generally perceive maize stover to have limited utility, in contrast with the intensive feeding of other cereal residues in India and the intensive use of maize stover in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. A comparative assessment of maize stover quality (based on a brief review and a feeding trial) indeed confirms its potential as a ruminant feed according to its relative nutritive value. The paper then explores the apparent paradox through a scoping study of maize stover use (based on village surveys) in three contrasting maize-growing districts in India -including both traditional and non-traditional maize producers. The limited maize stover use appears to alleviate seasonal shortages, with tradition and technology helping explain the preferential use of other cereal residues. The paper thereby provides further impetus to India's apparent food-feed paradigm -whereby farmers' staple food preferences coincide with crop residue feed preferences. The paper argues the case for investing in maize stover R&D in India and thus reigniting earlier feed research in general. Indeed, maize stover use is a relatively neglected area by India's agricultural R&D and merits more attention so as to exploit its potential contribution and alleviate eventual tradeoffs. I N T RO D U C T I O NCrop residues are important sources of livestock feed in the (sub)tropics and often also have other productive uses such as fuel, construction material and mulch (Erenstein, 2002;McDowell, 1988;Rao and Birthal, 2008;Suttie, 2000). The relative importance of each use varies geographically and by crop, with the use of fodder tending to increase proceeding to the drier environments (Erenstein, 2003;Rao et al., 2005). Maize -or corn, Zea mays -is no exception, with maize stover being widely used across maizeproducing environments in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia (Erenstein, 1999). Despite this prevalence, our understanding of maize stover utilization in these settings is only partial. Furthermore, despite its potential as a dual purpose food-feed crop, maize improvement efforts across the (sub)tropics have generally solely focused on enhancing grain production. ‡Corresponding author. Current address: Olaf Erenstein, CIMMYT, c/o ILRI,

PurposeThis paper aims to describe the present waste management scenario in the city of Allahabad listing the gaps in the waste management system.Design/methodology/approachThe research work was divided into three stages. The first stage was the collection of background data regarding municipal solid waste management systems such as waste generation, waste collection, treatment and disposal methods. The second stage involved data organization and data analysis. The third stage provided the conceptual framework that has been developed for MSW management, and finally a sustainable and suitable waste management option was provided for improving the MSW management in Allahabad.FindingsThe existing solid waste management approach in the city is highly unprofessional and lacking in scientific methodologies. There is neither proper collection nor proper treatment and disposal of waste. Most of the waste is dumped in low lying areas leading to pollution of land, air and water due to leachate generation.Practical implicationsThere is need to develop a correct and detailed database of waste generation, collection and treatment system in various wards of Allahabad so that required manpower, equipments and other services can be estimated for designing a proper waste collection, treatment and disposal system. No site for engineered landfill has been identified as per the site selection criteria provided by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. The suggestions in this paper have been made on the basis of data collected, actual observations and analysis.Originality/valueThe work identifies the gap in the present solid waste management system of Allahabad City.

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