News Digest

Cow dung patties selling like hot cakes online in India

Like consumers around the globe, Indians are flocking to the online marketplace in droves these days. But there’s one unusual item flying off the virtual shelves: Online retailers say cow dung patties are selling like hot cakes. The patties — cow poop mixed with hay and dried in the sun, made mainly by women in rural areas and used to fuel fires — have long been available in India’s villages. But online retailers including Amazon and eBay are now reaching out to the country’s ever-increasing urban population, feeding into the desire of older city folks to harken back to their childhood in the village.

Around Diwali, when people do a lot of pujas in their homes and workplaces, there is a lot of demand for cow dung cakes.

Radhika Agarwal of ShopClues, a major online retailer

The orders come mostly from cities where it would be difficult to buy dung cakes, said Madhavi Kochar, an Amazon India spokeswoman. The cakes are sold in packages that contain two to eight pieces weighing 200 grams (7 ounces) each. Prices range from 100 to 400 rupees ($1.50 to $6) per package. In India, where Hindus have long worshipped cows as sacred, cow dung cakes have been used for centuries for fires, whether for heating, cooking or Hindu rituals.