Comparative Study on Effectiveness of Various Compost Cultures on Composting of Farm Wastes

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of various microbial compost cultures for aerobic-composting of farm wastes. Place of Study: Three trials were conducted on farmer’s field and one at Krishi Vigyana Kendra (KVK) Ramanagara district. Methodology: During the composting process, days to compost, maturity in terms of changes in temperature, pH and composting dynamics were studied. Compost quality parameters such as macro and micro-nutrients and C:N ratio and stability  of the compost were recorded at different intervals.  Results: The results showed that the compost culture from  IIHR and UASB had taken 90 and 105 days respectively, for complete stabilization; further had relatively higher temperature and pH during the initial phase and reached ambient condition at maturity stage, C:N ratio has showed gradual reduction from 39.65 to 15.98 and 39.75 to 13.66% respectively in IIHR and UASB cultures, they also had high macro, secondary and micro nutrients(IIHR-1.55% N, 0.93% P, 0.95% K, 4.39% Ca, 0.69% Mg, 0.19%S, 930 ppm Fe, 10ppm Cu, 305ppm Mn, 82ppm Zn, 26 ppm B  UASB-1.59% N, 0.91% P, 0.97% K, 4.25%Ca, 0.88% Mg, 0.21%S, 948 ppm Fe, 9ppm Cu, 325ppm Mn, 93ppm Zn, 28ppm B) content and resulted in more compost production ( 3.3 and 2.8 t/year, respectively) with B:C ratio of 6.67 and 7.25 respectively when compared to NCOF (T3) and farmers practice (T4). Conclusion: Aerobic-composting of farm waste using microbial culture of UASB and IIHR proved to be an effective technology that aids to convert organic farm waste into valuable organic manure with an advantage of minimizing the environmental contamination associated with burning of residues.