MAJOR ORGANIC SOURCES AND TRANSFORMATIONS

 MAJOR ORGANIC SOURCES AND TRANSFORMATIONS 

 Carbon present in soil is in the form of organic matter. The organic materials most commonly used to improve soil conditions and fertility include farm yard manure (FYM), animal wastes, crop residues, urban organic wastes (either as such or composted), green manures, bio-gas spent slurry, microbial preparations, vermicompost and biodynamic preparations. Sewage sludge and some of the industrial wastes also find application in agriculture. For all organic matter, atmospheric carbon dioxide serves as the main source of carbon. Carbon dioxide is converted to organic carbon largely by the action of photoautotrophic organisms; the higher green plants on land and algae in aquatic habitats. Carbon is being contentiously fixed into organic form through the process of photosynthesis and once bound; the carbon becomes unavailable for use in the generation of new plant life. Carbon fixation involves a reduction of carbon dioxide by hydrogen donor NADPH (reduced form of the co-enzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, NADP) and the synthesis of carbohydrate from reduced carbon through complex cyclic mechanism called the 

Calvin cycle. Carbon dioxide constitutes only 0.03 percent by volume of the earths atmosphere. It has been estimated that the vegetation of the earth's surface consumes some 90 billion kg carbon dioxide per annum, about one twenty - fifth of the total supply of the atmosphere  and that the total supply of carbon dioxide would be completely exhausted in twenty years at the present rate of photosynthesis , if not replenished by decomposition of organic materials. As the availability of carbon dioxide on the earth's surface is very limited, it must be recycled. Upon the death of the plants and animals, microbiological metabolism assumes the dominant role in cyclic sequence. The dead tissues added to soil undergo decay and are transformed into microbial cells and a vast heterogeneous body of carbonaceous compounds. According to the different stages of decomposition, the soil organic matter becomes available in distinct fractions. Farm yard manure made from cattle dung, excreta of other animals, animal tissues and excretory products, and compost from rural and urban wastes, crop residues and green-manure are collectively designated as bulky organic manures because of their low contents of major nutrients, while materials like oil cakes, fish meal, animal meal, poultry manures, slaughter house wastes containing comparatively higher contents of plant nutrients are grouped under concentrated organic manures. In general organic manures containing upto two percent nitrogen are included in bulky category and those with more than two percent nitrogen are treated as concentrated. Irrespective of source and composition, organic matter when added into the soil undergoes microbial decay and becomes the food for micro flora and fauna. Even the microbial cells serve as a source of carbon for succeeding generations of microscopic populations. A great variety of microorganisms live in soil which include bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, algae and protozoa. In general the number per gram of soil is bacteria > actinomycetes > fungi > algae > protozoa. The average nutrient content of bulky manures.

Manure                                         Percentage content
                                             N                   P2O5             K2O Animal refuse                 0.3-0.4              0.1-0.2           0.1-0.3 Cattle dung,fresh            0.4-0.5              0.3-0.4           0.3-0.4 Horse dung ,fresh           0.5 -0.5             0.4-0.6           0.3-1.0 Poultry manure,fresh      1.0-1.8              1.4-1.8           0.8-0.9 Sewage sludge,dry          2.0-3.5              1.0-5.0           0.2-0.5 Sewage sludge,               4.0-7.0              2.1-4.2           0.5-0.7 Cattle urine                     0.9-1.2                trace             0.5-1.0 Horse urine                     1.2-1.5                trace             1.3-1.5 Human urine                   0.6-1.0              0.1-0.2           0.2-0.3 Sheep urine                     1.5-1.7                trace             1.8-2.0   Ash, coal                         0.73                    0.45                0.53 
Ash,household                0.5-1.9              1.6-4.2            2.3-12.0 
Ash,wood                       0.1-0.2               0.8-5.9            1.5-36.0 
Rural compost,dry          0.5-1.0               0.4-0.8           0.8-1.2 Urban compost,dry         0.7-2.0               0.9-3.0           1.0-2.0 
Farmyard manure,dry     0.4-1.5               0.3-0.9           0.3-1.9 
Filter-press cake             1.0-1.5                4.0-5.0           2.0-7.0 
Rice hulls                       0.3-0.5                0.2-0.5           0.3-0.5 
Groundnut husks            1.6-1.8               0.3-0.5           1.1-1.7 
Banana,dry                      0.61                      0.12             1.00 
Cotton                             0.44                      0.10              0.66 


Source:Organic Farming for Sustainable Agriculture by A.K.Dhama ,1996 Agro Benificial Publishers (India) 

GREEN MANURES

                              GREEN MANURES 

Green manuring can be defined as a practice of ploughing or turning into the soil undecomposed green plant tissues for improving physical structure as well as soil fertility. Green manuring, wherever feasible, is the principal supplementary  means of adding organic matter to the soil. The green-manure crop supplies organic matter as well as additional nitrogen, particularly if it is a legume crop, due to its ability to fix nitrogen from the air with the help of its root nodule bacteria. The green-manure crops also exercise a protective action against erosion and leaching.  Green manure to be incorporated in soil before flowering stage because they are grown for their green leafy material, which is high in nutrients and protects the soil. Green manures will not break down in to the soil so quickly, but gradually,  add some nutrients to the soil for the next crop.

 Nutrient potential of green manures :

Green manure                               Biomass (tones)                    N accumulobase   (Kg/ha)  
Sesbania aculeate                            22.50                                             145.00
S. rostrata,                                       20.06                                             146.00                                           Crotalaria juncea,                            18.40                                             113.00
Tephrosia perpurea                            6.80                                                 6.00
Green gram                                        6.50                                               60.20                                         Black gram                                        5.12                                                51.20
Cow pea                                            7.12                                                 63.30

Nutrient content of important green matures:

Crop                                                          Nutrient content (% on dry weight basis) 
                                                                  N                                    P                                    K 
Green manure                                                                                                                        
 Sesbania aculeate                                    3.3                                    0.7                               1.3 Crotalaria juncea                                      2.6                                    0.6                               2.0
Sesbania speciosa                                     2.7                                    0.5                               2.2 Tephrosia purpurea                                  2.4                                     0.3                               0.8 Phaseolus trilobus                                    2.1                                     0.5                                -

Green leaf manure
Pongamia glabra                                       3.2                                     0.3                               1.3 Glyricidia maculeata                                2.9                                      0.5                               2.8 Azadirachta Indica                                   2.8                                      0.3                               0.4 Calatropis gigantecum                             2.1                                      0.7                               3.6


ADVANTAGES OF GREEN MANURES:

Usage of green leaf manure is advantageous both for crops and soil. The advantages are: 

1. As they decompose rapidly, it is easy to retain the organic matter     in the soil. 

2. Green manures improve both physical and chemical properties of     the soil. 

3. They provide energy to microbes. 

4. They provide nutrients to the standing crop and also to the next       crop.

5. Addition of green manure crops to the soil, acts as much and            prevent soil erosion. 

6. Leaching of nutrients in light soils can be prevented by addition       of green manure. 

7. Cultivating green manure crops can control weeds. 

8. Majority of green manure crops being legumes, use of                       nitrogenous fertilizers can be minimized.  

Sesbania aculeate high Nitrogen content

 

ADVANTAGES OF ORGANIC MANURES

ADVANTAGES OF ORGANIC MANURES :

1. Organic manure provides all the nutrients that are required by plants but in limited quantities- which retains the soil fertility as well as the quantity and the quality of the corp. 

ORGANIC ORANGE 

2. It helps in maintaining C:N ratio in the soil and also increases the fertility and productivity of the soil.

3.  It improves the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. 

4. It improves both the structure and texture of the soils. 

5. It increases the water holding capacity of the soil. 

6. Due to increase in the biological activity, the nutrients that are in the lower depths are made available to the plants.

7. It acts as much, thereby minimizing the evaporation losses of moisture from the soil. 

EFFECT OF INORGANIC FERTILIZERS AND OTHER AGRO-CHEMICALS ON SOIL AND PLANTS

EFFECT OF INORGANIC FERTILIZERS AND OTHER AGRO-CHEMICALS ON SOIL AND PLANTS 

Excessive use of chemical fertilizer and other agro chemicals, which are the important inputs in the modern farming creates depletion in soil fertility and pollution in surface water bodies.

1.  Water soluble fertilizers when applied to soil, a good portion of        the added nutrients does not become available to the crop plants      and lost either to the atmosphere up to the hydrosphere due to          non stimulation of the activities of heterotrophic soil organisms        but facilitate that of the autotrophic nitrifying organisms,                  thereby hindering the immobilization of nutrients. 

2.  As a matter of fact, it results in rapid rate of nutrients loss in            different forms and increases the soil acidity with nitrification. 

3.  Emission of ammonia, methane, nitrous oxide and elemental            nitrogen from the soil system as a result of denitrification.

4.  Depletion of secondary and micro-nutrients especially Sulphur          and  Zinc. 

5.  Deficiency of these nutrients (S & Zn) along with that of Mg,          Mn, Fe, Mo, B and Cu limits productivity of many field crops          especially in rice. 

6.  Dhar (1962) cautioned that by adding large doses of N-fertilizers      in modern agriculture without the use of organic manures, there      is always the danger of humus depletion and fall in crop                    production, which can be avoided only by adding additional            amounts of organic residues and manures. 

7.  When high levels of N-fertilizers especially nitrate forms are            applied to soil, nitrate pollution of drinking water is a serious          health hazard found in extensively irrigated coarse textured              highly percolating soils of central Punjab, where 40-50% of              applied nitrogen is lost in leaching and the mean concentrations      of nitrate nitrogen was 3.88 ppm during 1982 (Rainy season)            ans 1.02 ppm in 1975. In 10% of the ground water samples              nitrate concentration was 10 ppm which was the upper tolerance      limit in drinking water against nil in 1975 (Singh et al, 1987). 

8.  Not only plants and soil are affected by inorganic fertilizer                human being as well as other animals, birds & microbes are              affected by chemical fertilizer.

9.  Inorganic fertilizer are slow poison which affect slowly slowly        and ultimately becomes serious disease also leads to death.

    "Ultimately we are adding poison for our future generation"

What is Green Gardening?

What is green?

Many people use the level"green"," Eco-friendly" and "sustainable" when it is comes to gardening or farming what they do  really mean? 

Sustainable gardening or sustainable farming management employ techniques that:

no use of  fertilizer

*Have minimal impact on the environment- from using little

 or no artificially chemicals (pesticides,herbicides,chemical fertilizers)

 to reducing use of powered devices in the care of landscape.

 All those grass trimmers, flower blowers and lawnmowers

 are not only pollutes the air and also leads for noise pollution.

rain water collector 

     *Make the best use of available resources:

       Use of barrels to collect rain water, arranging of                                garden areas to make use of rain water overflow,                                mulching soil with leaves to retain moisture in soil                            using of kitchen waste to make compost, enriching                            soil with native weeds and other plant parts.

*Save the gardeners money and time:

For example, when it is hard to mow drainage ditches are replaced with easy-to-maintain rain gardens planted with native plants that tolerate that environment, significant savings in time and the cost of running machinery are made.

*Reducing carbon dioxide and increasing oxygen:

As we know a large biomass increases the amount of photosynthesis-- which is a magical process in which carbon dioxide and water are converted into sugar and oxygen as a byproduct in the presence of sunlight.

*Decreasing of the heat absorbed and sorted by urban & semi urban buildings, roads and other hard objects:

A landscape with more trees, shrubs and non-destroyed perennials will absorb more water and ultimately the transpiration will be more, which will put water vapor into the atmosphere and reduces the average temperature.

providing butterfly and bees a habitat is easy   

*Increases habitat for wildlife including

 birds, bees,butterfly and other critters:

The sustainable ecosystem supports an 

active ecosystem, where plants, animals,birds 

and microbes are depends on each other.

*Prevent  damage to underground infrastructures:

In other words don't start digging until you know the location of underground infrastructures like pipe lines, telephone lines, optic fibers, electric cables etc.

*Prepare for disaster like cyclone, hurricane, drought & flood:

design your landscape or garden to withstand or minimal damage when the disaster is sustainable, because after disaster repair cost will be less or you have fewer plants to replace.