SANF GREENMENS PVT LTD- Prepare Compost Using Bio-Culture From Different Organic Wastes For Soil Health

What we casually throw into the junk can be composted to produce rich topsoil for our plants, since more than half of what we throw is organic matter, which if composted, can produce rich topsoil for our farms, which also is the need of the hour in view of soil degradation. As we forget to or overlook segregating our dry waste from wet waste, it makes composting impossible. The invaluable wet waste that has the potential to become black gold, remains unusable junk inside our landfills.

Soil degradation is the process that leads to a decline in the fertility or future production capacity of soil that occurs as a result of a change in the natural balances in the landscape by human activity either by misuse or overuse of soil. Degraded soil can result in poor production or no production of crops. Factors that contribute to soil degradation include

1. Loss of fertile topsoil due to wind or water erosion (physical factor) thereby declining soil quality,
2. Diminished nutrients or the toxicity due to acidity or alkalinity (salinization) or waterlogging (chemical factor),
3. Biological factors refer to the human and plant activities which affect the micro-flora and lessen the microbial activity of the soil, causing a decline in crop yield. By human activity, we mean poor farming practices (use of synthetic fertilizers) that may deplete soil nutrients, thus diminishing soil fertility.

Some of the other factors include deforestation, improper cultivation practices such as mono-cropping, poor manuring, misuse or overuse of fertilizers, overgrazing for extended periods of time, excessive irrigation, adverse weather, all of which may speed up the process of soil degradation.

Nutrients deficiency has been considered the main reason behind poor productivity and crop failure during the last decade, which can largely be attributed to continued use of high-yielding crop varieties, intensive cropping patterns, and use of relatively poor fertilizers/use of chemical fertilizers in excess.

Management practices to improve soil health:

Soil is a valuable resource- the way it is managed can improve or degrade the quality of that resource. In the agricultural context, soil health revolves around its ability to sustain agricultural productivity and protect environmental resources. Some of the functions a healthy soil offers include nutrient cycling, regulation of air and water supply, and biological control of plant pests, and these functions again are influenced by the interconnected physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil, many of which are sensitive to soil management practices.

Soil health management practices include

Cover Crop (crop of a specific plant, for example, ryegrass, crimson clover, and oats that are grown mainly to ensure good soil health rather than the crop yield) - Reduces erosion, adds organic matter, feeds soil life, fixes N (legumes), recovers and retains nutrients, and suppresses weeds.

Diversified Crop Rotation- Enhances soil microbial diversity, reduces weeds, pests, and diseases, and opens new market opportunities.

Sod Crop in Rotation- Prevents erosion during sod phase, depletes annual weed seed banks, and restores soil health and fertility.

Minimum Tillage- Conserves soil organic matter, conserves soil structure, and reduces erosion.

Compost and Other Organic Amendments- Adds and stabilizes organic matter, and provides slow-release nutrients.

Composting:

The process of breaking down the organic matter (like food scraps and garden waste) in the presence of air and water, using microorganisms (bacteria and fungi), and small insects present in nature is known as composting, and the end product is called compost which consists of readily usable plant nutrients in abundance forming an indispensable part of healthy soil.

Composting organisms require four conditions to create compost, which includes carbon that comes from brown organic matter like dried leaves, dry brown leaves, sawdust, dry grass clippings, oxygen which comes from the air, nitrogen that comes from fruit and vegetable waste, coffee grounds, and water in the right amounts.

Ways SANF GREENMENS PVT LTD prepares good compost:

Good compost is prepared by decomposing organic wastes in a pit. First and foremost, we select the site for compost making, which ideally should be at a high level and water should not pond during monsoon season. The pit should be 3’ deep and 6’ to 8’ wide. Length can be of any convenient size. The steps are as follows:

1. We make a semi-liquid mixture of the cattle dung with water.
2. Then, create 6” layer of organic wastes using plant residues, sweepings from the cattle shed, waste fodder, dried plants stalks, and leaves, etc. and sprinkle water to just moisten it. (Avoid overwatering).
3. Cover the layer with urine earth and cattle dung mixture.
4. Add 5 to 10 kg of superphosphate for every 10 tons of organic wastes.
5. Repeat the process of putting such layers until the pit is full.
6. Use urine earth, waste fodder to close the pit, and then heap the soil till it gets convex shape (about 1 to 1.5’ above the ground) in order for the rainwater to roll away.
7. After a period of six months, the compost is ready to be applied to the fields.

We fill up the pit with adequate organic wastes, if sufficient waste isn’t available, we make a temporary partition in the pit with bamboos or stalks and fill up the pit over time filling each partitioned area as and when the material is available for composting.

Talking about preparing cow pat pit (CPP) that stimulates soil activity and enhances the humus forming processes of the soil, we mix cow dung, eggshell powder, basalt rock, and biodynamic preparations together in the desired proportion in brick-lined pits.

The benefits of composting are aplenty, from helping with solid waste management, reducing the amount of waste going to landfills, conserving resources, reducing pollution, reducing landfill and waste disposal costs, and most importantly, building healthy soil. Compost is a valuable soil booster that can play an important role in conditioning and fertilizing flowerbeds and vegetable gardens due to its high organic matter content that helps return many properties to the soil that are lost over time with use. The micronutrients in compost help improve plant growth.

What should you compost and what you shouldn’t?

You should compost

1. Lawn waste such as grass clippings, fallen leaves, weeds before they go to seed, tree fruit and berries and the remains of disease-free garden plants,
2. Kitchen scraps, including fruit and vegetable peels and trimmings, coffee grounds, eggshells, tea bags,
3. Woody yard waste like kitchen scraps such as fruit and vegetable peels and trimmings, eggshells, teabags, coffee grounds, and filters.

Do NOT compost

1. Meat, bones, grease,
2. Fat or fatty foods like cheese, salad dressing or leftover cooking oil (as they attract pests),
3. All dairy products,
4. Weeds that have gone to seed,
5. Diseased plants,
6. Dog and cat waste, and
7. Plants that had been sprayed with non-degradable pesticides.

How SANF GREENMENS PVT LTD starts composting:

1. We start by deciding on a compost bin and an appropriate site (an area that is partially sunny and well-drained)
2. Build the compost pile, begin by layering brown and green materials, and continue alternating layers of browns and greens as we add to the pile all through the season
3. Sprinkle water
4. Add some amount of soil, and mix everything together
5. With every new addition of compost material, we turn the compost by moving the material from the bottom to the top, and from the outside to the center and the other way round.

The main things that composting require include organic material (Greens- nitrogen-rich- fruit and veggie scraps, fresh grass clippings, and Browns- carbon-rich- dry grass clippings or dry brown leaves), moisture, air, soil microbes, and lime.

Signs that composting is not taking place properly:

1. The process is taking too long.
2. The Centre of the compost pile is damp, but the rest is dry.
3. Compost pile smells like ammonia.
4. Compost pile smells like rotten eggs.
5. Pests are getting attracted to the compost pile.
6. The compost pile is damp and smells sweet, but isn’t heating.

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