Fertilizer

Fertilizer  is any natural or synthetic substance (solid liquid or gaseous) containing 1 or more plant nutrients (other than lime) & that is applied 2 the soil or leaves 2 supply nutrients esential 4 the growth of plants The following 4 main types fertilizers R recognized:1. Chemical fertilizers 2. Organic ferilizers or Manures

3. Biofertilizers 4. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR)

 1)CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS The chemical fertilizers R manures or mixtures of different chemicals used 4 improving the soil fertility. The chemical fertilisers R further of 3 types  (a)Single Nutrient Fertilizers: These fertilizers contain only 1 nutrient element. Most of the times, single nutrient fertilizers contain nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P). Examples: Urea (CO(NH2)2, carbamide), calcium ammonium nitrate (Ca(NO3)2 NH4NO3, 10H2O) etc. (B)Binary Fertilisers: These fertilizers contain two components or nutrient elementsExamples:NP fertilizers such as monoammonium phosphate (MAP) and diammonium phosphate (DAP).(c) Multinutrient or Complex Fertilizers: These fertilizers are the most common type of fertilizer used these days. They consist of more than two nutrient components or elements.Examples: NPK fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Disadvantages of Chemical Fertilizers :*They upset the pH and destroy the friability of soil*They increase the susceptibility of crops to pests and diseases.*They leach out into the soil and pollute our water resources.*Chemical fertilizers are economically most costly.

VERMICOMPOST PRODUCTION METHODOLOGY

It is an aerobic, bio-oxidation, non-thermophilic process of organic waste decomposition that depends upon earthworms to fragment, mix and promote microbial activity. The basic requirements during the process of vermicomposting are as follows: 1. SELECTION OF SUITABLE EARTHWORMThe surface dwelling earthworm alone should be used for this. The earthworm, which lives below the soil, is not suitable for vermicompost production. The African earthworm (Eudrilus eugeniae), Red worms (Eisenia foetida) and composting worm (Peronyx excavatus) are promising worms used for vermicompost production. All the three worms can be mixed together for vermicompost production. The African worm (Eudrilus eugeniae) is preferred over other two types, because it produces higher production of vermicompost in short period of time and younger ones in the composting period  2)SELECTION OF SITE FOR VERMICOMPOST PRODUCTION Vermicompost can be produced in any place with shade, high humidity and cool. Vacant cattle shed or poultry shed can also be used. A thatched roof may be provided to protect the process from direct sunlight and rain. The waste heaped for vermicompost production should be covered with moist gunny bags.3. CONTAINERS FOR VERMICOMPOST PRODUCTION A cement tub may be constructed to a height of 2½ feet and a breadth of 3 feet. The length may be fixed to any level depending upon the size of the room. The bottom of the tub is made to slope like structure to drain the excess water from vermicompost unit. 

SELECTION FOR VERMICOMPOST PRODUCTION Cattle dung (except pig, poultry and goat), farm wastes, crop residues, vegetable market waste, flower market waste, agro industrial waste, fruit market waste and all other biodegradable waste are suitable for vermicompost production. The cattle dung should be dried in open sunlight before using it for vermicompost production. All other waste should be predigested with cow dung for twenty, days before putting it into vermibed for composting7. PUTTING THE WASTE IN THE CONTAINER The predigested waste material should be mud with 30% cattle dung either by weight or volume. The mixed waste is placed into the tub or container upto top. The moisture level should be maintained at 60%. The selected earthworm is placed uniformly over this material. For one-meter length, one-meter breadth and 0.5-meter height, 1 kg of worm (1000 Nos.) is required. There is no necessity that earthworm should be put inside the waste. Earthworm will move inside on its own.8. WATERING THE VERMIBED Daily watering is not required for vermibed. But 60% moisture should be maintained throughout the period. If needed, water should be sprinkled over the bed rather than pouring it.watering should be stopped before the harvest of vermicompost .HARVESTING OF VERMICOMPOST The compost is ready when the material is moderately loose, powdery and of dark brows It will be black, granular, lightweight and humus-rich The compost should be ready as indicated by the presence of earthworm casings (vermicompost) on the top of the bed in 60 to 90 days (depends up on the size of the più) Vermicompost can now be harvested from the bin/pit.

(i) The separation of the worms from the compost can be facilitated by preventing watering Two to three days before emprying the beds. This will force about 80 per cent of the worms the bottom of the bed

(i) The worms can also be separated by using sieves or meshes. The earthworms and the left overs thicker material on the top of the sieve goes back in the bin and the process start again. The smell of the compost it earth-like and any bad odour indicates the incomplet fermentation and the bacterial processes are still going on. A musty smell indicates the presence of mold or overheating which leads to loss of nitrogen. If this happens, aerate the heap ben add more fibrous material and keep the heap drier. The compost is then sieved before being packed.

() The harvested material should be placed in a heap in move down to the cool base of the heap

() In the two or four pit system, watering should be stopped in the first chamber so that worms will automatically muve to another chamber where the required environment for the worms are maintained in a cyclic manner and harvesting can be done continuously in cycles

Green manures are plants that are grown in order to provide soil cover and to improve the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of soil. These crops may be sown independently or in association with other crops. Green manures, also referred to as fertility building crops, may be broadly defined as crops grown for the benefit of the soil. The process of raising green manure is known as Green manuring. It is the process of turning of green plants into the soil either by raising them in the same field or plants grown in a different place on the green stage before flowering and incorporated into the soil. Green manuring, defined by Pieters  as ‘the practice of enriching the soil by turning under fresh plant material either in situ or brought from a distance is a widely used practice in organic farming to maintain soil organic matter’.Green manure is also known as green compost and is low cost manure. So it is also called as poor farmer’s manure. Many organic farmers prefer to use this method as it is a natural way of gardening. Gardeners who are serious about being sustainable, organic and biodynamic will devote a good percentage of their garden to the green composting method. Some large scale organic farmers even use this technique to enrich their soil without the expense of buying nutrients or the risk of adding toxins to their soil.

Wastes are materials that are not prime products (products produced for the market) for which the initial user has no further use in terms of their own purposes of production, transformation or consumption. and of which they want to disposeWaste is directly linked to human development, both technologically and socially. The compositions of different wastes have varied over time and location, with industrial development and innovation being directly linked to waste materials. e.g. plastics and nuclear technology. Some components of waste have economical value and can be recycled once correctly recovered.ANAEROBIC DIGESTION It is digestion of organic solid waste in the absence of free oxygen and can be broadly grouped into two major steps (a) Acid fermentation, (6) Methane fermentation.

Acid Fermentation: In this process, acidogenic bacteria hydrolyze the complex polymeric substrates into organic acids, alcohols, sugars, H., and CO₂(i) Methane Fermentation: In methane fermentation of long-chain fatty acids and alcohols are converted to short-chain fatty acids, and CO,. Hydogenation of CO,. releases methane in addition to acetate digested methane which gets released. 2. COMPOSTINGis the natural process of rotting or decomposition of organic matter by microorganisms under controlled conditions. Raw organic materials such as crop residues, animal wastes, food garbage, some municipal wastes and suitable industrial wastes, enhance their suitability for application to the soil as a fertilizing resource, after composting. Compost is a rich source of organic matter.

Azolla have filaments of Anabarna living within ovoid cavities inside the leaves. The relationship appears to be murually beneficial and this fern and its algal partner provide important contribution toward the production of rice for hungry world.Azolla leaf consists of a thick, greenish (or reddish) dorsal (upper) lobe and thinner, translucent ventral (lower) lobe immersed in the water. The upper lobe has an oraid central cavity, the living quarters for filaments of Anabarna. The easiest way to observe Anabarna to remove a dorsal leaf lobe and place it on a clean slide with a drop of water. Apply a te slip with sufficient pressure to mash the leaf fragment.Anabarna are heterocyst forming, photoautotrophic cyanobacteria that perform oky photosynthesis. Anabarna grow in long filaments of vegetative cells. The filambar of Anabarna consists of string of beaded cells. Filaments occur singly within a sheaf and sheaths are always hyaline and watery gelatinous. About one cell out of every ten will differentie into a heterocyst during times of low environmental nitrogen.. Heterocysts then supply neighboring cells with fixed nitrogen in return for the products of photosynthesis, that they can no longer perform. This separation of functions is essential because the nitrogen fixing enzyme in, heterocysts, nitrogenase, is unstable in the presence of oxygen.Due to the necessity of keeping nitrogenase isolated from oxygen, heterocysts have developel elements to maintain a low level of oxygen within