Sericulture :: Composting of Sericulture Waste Utilization
 

PREPRATION OF COMPOSTING UTILIZING SERICULTURE
WASTE

   Generally in sericulture farms, the left over mulberry leaves from rearing bed and field and other waste including silk warm litter are not properly utilized in preparing compost of high nutritive value. Hence, it is sentinel to convert the sericulture farm waste in to valuable compost by adopting suitable technology.

Methodology

  1. The farm waste can be collected in pits of convenient size. two pits of size 3x1x1m is adequate to receive farm waste from 1 acre
  2. Sericulture waste like silk worm litter, left over mulberry leaves weeds etc., should be collected every day and special in a thin layer . A layer of fresh cow dung, ash and water is sprinkled over the layer and compacted.
  3. At the end of the rearing, the left over leave s of the garden, along with the young mulberry twigs can also be added to the pit.
  4. The sericulture waste of 12-15 MT can be generated from one hectare of mulberry it contains 280kg -300kg of nitrogen ,90Kg of phosphorus and 750kg of potassium.
  5. Super phosphate is also added to enrich the compost. When the pit is filled and when the bed height is 30-40 cm above the ground level, it is plastered with 2.5cm layer of a mixture of mud and cow dung. Attached shed is provided to protect the compost pit from rain and direct sunlight. To enhance the decomposing process a consortium of lignocelluloses decomposing fungi like Aspergillus sp., Trichoderma sp., and Belaromyces sp., could also be added @ 1kg/tonne of organic waste.
  6. By adopting anaerobic and aerobic process of composting it is possible to generate approximately 10-15 tones of well decomposed and nutritionally rich seri compost from a Seri cultural farm of one hectare every year. The resultant seri compost will contain approximately 30%moistre, 2.0-2.24%nitrogen .93-1.0%phosphrous and 1.5-1.8 %potash beside zinc, iron, manganese and copper as micronutrient. The product is found to be much superior compared to farmyard manure which contain0.3-0.4nitrogen, 0.2 -0.4%phophrous and 0.3-0.6 % potash.

Preparation of vermicompost using sericulture waste

  • A thatched shed in an area of approximately 7.5x6.0 m is constructed on a slight elevated ground for a mulberry farm of one ha area. Stone bunds are constructed all around the shed to prevented predators.
  • Eight trenches each measuring 2.4x0.6x.0.45 m are prepared parallel to each other in two rows with 4 each. The shed is lined with polythene sheet or stone at the bottom and side walls on the inner side to avoid migration of earthworms. The depth of the trench should not be more than 0.45m.
  • As a feed for the earth worms the sericulture waste including weeds are mixed with cow dung slurry and mixed with 100liters of water for every ton of waste .It is left in an open pit for about 7-10 days for partial decomposition .while decomposing, the material should contain a minimum of 30-40percent moisture. During the decomposition process, the temperature of the semi decomposing material will rise to 50-60 C. Hence, the material is turned up side down once or twice to bring the temperature to normal to normal state.
  • Later each trench is filled up with 200-300kg if semi decomposed sericulture waste having moisture content of 30-40per cent
  • A mixer culture of earthworms viz., Eudrillus euginae, Eisenia foetida and Perionyx  excavatus in juvenile stage is introduced in the feed @ 1.5Kg per metric tones of wastes in each trench and left aside for 6-7 weeks .while releasing earth worms care is taken to ensure approximately 30-40%moisture and normal temperature in the feed. During feed preparation, temperature of the decomposing waste increase beyond 50 c which may kill the worms and hence it is essentials to bring down the normal temperature.
  • After 2-3 days of release of earthworms, water is sprinkled regularly to keep the feed moist a protective cover of coconuts fronds or any green leaves is provided to ovoid evaporations. Once a week the materials is turned upside down for proper composting
  • After 6-7 weeks time if most of the feed is found as loose granular casts (brown to black in colour) the material can be harvested and sieved through wire mesh to separate earth worms and cocoons for reuse.
  • After sieving brown to black loose granules of vermicasting can be collected and used as manures. While harvesting moisture is evaporated for better result. Maximum quantity of vermicasting can be harvested if the material is allowed to dry for sometime inside the shed.
  • It is necessary to keep the shed dark moist and cool while vermicompost is under progress to get best result as earth worms do not prefer light.
  • The final product , vermicompost should  be used for crop production with out much delay  to get best results

The chemical analysis of vermicast  vis a vis Farmyard manure and their effect on quality of mulberry are given in the tables

Nutrient

Vermicast

Farm Yard Manure

N

1.875-2.0%

0.3-0.5%

P

0.6-.09%

0.2-0.4%

K

1.0-1.5%

0.3-.6%

Zink

84.6ppm

14.5ppm

Iorn

1247ppm

1465ppm

Mangansese

509.7ppm

69.0ppm

Copper

61.5ppm

2.8ppm

 

Mulberry leaf analysis

Type of compost applied to mulberry

N

P2o5

K2o5

Vermicompost @5.6MT /Ha/Yr

3.833

0.290

2.075

FYM@20MT/ha/yr

3.668

0.290

2.020

Advantages

  • Its is an eco friendly technology
  • The composting of the waste can be performed quickly.
  • Composting is completed in 50-60 Days in vermi casting where as anaerobic composting takes 120-150Days
   
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