[Digestion] vermiculture of digested solids

Anand Karve adkarve at gmail.com
Mon Nov 15 22:46:32 CST 2010


Dear Theo,
the organic manures are applied in huge quantities, because agronomists only
look at the N,P and K content of the manure. Modern crop varieties need
something like 100 kg N/ha. If the organic manure contains only 0.5 percent
N, 1 ton manure would provide only 5 kg N to the crop. My way of offering
mineral elements to the plants is based on feeding the microbes in the soil
with a high calorie, non-composted organic material. All soils, whether they
are good soils or problems soils, contain micro-organisms. If the soil is
deficient in N, the nitrogen fixing organisms would predominate in the soil.
If the soil is highly alkaline, the micro-organisms in the soil would be
adapted to survive and multiply in a highly alkaline environment. Therefore,
all one has to do is to apply a high calorie, non-composted organic
substance to the soil. This will cause the prevalent microbes in the soil to
multiply. In the process of multiplication, the microbes absorb the minerals
from the extremely dilute capillary water, concentrate them in their
cells, convert them into water soluble compounds and when they have
exhausted the applied organic matter, they die and release the minerals
sequestered in their cells for the plants to take up. No soil in the world
is perfect, and yet, if you looked at the natural flora in any locality, you
would never find any plant showing symptoms of mineral deficiency. This is
because the plants growing in nature and the local microbes in the soil have
established a symbiotic relationship. The plants drop their leaves, petals,
bark etc. on the ground, which serve the soil microbes as organic food, and
the microbes make the soil minerals available to plants.
     One point which the agronomists miss is that the minerals dissolved in
the capillary water in the soil are in a dynamic equilibrium. Even if a
single molecule is removed from the solution by a plant or a microbe, it is
replaced by another, coming into the solution from the undissolved pool of
minerals in the soil. The proof of this is in the fact that although
capillary water in soil contains silica at concentration of only about 10
PPM, a single crop of wheat removes from the soil annually 250 kg silica per
ha. We tested this in a field that was continuously under cultivation every
year, but which never received any fertilizers or manures. The soil analysis
of N,P and K gave the same figures year after year, for seven years that we
tested the soil.
     The strategy outlined by me requires very little organic matter to be
given to the soil and it therefore allows most of the agricultural waste,
municipal organic waste and catle dung to be converted into energy. There is
no need for it to be converted into manure, because agriculture does not
need it.
Yours
A.D.Karve
On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 7:09 AM, Theo Bijman <T.Bijman at thecogas.nl> wrote:

>  Dear readers,
>
>
>
> Referring to the question about vermiculture.  Why should you want to use
> vermiculture when you have already digested solid waste that could be
> applied to the fields directly? With raw manure, I could see the advantage,
> as you would get a somewhat dry, concentrated and easy to apply organic
> fertilizer, without the acidifying effect of manure. Is it the reduction in
> volume that is an advantage?  Or are people used to using vermiculture
> organic fertilizer and do not know the usage of digested solid waste? Maybe
> somebody has some thoughts about this. Do you apply liquid waste to the
> composting heaps  (the liquids which remains when separating digistate into
> solids and liquids?) to keep it moist?
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> Theo Bijman
>
>
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>
> Matt and listers, Hello,
>
> There are two projects in South India doing vermiculture of digestate: SKG
> Sangha and VK-Nardep that have been highlighted on the list, as they both
> won Ashden Awards. There are videos available for both projects, although
> the one for VK-Nardep is a sequence of still photographs taken at the time
> of the judge's visit.
>
> The Ashden Award links are: www.ashdenawards.org/winners/skgsangha and
> www.ashdenawards.org/winners/vknardep. A direct link to SKG Sangha is:
> www.skgsangha.org and to VK-Nardep is: vknardep.org.
>
> Regards,
>
> David Fulford
>
> On 11/11/2010 01:33, Matt Lorig wrote:
>
> There was a project mentioned on the list (maybe a year or two ago) about a
> vermiculture project using the digestate from a biogas plant.  I think it
> was in India.  I think they were using sawdust to soak up the water and
> composting it for a period of time and then introducing the worms.  I can't
> find the link now.  Does anyone remember what I'm talking about?  Or does
> anyone have any info about vermiculture combined with biogas?
>
> Matt Lorig
> mattlorig at yahoo.com
>
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> http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/
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>
>
>


-- 
***
Dr. A.D. Karve
President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)

*Please change my email address in your records to: adkarve at gmail.com *
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