[Digestion] vermiculture of digested solids

Tue Nov 16 06:12:17 CST 2010

Hi Alex,

If you contact me off list, I can give you some ideas.  Where are you 
located?

Tim

On 11/15/2010 9:32 PM, Alexander Eaton wrote:
> Dr Karve and all,
>
> Could someone suggest a good test for measuring microbes, enzymes, or
> other indicators of living soils?  We are trying to test the quality
> of the fertilizers we are producing, and we feel the standard measures
> of NPK are insufficient to fully characterize the benefits of
> digestate added to soil or compost.  Any suggested methods to this end
> would be helpful.
>
> Best,
>
> Alex
>
> On 11/15/10, Anand Karve<adkarve at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> Dear Theo,
>>   It is an accepted principle in agriculture that there is direct and
>> positive correlation between the population densiy of micro-organisms in the
>> soil and soil fertility.  One applies organic matter to the soil because one
>> wants to increase the number of microbes per unit of soil. This is best done
>> by applying a small quantity of non-composted, high calorie organic
>> material to the soil and not by applying predigested and composted organic
>> material to an agricultural field. You can test this just by applying a
>> couple of grams of sugar to a square meter of soil and you would notice,
>> that with such a small quantity of an organic carbon source, the microbial
>> population in the soil increases about 500 times, within 24 hours of
>> application.  Thus, when a suitable organic carbon source is available to
>> the microbes in the soil, the microbes multiply their numbers, taking up the
>> necessary minerals directly from the soil minerals. Plants cannot take up
>> the soil minerals because the soil minerals have a very low solubility. But
>> the microbes can absorb them even from solutions having minerals in PPM or
>> PPB concentration. When the organic carbon source has been exhausted, the
>> microbes die due to starvation, releasing the minerals sequestered in their
>> body. These minerals, now in the form of enzymes, co-enzymes, proteins etc.
>> are highly water soluble, and they become available to the plants. Literally
>> thousands of farmers in the region of India where I live, have started to
>> use this technique. They apply either 25 kg sugar or 125 kg green leaves per
>> hectare to their field, once every two or three months, and get good
>> yields. It amounts to soil mining, but just one meter thick layer of soil
>> contains enough minerals to support agriculture for 25,000 years. And new
>> soil is continuously being formed due to geological processes. So, don't
>> worry that the minerals in the soil would ever get exhausted.
>> Yours
>> A.D.Karve
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 8:23 PM,<bennett at frognet.net>  wrote:
>>
>>> Not to answer this, but to expand a bit.....
>>> Is there documentation backed by laboratory research that tells the
>>> "fertilizer values" of the digested solid wastes resulting from methane
>>> production?  Would the vermiculture add to those nutrient values?
>>> Thanks.
>>>> 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
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 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
>>>> <http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/skgsangha>   and
>>>> www.ashdenawards.org/winners/vknardep
>>>> <http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/vknardep>  . A direct link to SKG
>>>> Sangha is: www.skgsangha.org<http://www.skgsangha.org>   and to
>>>> VK-Nardep is: vknardep.org<http://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<mailto:mattlorig at yahoo.com>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> May your troubles be less, your blessings more,
>>> and may nothing but happiness, come through your door.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>> for more information about digestion, see
>>> Beginner's Guide to Biogas
>>> http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/
>>> and the Biogas Wiki http://biogas.wikispaces.com/
>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> ***
>> 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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