[Digestion] vermiculture of digested solids

Tim Livingstone tlivingstone at jollyfarmer.com
Wed Nov 17 08:43:51 CST 2010 

Hi Bjorn,

Mycorrhiza are just one of a very large number of groups of beneficial 
soil fungi.  They are one of the most studied and are very important 
because of their direct symbiotic relationship with plant roots.  As 
others mentioned, however, these fungi are just a part of the entire 
system.  We have seen repeated cases where mycorrhizal root colonization 
increases as the general soil system is stimulated with compost teas and 
a variety of microbial food sources.  I would not think that sugar would 
directly stimulate mycorrhiza a whole lot since sugar is likely to be 
taken up by the bacterial very quickly.  The increase in bacterial 
activity will trigger a chain reaction through the foodweb that will 
probably effect the mycorrhiza eventually.  Many of the soil organisms 
release minerals indirectly to the plants so it is easy to see where 
sugar can have a positive affect on mineralization.

It is important not to over apply sugar, molasses, or any other soluble 
carbon source especially if the crop is in an active growth stage.  If 
there is too large a bloom of biological activity at one time the 
nutrients for the plants will be tied up (biology will take their needs 
first and plants are second) until the soil ecosystem again comes into 
balance.  This can cause a crop set back due to lack of available 
nutrients during critical growth periods.

One of the best times to apply sugar is along with a high fertility 
input like manure or compost or even digester effluent.  If applied 
correctly, the sugar will help to sequester the extra nutrients for 
biological release at a later time while leaving some nutrients to 
promote immediate plant growth.

Best wishes,
Tim

On 11/16/2010 2:05 PM, Björn Dahlroth wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> This is a very interesting discussion that has been up before. One of 
> the most important kind organisms in the soil for the uptake of 
> minerals by plants is mycorrhiza fungi. Most plants (there are 
> exceptions like brassica) depend on that they provide sugar to the 
> fungi and the fungi provide minerals to the plants. The fungi extract 
> minerals from other matter even including grains of sand and stone 
> using organic acids. So the question is if the addition of sugar will 
> also boost the mycorrhiza activity and in this way more minerals will 
> become available for uptake by plants.
>
> Bjorn Dahlroth
>
> *Från: * digestion-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org 
> [mailto:digestion-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] *För *Anand Karve
> *Skickat:* den 16 november 2010 01:52
> *Till:* For Discussion of Anaerobic Digestion
> *Ämne:* Re: [Digestion] vermiculture of digested solids
>
> 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 
> <mailto: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>
> > <http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/skgsangha>  and
> > www.ashdenawards.org/winners/vknardep 
> <http://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/> 
> <http://www.skgsangha.org <http://www.skgsangha.org/>>  and to
> > VK-Nardep is: vknardep.org <http://vknardep.org/> 
> <http://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> 
> <mailto:mattlorig at yahoo.com <mailto:mattlorig at yahoo.com>>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> >
>
>
> --
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> 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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> 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/
>
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