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Hi Alex,<br>
<br>
If you contact me off list, I can give you some ideas. Where are
you located?<br>
<br>
Tim<br>
<br>
On 11/15/2010 9:32 PM, Alexander Eaton wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:AANLkTimZz75Ei=tLivs1jbYQTM_Eu1qLrsZcUR_W77Jr@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">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 <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:adkarve@gmail.com"><adkarve@gmail.com></a> wrote:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">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, <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:bennett@frognet.net"><bennett@frognet.net></a> wrote:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">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.
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">
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: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/skgsangha">www.ashdenawards.org/winners/skgsangha</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/skgsangha"><http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/skgsangha></a> and
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/vknardep">www.ashdenawards.org/winners/vknardep</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/vknardep"><http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/vknardep></a> . A direct link to SKG
Sangha is: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.skgsangha.org">www.skgsangha.org</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://www.skgsangha.org"><http://www.skgsangha.org></a> and to
VK-Nardep is: vknardep.org <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://vknardep.org"><http://vknardep.org></a> .
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
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:mattlorig@yahoo.com">mattlorig@yahoo.com</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:mattlorig@yahoo.com"><mailto:mattlorig@yahoo.com></a>
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</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_lists.bioenergylists.org">http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_lists.bioenergylists.org</a>
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">
for more information about digestion, see
Beginner's Guide to Biogas
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/">http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/</a>
and the Biogas Wiki <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://biogas.wikispaces.com/">http://biogas.wikispaces.com/</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">
--
May your troubles be less, your blessings more,
and may nothing but happiness, come through your door.
_______________________________________________
Digestion mailing list
to Send a Message to the list, use the email address
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for more information about digestion, see
Beginner's Guide to Biogas
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/">http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/</a>
and the Biogas Wiki <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://biogas.wikispaces.com/">http://biogas.wikispaces.com/</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">
--
***
Dr. A.D. Karve
President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)
*Please change my email address in your records to: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:adkarve@gmail.com">adkarve@gmail.com</a> *
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">
</pre>
</blockquote>
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