Since I started with natural
farming after reading Masanobu Fukuoka and he didn't advise to use
any compost, composting was never in my farming activity. But now for
my kitchen garden, needed some manure, so thought of making compost and
started doing research on this topic. Fukuoka san also talks about
composting in couple of occasions...”In making the transition to
this kind of farming, some weeding, composting or pruning may be
necessary at first, but these measures should be gradually reduced
each year”. Also there is a reference that for his kitchen garden
he makes compost from kitchen waste and wood ashes. Subash Palekar is
also talking about problems with compost and he also suggests to use
mulch with Jeevamrithm,basically it is inplace composting. Issue with
this approach is that, maintaining moisture is difficult also C:N
ratio of the waste to 30:1.
Another reason why I started on
compost lines was that, I have been reading about the theory that by
just adding carbon alone, humus doesn't get generated and it needs
nitrogen also in 30:1 ratio, along with air and water to make humus. If the C:N ratio is too high (excess Carbon), decomposition slows down. If the C:N ratio is too low (excess nitrogen) you will end up with a stinky pile. After decomposition,35% of carbon will be converted to humus and 65% will be released as carbon dioxide.Hence in the humus, C:N ratio will be 10:1. Soil organisms has C:N ratio of 8:1,with 22 parts of carbon for energy and 8 parts of carbon for maintenance.
These are the C:N ratio of some items:
Dried leaves - 60:1,food waste - 15:1,grass clippings 17:1, so when all these are used in compost pile, total C:N becomes - 60+15+17:1+1+1 = 92:3, that is - 31:1. This is a good combination. Hence add one bucket dried leaves, one bucket food waste and one bucket grass clippings. Experts also say, even one bucket of dried leaves with one bucket of food waste+grass clippings also will work, basically equal parts of brown material and equal parts of nitrogen rich material.
Subash Palekar's mulching suggestion also follows this, he asks to
use mulch from leguminous cover crops. When we just mulch with
leaves, it just dries up and only a very small portion gets converted
to humus and add to soil fertility, especially in hot climates. In
cold climates, it just remains well in the soil and gets added as
humus. As per theory, they say in hot climates, mulch gets oxidised
without nitrogen. Practically I have seen that when straw is spread
back in the rice field after 2nd crop, scorching sun just cooks it
and after a while, nothing much can be seen later. So in short, to
make humus, C:N ratio, moisture and oxygen is important and this can
not be easily assured when we mulch around the trees, but in compost
pit, this can be easily done,especially the moisture part. In short,
true
composting can be achieved only when the vegetable and animal
elements are combined in correct proportions and have been subjected
to the influence of moisture and of air.
Some informations from Steve Solomon's Organic Gardener's Composting book...
If there is too much nitrogen in the heap, it heats up very rapidly, become as hot as the microbial population can
tolerate, lose moisture very quickly, and probably smell of ammonia, indicating that valuable
fixed nitrogen is escaping into the atmosphere. There are other bacteria commonly found in soil that uptake ammonia gas and change it to the
nitrates that plants and soil life forms need to make other proteins. That is
why it is very important to ensure that about 10 percent of a compost pile is soil and to coat the
outside of a pile with a frosting of rich earth that is kept damp. Clay is capable of attracting and temporarily holding on to ammonia until
it is nitrified by microorganisms. Most soils contain significant amounts of clay.
Also recently when I looked at the
beautiful market gardens people doing around the world came across
Charles Dowding who does no-till market garden just using compost. He
spreads 6 inhces of compost initially and plants directly into
compost and then yearly add another 3 inches of compost. All the
compost was made in his garden using agriculture waste, kitchen
waste, coffee grounds and some manure. So at this point I think,
making some compost for kitchen garden and other farm may be good and
can be reduced gradually once the farm is at its best productivity.
So I started searching for
composting solutions in Internet and here is a summary of composting
options which interested me.
Berkeley Compost Method
This method
developed by University of Berkeley is aerobic (in presence of
oxygen) composting technique and will produce compost in 18 days.
These are the features:
In this
compost temperature is between 55-65 degree celsius
The
C:N (carbon:nitrogen) balance in the composting materials is
approximately 25-30:1
The
compost heap needs to be roughly 1.5m high
Materials
has to be broken down to small pieces. Microorganisms are not capable of chewing or mechanically attacking food.the greater the surface area the
composting materials present the more rapidly microorganisms multiply to consume the food
supply. And the more heat is created
Compost
is turned from outside to inside and vice versa to mix it thoroughly
No
turning till 4th
day, then onwards till 18th
day, turn till 18th
day. Basically remove outerlayer and keep it on one side, and then
inner side keep and apply to outerside
Can
put activator in the middle of compost heap to start off composting
process. Activators include comfrey, nettles, yarrow, animal, fish,
urine, or old compost
Has
to make it wet initially
If
you are in a hurry use 1/3 of manure and 2/3 of carbon materials.
Add one bucket of nitrogen rich material, for every 2 buckets of
carbon rich materials.
Since
it's hot compost not much volume change at the end of 18th
day
Reference
-
https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/hot-compost-composting-in-18-days/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZXBxtpq3E
- How to create and maintain soil fertility. This video tells that
there is no much volume change when the compost is created and every
2 weeks one 1m3 of compost is made.
Indoor
process
Sir
Albert Howard was the founder of the organic farming movement, worked
for 25 years in India as an agriculture investigator. He developed
Indore composting process when he was working as a Director in
Instistute of plant industry at Indore.
It is a 90 day process and is an
aerobic process. 50
cart loads (each 27cft) of ripe compost can be obtained per pair of
oxen, if there is sufficient vegetable wastes available, this could
be doubled. Malvi breed cattle was used for Indore process. At
Institute 300 acres produced 1000 cart loads of compost using 40
oxen. The limiting factor was not animal, but vegetable wastes. The
amount of animal wastes from forty draught oxen gave a large surplus,
which could be used either directly as manure or as fuel for cooking.
As each cartload of compost was equivalent, as regards nitrogen
content, to two cartloads of ordinary farmyard manure, and taking
other factors into consideration, had about three times the value of
such manure, the fields of India could be supplied as required and
yet leave enough material over to allow for the manufacture of the
well-known kundas, cow-dung
cakes for fuel.
Raw materials needed: Vegetable waste - In
the tropics and sub-tropics the vegetable wastes consist of very
similar materials including the vegetation of waste areas, grass,
plants grown for shade and green-manure, sugar-cane leaves and
stumps, all crop residues not consumed by live stock, cotton stalks,
weeds, sawdust and wood shavings, and plants grown for providing
compostable material on the borders of fields, roadsides, and any
vacant corners available.
The
ideal chemical composition of these materials should be such that,
after being used as bedding for live stock, the carbon: nitrogen
ratio is in the neighbourhood of 33:1.
Animal
Residues. The
animal residues ordinarily available all over the world are much the
same -- the urine and dung of live stock, the droppings of poultry,
kitchen waste including bones. Where no live stock is kept and animal
residues are not available, substitutes such as dried blood,
slaughter-house refuse, powdered hoof and horn, fish manure, and so
forth can be employed.
At
Indore the work-cattle were kept in well-ventilated sheds with
earthen floors and were bedded down daily with mixed vegetable wastes
including about 5 per cent. by volume of hard resistant material such
as wood shavings and sawdust. The cattle slept on this bedding during
the night when it was still further broken up and impregnated with
urine. Next morning the soiled bedding and cattle dung were removed
to the pits for composting;
Every
three months the earth under the cattle was changed, the
urine-impregnated soil was broken up in a mortar mill and stored
under cover near the compost pits. This urine earth, mixed with any
wood ashes available, served as a combined activator and base in
composting
Compost
is made using pits or heaps. In places there is heavy rains or water
logging heaps are used, otherwise pits can be used. Size of the pit
should be 30 feet x 14 feet and 3 feet depth with sloping sides.Air
percolates the fermenting mass to a depth of about 18 to 24 inches
only, so for a height of 36 inches extra aeration must be provided.
This is arranged by means of vertical vents, every 4 feet, made by a
light crowbar as each section of the pit is charged.
During monsoon,
7 ft. by 7 ft. ( 8 ft x 8 ft at bottom) and 2 ft. heigh heaps are
made.
Charging
a pit 30 feet long takes place in six sections each 5 feet wide. The
first section, however, is left vacant to allow of the contents being
turned. The second section is first charged. A layer of vegetable
wastes about 6 inches deep is laid across the pit to a width of 5
feet. This is followed by a layer of soiled bedding or farm-yard
manure 2 inches in thickness. The layer of manure is then well
sprinkled with a mixture of urine earth and wood ashes or with earth
alone, care being taken not to add more than a thin film of about
one-eighth of an inch in thickness. If too much is added aeration
will be impeded. The sandwich is then watered where necessary with a
hose fitted with a rose for breaking up the spray. The charging and
watering process is then continued as before until the total height
of the section reaches 5 feet. Three vertical aeration vents, about 4
inches in diameter, are then made in the mass by working a crowbar
from side to side. The first vent is in the centre, the other two
midway between the centre and the sides. As the pit is 14 feet wide
and there are three vents, these will be 3 feet 6 inches apart. The
next section of the pit (5 feet wide) is then built up close to the
first and watered as before.
Turning Compost
First turn - The first turn should take place between 2 and 3
weeks after charging. Second turn. About five weeks after charge the
material is turned a second time but in the reverse direction.
Three months after charge the micro-organisms will have fulfilled
their task and humus will have been completely synthesized. It is now
ready for the land. If kept in heaps after ripening is completed, a
loss in efficiency must be faced. The oxidation processes will
continue. Nitrification will begin, resulting in the formation of
soluble nitrates. These may be lost either by leaching during heavy
rain or they will furnish the anaerobic organisms with just the
material they need for their oxygen supply. Such losses do not occur
to anything like the same extent when the humus is banked by adding
it to the soil. Freshly prepared humus is perhaps the farmer's chief
asset and must therefore be looked after as if it were actual money
Amrith Mitti (Nursery Soil)
This composting method was developed by Professor Sripad
Dhabolkar as part of his Natueco farming development. Nutrient value
of Amrith Mitti is said to be one of the best and equivalent to
forest soil.The soil needs to be produced only once in the life of
the farm, and over the years it increases in nutritional value and
most important, in microbial variety.
Ingredients
are Amrut Jal, Dry bio-mass and green bio-mass (with many varieties
of plants),top soil (scrape 1cm of top soil from the shade of
trees/bushes), variety of seeds (fruits, vegetables,
leafy vegetables, herbs, grains, pulses, big trees, oil-plants,
spices)
Amrit Jal is
made by mixing 10L of water,with 1L of cow urine (need not be fresh)
, 1Kg of fresh cowdung and 50gms of organic black jaggery.
Stir the
solution twice every day and 4th day, it will be ready.
- Collect dry organic matter such as straws, leaves, grass,
stems, twigs, plants, shredded bark, branches, etc.
- Crush it so that decomposition is faster
- Soak the biomass in Amrit Jal for 24 hours
- Heap should be made with 3 feet width, 1 feet height and any
length
- Form first layer of bio-mass by spreading it
- Sprinkle a thin layer of soil
- Do this till a 1 feet height is reached
- After the heap is ready, keep it mulched
- Keep the heap for composting for 30 days
- Every 7th day, mix the heap,ensure mulching after
tilling
- Sprinkle with Amrih Jal and water to keep it moist
- Once the compost is ready do the greening process which is
another 70 day process
- Soak the collected seeds in Amrit Jal for 8 hours
- Sow the seeds, approximately 10gms of seeds in every square
feet
- Keep the heap mulched by 2-4 inches of dry organic matter
and keep it moist by watering and Amrit Jal application
- On 21st day, prune 25%, without uprooting. These
gives the tender parts of the plants which contain a different sets
of nutrients
- On 42nd day, prune and mulch another 25%
- On 63rd day, prune the entire plant 0.5” of the
stem above the ground,without disturbing roots
- Keep the cuttings for drying for 3-4 days, after dried crush
and soak in Amrit Jal for 8 hours
- Mix into heap
A good one litre of Amrit Mitti should weigh 400gms.
Thumboormuzhi composting
This is a
composting model developed by Dr. Francis Xavier of Kerala Veternary
University. This is a 4ft x 4ft x 4ft bin made with enough holes on
all 4 sides. This is either done by bricks with alternate bricks not
present. Otherwise concrete slabs of 4” width is used, in between
them there will be 4” gap. Carbon materials like dried leaves or
shredded news paper is filled then cowdung slurry is applied. Above
this kitchen waste or meat waste is spread and this process is
repeated. Enough moisture should be maintained. Compost will be ready
in 45-90 days. Around 1 ton of compost will be available per tank.
NADEP composting
The
NADEP method of organic composting was developed by a Gandhian worker
called Narayan Deotao Pandharipande of Maharastra (Pusad). Compost
can be prepared from a wide range of organic materials including dead
plant material such as crop residues, weeds, forest litter and
kitchen waste. Compost making is an efficient way of converting all
kinds biomass into high value fertilizer that serves as a good
alternative to farmyard manure, especially for crop-growing
households without livestock.
This method of making compost involves the construction of a
simple, rectangular brick tank with enough spaces maintained between
the bricks for necessary aeration. The recommended size of the tank
is 10 ft (length) x 5 ft (breadth) x 3 ft (height). All the four
walls of NADEP tank are provided with 6// vents by removing every
alternate brick after the height of 1ft. from bottom for aeration.
Tank can be constructed in mud mortar or cement mortar.
Raw materials required for filling NADEP tank: Agricultural waste
(Dry & green) – 1350-1400 kgs. Cattledung or biogas slurry –
98 – 100 kgs. fine sieved soil – 1675 kgs. Water – 1350-1400
litres.
The important technique in the manufacture of Nadep compost is
that the entire tank should be filled in one go, within 24 hours and
should not go beyond 48 hours, as this would affect the quality of
the compost.
Inside the composting tank a series of layers of agricultural
waste, dung and soil are successively laid.100-110 kg of agricultural
waste is first placed on the floor in a layer of about 6 inches. 4kg
of dung mixed with 125-150 liters of water is applied on top of this
layer. The quantity of water varies with season and atmospheric
temperature, more water is necessary in the summer months. On top of
the second layer, clean soil, roughly half the weight of the
agricultural waste used (i.e. 50-55kg) is spread. Thereafter little
water is sprinkled. In this manner successive layers are heaped to a
height of about 1.5ft. above top of the trough. Then the top of the
pile is sealed with a 3 inch plastering of soil mixed with dung
(400-500kg). Within 2-3 months dark brown, friable, soft and moist
compost, free of all foul odour is ready. The nutrient status of this
manure is Nitrogen 0.5-1.5%, Phosphorous 0.5-0.9% and
Potassium1.2-1.4%.
: About 3 tons of compost is generated per tank per cycle. Typical
application rate is 3.0 tons per hectre.
One disadvantage of this method is the use of soil in large quantities...may be there is a way to overcome this
References:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcseprd331820.pdf
http://www.homecompostingmadeeasy.com/index.html
Trench Composting
In Trench composting a trench is made and your kitchen waste and some dried leaves are added and soil is put above this. It decomposes nicely and you can plant, after 2-3 weeks. Some people say, pumpkins and ash guards grow very well in compost piles, so these may be planted directly.
Some references:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL-WRZUG0d8
