Utilization of elephant dung for vermicompost production (Record no. 28064)

000 -LEADER
fixed length control field 04778nam a2200193Ia 4500
003 - CONTROL NUMBER IDENTIFIER
control field OSt
005 - DATE AND TIME OF LATEST TRANSACTION
control field 20220328154200.0
008 - FIXED-LENGTH DATA ELEMENTS--GENERAL INFORMATION
fixed length control field 140128s9999 xx 000 0 und d
082 ## - DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION NUMBER
Classification number 631.4
Item number REK/UT
100 ## - MAIN ENTRY--PERSONAL NAME
Personal name Rekha.V.R Nair
245 ## - TITLE STATEMENT
Title Utilization of elephant dung for vermicompost production
260 ## - PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC. (IMPRINT)
Place of publication, distribution, etc. Vellanikkara
Name of publisher, distributor, etc. Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry,College of Horticulture
Date of publication, distribution, etc. 2011
300 ## - PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Extent 65
502 ## - DISSERTATION NOTE
Degree type MSc.
520 3# - SUMMARY, ETC.
Summary, etc. The study on Utilization of elephant dung for vermicompost production was undertaken at College of Horticulture Vellanikkara during the period 2009-11. The experiment was done to understand the influence of macro and micro fauna on the in situ decomposition of elephant dung and to investigate the manurial value of biotically enriched elephant dung. In order to attain the objective three separate experiments were conducted in a phased manner.
The first experiment included the investigation of the role of macro and micro fauna on the in situ decomposition of elephant dung and isolation of native microbes efficient in lignocellulose degradation. In order to study the effect of macro and micro fauna on the in situ decomposition of elephant dung, a field monitoring was undertaken by identifying six stages of degradation of dung viz. more than one year old (E1), one year old (E2), eight months old (E3), four months old (E4), and fresh sample constituting of body washings (E5) and faecal bolus (E6). The results revealed that the temperature of degrading dung was always higher than atmospheric temperature indicating that natural decomposition was a continuos process. Higher microbial activity was observed in fresh dung which resulted in lowering the C: N ratio of old dung. Among the native microbes isolated from the dung, bacteria were found to have a predominant role in lignocellulose degradation.
The second experiment mainly included the characterization of physico chemical and biochemical properties of elephant dung. The manurial value of elephant dung was estimated as 48.18% C, 0.86% N, 0.34% P, 0.37% K+, 0.19% Ca2+, 0.05% Mg2+ and 0.25% Na+ with a pH value of 6.9. Dung was rich in crude fibre (21.4%) and low in crude fat (2.8%). Cellulose, hemi cellulose and lignin fractions were accounted as 35.8, 30.1 and 17.5 per cent respectively.
The third experiment was vermicomposting which was done to identify the suitable microbial decomposers for pre-composting and the best substrate controlled environment for the same. The experiment was conducted in factorial CRD with two factors and two replications. Eudrillus euginae was used as the compost worms. The different factors involved are the microbes and substrates at different levels. The factor without microbes was compared with Pleurotus platypus, combination of Aspergillus flavus and Bacillus subtilis and native microbes. Different substrate levels used for vermicomposting included FYM and banana pseudostem in 1:1 and 1:8 proportion, FYM and elephant dung in 1:1 and 1:8 ,elephant dung and FYM in 1:1 and 1:8. Based on the daily observation of the compost pile of elephant dung, four stages of composting namely thermophilic (10-15 days), mesophilic (25-30 days), cooling (5-8 days) and maturity (5-10 days) were identified. After thermophilic stage worms were introduced and found that substrate combination of FYM: ED (1:8) recorded seven to eight fold multiplication in earth worm population and a maturity period of 56 days which was on par with the substrate composition of FYM: ED (1:1), recording 54 days (on an average). The biotically enriched dung also recorded the manurial value of 10.78% C, 1.34% N, 0.66% P, and 0.61% K+. 0.67% Ca2+. 0.04% Mg 2+and 0.12% Na+ with a pH value of 7.3. Among the microbes used, consortium of Aspergillus flavus and Bacillus subtilis, was found to be efficient in lignocellulose degradation which was on par with Pleurotus platypus.
The FYM & elephant dung in the ratio 1: 8 must be pre composted with Aspergillus flavus and Bacillus subtilis in order to reduce the maturity period of compost. Moreover the same treatment recorded high rate of microbial activity, maximum earth worm multiplication rate and high nitrogen, phosphorous and calcium status with minimum maturity days for composting. Regarding the practical utility of work, it was found that a benefit cost ratio of 1.2 was estimated for vermicomposting of elephant dung using a tank (1m3 ) of 300 kg capacity and with the introduction of 1500 earthworms for a period of 50- 60 days with the help of effective lignocellulose degraders, Aspergillus flavus and Bacillus subtilis
700 ## - ADDED ENTRY--PERSONAL NAME
Personal name Sushama P.K(Guide)
856 ## - ELECTRONIC LOCATION AND ACCESS
Uniform Resource Identifier http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810028909
942 ## - ADDED ENTRY ELEMENTS (KOHA)
Source of classification or shelving scheme
Koha item type Theses
Holdings
Withdrawn status Lost status Source of classification or shelving scheme Damaged status Not for loan Permanent Location Current Location Shelving location Date acquired Full call number Barcode Date last seen Price effective from Koha item type
          KAU Central Library, Thrissur KAU Central Library, Thrissur Theses 2014-03-18 631.4 REK/UT 173125 2014-03-18 2014-03-18 Theses
Kerala Agricultural University Central Library
Thrissur-(Dt.), Kerala Pin:- 680656, India
Ph : (+91)(487) 2372219
E-mail: librarian@kau.in
Website: http://library.kau.in/