Farm yard manure consists of cow dung, urine and crop residues like straw, hay and fodder grass. Proper utilization of various farm yard manure helps to promote and improve the fertility of the soil; prevent soil erosion and soil pollution. With the changing scenario from traditional to scientific livestock farming recycling of farm waste like cow dung, urine and waste crop residues can be converted into organic manure,biogas and organic spray.The cow dung and crop residue plays a relatively important role for enriching soil fertility and thereby enhances crop production.The cow urine can be used as liquid manure to cultivate cereals and vegetables. Water from washing of cattle shed can be channelled into a pit which serves as manureand can be used for manuring fodder crop.
The recycling of farm waste products help to maintain the soil fertility and over the years it has gain immerse importance where farm waste product are converted to vermicompost manure. Vermicomposting is a method of composting where earthworm eat the decomposed farm waste products and excrete it out as casting which is known as vermicast or vermicompost. During feeding earthworm use only 5-10% of the food intake for their growth and the rest is excreted out as casting. Huge quantities of organic waste can be converted into valuable products through vermicomposting.
Vermicompost has many beneficial applications to our livestock farmers such as-
- Helps multiplication of microbes and control soil acidity.
- Easily absorb by field crop and vegetables due to small particles size.
- Contains almost all essential nutrients and hormones for plant and vegetable growth.
- Improves water holding capacity of soil.
- Due to healthy growth of field crop and vegetables it can resist many microbial and insect attack.
- Crop and vegetables grown on vermicompost manurehas better taste, colour and high nutritive value,so the market demand is more and does fetch higher prices.
Veterinary Hospital Kohima
