How Organic Manure Is Prepared And Types Of Organic Manures? - Learn Natural Farming
July 9, 2020 July 5, 2020 by Siddartha Reddy
A self sustained farmer can easily prepare organic manures. All the ingredients are avialable on his farm, he has to just work on them.
There are around 6 types of Organic manures. Few are naturally available and others need to be prepared.
Tank silt application
Complete list of Organic manures and how to make them:
Farmyard manure is a decomposed organic matter obtained by the action of microbial population in a warm and moist aerobic environment using cow dung, cow urine and other waste materials avaiblae from their backyard cattle.
Cow dung , cow urine, left over cattle grass, old Farmyard manure(FYM), other farm waste, dry coconut leaves/shells, egg shell powder, ash powder, wooden barks/stones, water.
Select a plain area free from stones, weeds, and stagnating water. Dia a pit or make a rectangular area of convenient size (15 to 30 feet length X 41/2 to 5 feet breadth) above the ground using wooden barks or stones to prepare FYM.
At the base spread few coconut leaves or coconut shells on the ground.
Add 4 to 5 feet cow dung slurry to avoid pests and diseases causing organisms.
Above this layer, add agricultural waste materials like banana leaves, stem, dry fodder, rice bran, fresh green plants, weeds, etc.
Again add a layer of cow dung slurry over it.
Add another layer of agricultural waste materials, eggshell powder, and ash powder.
Sprinkle the same with cow dung slurry and water to maintain moisture level.
Inoculate the pit with 4 to 5 kg of old farmyard manure for early and complete decomposition of the manure.
Turn the contents in the pit for better aeration, easy decomposition, and avoid foul smell.
Provide proper shade above the pit by roofing and maintain the moisture content in the pit by watering every week to obtain good quality FYM.
Cover the pit using coconut leaves and allow it to decompose up to 3 months.
The final product will be black in color and ready for use.
12 to 15 cart loads of farm yard manure can be used to one acre of land during the time of ploughing or land preparation.
The farmyard manure houses plenty of microorganisms that help in increasing the soil fertility status.
It helps in water holding capacity of the soil.
Farm yar manure supplements the essential nutrition required by the crop for its growth and development.
Vermicompost is rich manure obtained by the action of earthworms on organic material. Composting is a process of decomposing organic matter by a microbial population in a warm and moist aerobic environment.
Vermicompost is prepared in a pit of different sizes on the land or the worms are just left in the field with organic wasters, It acts as low-cost vermicompost, since the products are agricultural waste, without much investment.
Cow dung, water, cow urine, agricultural waste materials.
Prepare a pit or select an area above the ground of about 6 ft length X 3 ft breadth X 2.5 ft height.
Slightly dig the soil to place the stones/bricks around the selected area above the ground.
Initially, a thin layer of cow dung slurry is spread evenly on the surface to avoid termite attack.
Tree barks are spread on the ground as an initial layer in both horizontal and vertical directions.
All dry agricultural wastes are added to a height of 3 to 6 feet above the ground.
Cow dung slurry and cow urine are sprinkled over this layer and another layer of dry material or dry tree leaves, biomass, weeds, banana stem, or any waste material is heaped.
Biomass contains microorganisms that help in the better decomposition of the compost.
Water is sprinkled evenly to soften the materials.
The bacteria in the water help to the early decomposition of the compost.
Eggshell powder and ash powder is sprinkled on this layer.
Eggshell helps to supplement calcium while ash powder supplies potash.
Over this, red soil is sprinkled and finally covered with dry material.
Proper shading is provided over this pit. Allow the heap to decompose for 25 to 30 days.
The pit or heap is then inoculated with earthworms after 30 days of decomposition when the raw materials turn to black.
This is finally covered with dry waste over which water and cow dung slurry is sprinkled evenly every day to maintain moisture.
Mix soil in water and plaster the entire heap above the ground with the same to avoid evapotranspiration.
For better aeration, make a small hole at the center.
Care should be taken to provide shade throughout the process and even during storing.
So formed Vermicompost is ready in 40 to 45 days and can be stored in gunny bags under shade for 4 to 6 months.
Also Read How do you make Vermicompost?
Quality of the compost:
Good quality compost should be black, powdery, and fully decomposed material.
After every three months, the pit should be changed so that there is complete decomposition.
Slurry and urine should be applied to maintain moisture. Providing shade is necessary to avoid evaporation.
The usage of microbes should be made effectively. Moisture should be maintained at 30 to 40 percent in the compost which indicates by the formation of the ball in the compost and breaks after falling.
Complete three months is necessary for decomposition to obtain good quality compost.
Such compost provides all the 16 nutrients required for growth and yield of crops.
This compost when mixed with soil helps in water holding capacity, promotes faster growth of plants, increases crop yield, and lowers the risk of crop loss due to pest attack.
3. Enriched Vermicompost
Enriched Vermicompost is an organic manure that enriches the soil with nitrogen, phosphorus and potash making it available to plants in required form.
The fertility of the soil is also maintained due to the action of microbes.
Simulataneously it also protects the crop from pests and diseases.
1 quintal vermicompost or good quality farmyard manure.
1 kg Azospirillum or Azotobacter
1 kg phosphate solubilizing microorganisms (PSM)
Spread vermicompost on a clean cement floor.
Mix all the biofertilizers like Azospirillum or Azotobacter, Trichoderma, and phosphate solubilizing microorganisms. with a small quantity of water to maintain moisture level.
Cover the entire material with gunnysacks to avoid evapotranspiration.
Every week sprinkle the material with water and turn the entire material upside down to maintain moisture and aeration.
Keep covering the entire material with gunny sacks.
Continue this process for up to 3 weeks to complete the process.
Also Read Seed treatment in different crops
Application of 2 to 5 quintal enriched vermicompost per acre as soil application before sowing directly to the soilis found to be beneficial in supplementin the necessary nutreints required by the crop as well as in combating pests and diseases from seedling stage itself.
4. Green leaf manure
Addition of leaves , stem and other parts of the plant to the soil when they are still green to improve the fertility of the soil is called green leaf manure.
There are two ways of preparing green leaf manure.
Leguminous plans leaf manuring:
Growing various types of leguminous plants like sun hemp, dhaincha, horse gram, niger, cowpea, jute, etc in the filed before 15 days of sowing/transplanting and finally incorporating the same in the soil during plowing.
Tree leaves manuring:
Getting the green leaves, stem, and branches from the trees grown outside like gliricidia, cassia siamea, jackfruit, Pongamia, niger, etc and incorporating the same within the soil just 15 days before sowing or transplantation of the crop in the field.
The green leaf manure rots and provides more nitrogen to the plants ultimately saving organic urea applications. The addition of various types of green leaves to the soil controls pests and diseases.
Two to three tons of green leaf manure can be added to one acre of land.
5. Tank silt application
Silt is a combination of sand and clay particles collected from the lakes or ponds. It is mainly done to improve soil and moisture conservation as well as increase the aeration and porosity of the soil.
The main filed before sowing of the crop must be prepared well by plowing and bunding along the margins to avoid runoff.
Silt is collected in tractors from lankes/ponds and spread evenyl on the surface of the soil.
Since silt has adhesive property as it contains kaolinite and montmorillionite, it gets mixed in the main field on the onset of monsoon which inturn help in retention of moisture and nutrients in the soil making it available to plants.
20 to 25 tractor loads of silt is needed for 10 acres of land. Silt can be applied to the soil once in 3 years.
Application of silt in the mainland helps in the retention of nutrients in the soil and increases the fertility of the soil which in turn increasing crop yield.
Application of the silt increasing the water holding capacity of the soil providing moisture throughout the growing season of the crop.
Silt application can convert barren land into fertile soil.
Silt can be applied to any type of soil but best suited for soils with sandy property.
Silt helps to increase the water table of the soil.
Before the application of silt, farmers have to get their soil tested and complete knowledge of silt content from the soil testing laboratory and take necessary steps as per the lab recommendations.
6. Organic urea
Organic urea is a lowcost organic fertilizer with a mixture of sand and cow urine that supplement nitrogen to the crops.
Native cow’s urine and sand
Construct a pit of convenient size 3 feet length X 1.5 feet width X 1-foot depth lined with brick and cement.
Fill 3/4 of the brick tank with sand.
Pour 5 to 10 liters of locally bred cow’s urine over this sand.
Keep pouring the locally bred cow’s urine over this sand.
Keep pouring the urine for 20 consecutive days in the tank.
Close the tank with wooden/metal lid to avoid evaporation of urea fumes.
Allow the sand to react with cow’s urine in the tank.
The sand turns black in color within 25 to 30 days.
Remove this sand urea from the tank and dry it under the shade for 3 to 4 days.
Now the organic sand urea is ready for use.
Compost should be applied as a basal doage to the crops. As a top dress, sand urea is pplied during vegetative and flowering stage.
In case of ragi, 100 kg/acre (twice or thrice the quantity of chemical urea) is applied two times , once after 25 days of sowing and another after 45 days of sowing.
Inc ase of paddy, 250 kg/acre (twice or thrice the quantity of chemical urea) is applied three to four times. Two times during growing stage and once or twice during flowering stage of the crop.
Organic urea can be applied for the crop instead of chemical urea. Provides a sufficient amount of nitrogen to the plants making the crop grow healthy and sturdy.
Organic urea must be applied 3 to 4 times for paddy crop and 1 to 2 times for ragi crop to get a good yield.
Works best for the sesame seeds, if they are mixed with sand urea and sow in the field.
1 1. Farmyard manure
2 2. Vermicompost
3 3. Enriched Vermicompost
4 4. Green leaf manure
5 5. Tank silt application
6 6. Organic urea