Karnataka J. Agric. Sci.

, 24 (4) : (583-584) 2011

Nutrient status and microbial load of different organic liquid manures

Nowadays organic farming practices are gaining importance as farmers have realized the benefits of organic farming in terms of soil fertility, soil health and sustainable productivity. Farmers are well aware with the use of organic liquid manures such as Panchagavya, Beejamrutha, Jeevamrutha and Biodigester in organic farming. These organic liquid manures play a key role in promoting growth and providing immunity to plant system. The spray of Panchagavya on chillies produce dark green coloured leaves within 10 days. Its role as plant growth promoter has already been reported by Subhashini et al. (2001) and Sreenivasa et al. (2009). The seed dipping in beejamrutha are known to protect the crop from harmful soil-borne and seed-borne pathogens (Sreenivasa et al., 2010). The bio-digester liquid can be used as a botanical pesticide so also as liquid manure. It can be regularly added to the soil along with water at the rate of 200 liter per hectare. Though many farmers are getting better yield by using organic liquid manures, scientific validation has not been carried out so far. Hence an attempt has been made to analyse these organic liquid manures at the Institute of Organic Farming, UAS, Dharwad to know the nutrient status and microbial load during 2010. Panchagavya was prepared using the ingredients viz cow dung (5 kg), cow urine (3l), cows milk (2l), curd made from cow milk (2l), ghee made from cow milk (1l), sugarcane juice (3l), tender coconut water (3l) and ripened banana (12 Nos). All these substrates were added to a wide mouthed mud pot and kept open under shade. The contents were stirred twice a day for about 20 minutes both in the morning and evening to facilitate aerobic microbial activity. After fifteen days of incubation, the fermented product Panchagavya was used for further studies. Beejamrutha was prepared using the ingredients cow dung, cow urine, water and lime. Cowdung (5 kg) tied in a cloth was
Table 1. Nutrient status of different organic liquid manures Parameter pH Soluble salt (dsm-1) Total nitrogen Total phosphorus (ppm) Total potassium (ppm) Total zinc (ppm) Total copper (ppm) Total iron (ppm) Total manganese (ppm) Panchagavya 6.82 1.88 0.10 (%) 175.4 194.1 1.27 0.38 29.71 1.84 Beejamrutha 8.2 5.5 40 ppm 155.3 252.0 2.96 0.52 15.35 3.32 Jeevamrutha 7.07 3.40 770 ppm 166 126 4.29 1.58 282 10.7 Biodigester 7.29 1.09 255 ppm 79 42 0.52 1.24 9.60 8.30

dipped in a bucket containing 50 liters of water overnight. Next day morning, the tied dung was frequently squeezed and dipped in the water. Five litres of cow urine, a handful of soil and 50 g of calcium chloride was added to this extract. Jeevamrutha was prepared by mixing 10 kg cow dung, 10 l cow urine, 2 kg jaggary, 2 kg pulse flour with 200 l water and kept for one week incubation. Biodigester was prepared by adding botanical plants mainly neem, calotropis, vitex, lantana, adothoda, ipomea, custard apple and agave (5 kg each) to the bio-digester tank containing urine (10 litres), dung (10 kg), little quantity of soil and 200 litres of water. The digested liquid manure was ready in 3 weeks Samples were drawn immediately after preparation for the nutrient and microbial estimations. The major nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium present in organic liquid manures were estimated by following microkjeldhal method, vanadomolybdate method and flame photometry respectively. The micronutrients present in organic liquid manures were estimated using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The serial dilution and standard plate count method was used for isolation of total bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes and other biochemical groups viz free living N2 fixers and Psolubilizers using nutrient agar, Martins rose bengal agar, Kusters agar, Norris N free media and Pikovskayas media respectively. The plates were incubated at 2820c for one week and the colony counts were recorded. The nutrient status and microbial load present in panchagavya, beejamrutha, jeevamrutha and biodigester are given in Table Nos. 1 & 2 respectively. The data indicated the presence of both major and micro nutrients in all the organic liquid manures (Table 1) in addition to different microflora especially nitrogen fixers and P-solubilizers (Table 2.) Presence

Table 2. Microbial load in different organic liquid manures Organisms Panchagavya Bacteria (no. x 10 ) Fungi (no. x 104) Actinomycetes ( no. x 103) Phosphate solubilising organisms (no. x 102) Free living N2-fixers (no. x 102)
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Colony count (cfu/ml) Beejamrutha 15.4 10.5 6.8 2.7 3.1 583 Jeevamrutha 20.4 13.8 3.6 4.5 5.0 Biodigester 12.9 9.2 3.0 1.0 2.1 26.1 18.0 4.20 5.70 2.70

Karnataka J. Agric. Sci.,24 ( 4 ) : 2011 of naturally occurring beneficial microorganisms predominantly bacteria, yeast, actinomycetes, photosynthetic bacteria and certain fungi were detected in organic liquid manures (Swaminathan, 2005). Papen et al. (2002) reported that panchagavya contains Azotobacter, Azospirillum and phosphobacteria. Institute of Organic Farming University of Agricultural Sciences Dharwad-580005, India Email : sreenivasa_mn@rediffmail.com (Received : August, 2010)
References Papen, H. A., Gabler, E. Z. and Rennenbeg, H., 2002, Chemolitho autotrophic nitrifiers in the phyllosphere of a spruce ecosystem receiving high nitrogen input. Curr. Microbiol., 44:56-60. Sreenivasa, M.N., Nagaraj Naik and Bhat, S. N., 2009, Beneficial traits of microbial isolates of organic liquid manures, Proc. First Asian PGPR Congress for Sust. Agric., 21-24, June, 2009, ANGRAU, Hyderabad.

In the present study, the nutrient status and microbial load recorded in organic liquid manures may differ with the type and quantity of material used, period of fermentation, environmental conditions etc. However the results of the present analysis clearly brought out the nutrient status and microbial load in organic liquid manures. M. N. SREENIVASA NAGARAJ NAIK S. N. BHAT

Sreenivasa, M.N., Nagaraj Naik and Bhat, S. N., 2010, Beejamrutha: A source for beneficial bacteria. Karnataka J. Agric. Sci., 17 (4);731-735. Subhashini, S, A., Arumugasamy, K., Vijayalakshmi, A.V. and Balasubramanian, 2001, Vrkshayurveda-Ayurveda for Plants. Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems, Chennai, TamilNadu, pp.47. Swaminathan, C., 2005, Food production through vrkshayurvedic way. In: Technol. for Natural Farming. Eds. Agriculture College & Research Institute, Madurai, Tamilnadu, India. pp:18-22

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