Organic manure covers manures made from cattle dung

Organic manure covers manures made from cattle dung, excreta of other animals, rural & urban composts, other animal wastes, crop residues & last but not the least green manures. Organic manure is time tested materials for improving the fertility & productivity of soils.

*Organic manures covers manures made from*	*Organic manure significantly improves the soil physical properties like.*
Cattle dung	Soil porosity
Excreta of other animals	Water stable aggregates
Rural and urban compost	Water holding capacity
Other animal waste	Infiltration rate
Crop residues	Hydraulic conductivity
Green manures

Composting is a process of reducing vegetable & animal waste to a quickly utilizable condition for improving and maintaining soil fertility.These are produced through the action of micro organisms on wastes. Wastes may be leaves, roots & stubbles, crop residues, straw, hedge clippings, weeds, water hyacinth, saw dust. Kitchen wastes & human habitation wastes.

The waste materials undergo intensive decomposition under medium-high temperatures in heaps or pits with adequate moisture.

Finished Product (Compost) -an amorphous, brown to dark brownhumified materials

Parameters	Optimum Value
C: N Ratio of feed	25 to 35
Particle size	10 mm for agitated systems & forced aeration, 50 mm for long heaps & natural aeration.
Moisture Content	50 to 60%
Temperature	55 TO 60 C held for 3 days
Agitation	No agitation to periodic turning in simple systems and short burst of vigorous agitation in mechanized system.
pH control	Normally not necessary
Heap size	Any length, 1.5 high & 2.5 m wide for heaps using natural aeration. With forced aeration heap size depends on need to avoid overheating.
Activator	Use of efficient cellulolytic, fungi and Bio-Fertilizers

Aerobic

The used bedding, the sweeping from cattle shed and some urine soaked earth from the stable floor are removed every day, mixed with cattle dung and two or three handfuls of wood ash are deposited on a well drained site to gradually build up a low pile , about 30 to 45 cm in height, about 5 cm in width & of any convenient length. The pile in built up before the start of the rainy season. After the first heavy showers, the welted material in a 1.2 m strip of each side of the long heap is tuned with a rake on to a 2.4 m wide strip in the middle, thus raising the height of the heap to nearly 1 metre. This process prevents a loss of moisture & ensures a quick start of decomposition. When the heap sinks appreciably & such a sinking takes about three to four weeks, it is given a turning and made into a fresh heap, thus mixing outside material with that from inside.

After about a month or more, depending on the incidence of rains the heap is given a final turning on a cloudy or modernity rainy day & rebuilt with in vacant parts of original position. The compost becomes ready for use in about four months.

Anaerobic

The mixed farm residues are collected in pits of a convenient size, say, 4.5 m X 1.5 m X1 m . each days collection is spread in a thin layer, sprinkled with a mixture of fresh cow dung(4.5 Kg), ash (140 to 170 g) & water (18 to 22 litres) and compacted. The pit is filled till the raw material stands 30 to 46 cm above its edge and is then plastered with a 2.5 cm layer of a mixture of mud and cow dung. Under such conditions decomposition is anaerobic and high temperature does not develop. Insoluble nitrogen compound gradually become soluble & carbonaceous matter is broken down into carbon dioxide and water. The loss of ammonia is negligible, because of high concentration of carbon dioxide. The plastered pit also prevents the fly nuisance. The compacted, moist materials become compost in about four to five months without any further attention. The well made compost contains 0.8 % to 1% nitrogen & halt all goof property of FYM.

1.	Improves Soil fertility.
2.	Supply a part of Nutrient requirement of crops (particularly N)
3.	Green manure refers to fresh matter added to the soil largely for supplying the nutrient contained in the Bio-mass .
4.	This can either be grown in sites & incorporated or grown else where & brought in for incorporation in the field to be manured.
5.	Any plant cannot be used as a green manure in practical farming.
6.	Leguminous plant are largely used as green manure due to their symbiotic N fixing capacity , some non-leguminous plants are also used due to local availability, drought tolerance, quick growth and adaptation to adverse conditions.
An ideal Green manure should posses the following traits.
1.	Show early establishment, high seedling vigor
2.	Be tolerant to drought, shade, flood & adverse temperature.
3.	Possesses early onset of N fixation and its efficient sustenance.
4.	Have an ability to accumulate large bio mass & N in 4-6 weeks.
5.	Is easy to incorporate.
6.	Is quickly decomposable
7.	Is tolerant to pest & diseases