Principles of organic farming

WELCOME
Course No: AGRO 248
Course Title: Principles of Organic Farming
Topic: Organic Manures: Methods of FYM and Compost
Preparation

Organic Manure
Manure
Manure is well decomposed plant and animal wastes that are used as
sources of plant nutrients.
Organic Manures
Organic manures are grouped into bulky organic manures and concentrated
organic manures, based on concentration of the nutrients.
Bulky Organic Manures
Farm yard manure (FYM), compost,
night soil, sheep manure and green
manure are important bulky organic
manures
Concentrated Organic Manures
Oilcakes, Blood Meal, Fish Manure
etc. important concentrated organic
manures

Classification of Organic Manure
Bulky Organic Manure Concentrated Organic Manure
Oil Cakes Blood meal Meat Meal Others Etc.
Mainly derived from animal, plants as
well as other organic wastes and green
plant tissues.
Non edible to cattle
( e.g. Mahua, Neem
oil cake etc.)
Edible to cattle
( e.g. Mustard oil cake,
Groundnut oil cake
etc.)
• FYM
• Compost from farm
and town refuses
• Well decomposed
animal, plant and
other organic residues.
• Green manure
( e.g. Dhaincha,
Glyricidia, Other
leguminous crops.
• Plant tissues
(undecomposed)

FARM YARD
MANURE
• FYM refers to the decomposed mixture of dung and urine of farm animals
along with litter and left over material from fodder fed to the cattle.
• On an average well decomposed FYM contains 0.5 % N, 0.25 % P2
O5
and
0.5 % K2
O.
Methods for preparation of FYM
1. Pit method OR Trench method
2. Heap Method
3. Box method

1. Pit method OR Trench method
1. This method is recommended by
Acharya C. R. for areas with less than
750 mm rainfall annually.
2. Pit should be 6 meter long, 1.5 meter
broad and 1 meter deep.
3. The floor should be slopping in one
direction, on the floor of the pit 4 kg
of straw/ farm waste should be
spread as an absorbent material.
Continue…….

4. Farm waste material/ refuse/ waste
grass should be spread in the evening
before tying cattle in the shed and in
the morning said bedding material is
collected and filled in compost pit.
5. After collecting all of the dung and urine
soaked bedding material, it should be
well mixed so that each and every piece
of straw comes in contact with dung and
urine to facilitate better decomposition
of the material.
Continue…….

6. The material should be arranged layer of 30 cm
deep until the pit is filled.
7. Everyday layer should be pressed down and
covered with layer of soil about 2 cm deep. This
helps in keeping material moist.
8. When the section is filled up to a height of about
0.5 meters above ground level, the top of the
heap is made dome shaped and plastered with
mixture of soil and dung.
9. Rain water from surrounding area should not be
allowed to enter the pit.
10. This can be avoided by digging the pits in high
laying area or digging a trench to divert the water.

2. Heap Method
1. In heavy rainfall area heap method of FYM
preparation is recommended.
2. The heap prepared above ground or the
manure yard situated on high laying area.
3. Every day layer is arranged layer by layer.
4. Each layer is of equal length and breadth with
a height of about 30 cm when the heap is
about 2 meters high, it is rounded on the top
and plastered over a mixture of soil and
dung.
5. The manure is ready for use after 4 to 5
months.

3. Box Method
1. In this method, cattle shed itself is used for preparing and storing farm
yard manure.
2. The floor of the shed is dug about 0.5 to 1 meter below ground level
and straw and waste material is spread daily on the floor to absorb
urine .
3. The litter and dung are trampled under the feet of the animals tied in
the shed.
4. This process continues till sunken portion rises slightly above the
ground level.

COMPOST
A mass of well rotted plant and animal residues is called the compost
OR
The process by which organic waste are converted into organic fertilizers
by means of biological activity under controlled conditions and
decomposed material is called as compost.

Enrichment of compost
• Enrichment of compost using low cost N fixing and Phosphate solubilising
microbes is one of the possible way of improving nutrient status of the
product.
• It could be achieved by introducing inoculants, which are more efficient
than the native strains associated with the substrate material.
• Studies conducted at IARI , New Delhi, showed that inoculation with
azotobactor/azospirillum and phosphate solubilising culture in the
presence of 1 % rock phosphate is a beneficial input to obtain good quality
compost rich in nitrogen (1.8%).
• The humus content was also higher in material treated with microbial
inoculants.

Types of Compost
1. Rural Compost:
This utilizes weeds, crop stubbles, farm yard wastages, straw, crop
residues such as cotton stalks, groundnut husk, leaves, sugarcane trash,
urine soaked earth and litter from cattle shed, waste fodder etc.
2. Urban Compost:
The main component of town compost are night soil and dust bin
(house) refuses and wood ashes.

Methods for preparation of Compost
1. Indore Method (Pit or Trench Method)
2. Rain water Compost
3. Coimbatore Method
4. NADEP Method
5. Bangalore Method
6. Activated compost

1. Indore Method
1. This method was worked by Howard and Wad 1931
2. Composting was done from waste material including woody and hard
residues like cotton and redgram stalks.
3. Material required for preparation of compost by this method are mixed
plant residues, animal dung, urine, earth (soil), wood ashes, and air.
4. Procedure:
i. Woody and hardy material like cotton stalks etc. should be chopped in
small pieces and crushed by speeding them on farm roads for being
trampled under the feet of bullocks and cart wheels.
ii. Soft material like trash, farm waste etc. are mixed and heaped of all
these material is prepared
Continue…….

iii. A pit should be 10 X 1.5 x 2.0 meters in
size.
iv. It should be as near as possible to cattle
shed for water supply.
v. The material is spread evenly in the pit
in layers of 7.5 to 10 cm, earth being by
covered by thin layer of 2.5 to 5 cm.
vi. Each layer is spread with slurry made up
of cattle dung ( 3.5 kg urine earth, 4.5
kg fungus inoculum taken from an
actively fermented heap of about 2
weeks old, 0.5 kg wood ash in 18 litters
of water. Continue…….

vii. Sufficient quantity of water sprinkled over
the ,material in the pit to make it moist but
not to wet.
viii. The spraying of water also helps for the
proper decomposition of materials.
ix. In this way pit is filled layer by layer. It should
not take more than six or seven days to fill
the pit in this manner.
x. The pit is filled till the material is 30 cm above
the ground level.
xi. The whole length of pit may not be filled,
leave one fourth pit empty to facilitate
subsequent turnings. Continue…….

xii. Then the material is allowed to decomposed for about two weeks.
xiii. The material turned three times, first 15 days after filling the pit,
second after 15 days ( 30 days of filling pit) and third 60 days after
filling.
xiv. At each turning material is mixed properly and moisture with water,
compost is ready in about 3-4 months after initial filling

2.Rainwater Method
1. This method is used in heavy rainfall
areas where pits are likely to be filled
with water and composting is done only
above ground level.
2. The heaps are prepared in the shape of
pyramid, 2.5 X 2.5 meters at bottom, 2 x
2 meters at top and 1 meter in height.
3. The material is crushed as in indore
method, but water is not essential unless
there is a long break in rainfall.
4. Covered the heap with soil mixture.
Continue…….

5. Two turnings are given.
6. In each turning heap gets reduced in size.
7. the final size of the heap will be 1.2 x1.2 x 1 meter.
8. The manure is ready in about two and half months.
9. In heavy rainfall areas heap may be prepared under the shed to
avoid excessive leaching.

3.Coimbatore Method
1. It is an anaerobic degradation followed by
aerobic process.
2. First pit of 4 M length, 2 M width and 1 M
depth is formed in which crop residues or farm
waste are filled to the thickness of about 15 cm.
3. Over this layer, cow dung slurry to enhance the
rate of biodegradation is applied to a thickness
of 5 cm.
4. Above this layer, 1 kg of bone meal or rock
phosphate to minimise the nitrogen loss and to
add phosphorus, is applied.

5. Thus application of the crop residue/ farm waste, cow dung slurry, bone
meal and rock phosphate in alternate layers is repeated till the height
reaches 0.5 m above ground level.
6. Then the above ground portion is covered with red earth or mud to
prevent the rain water entry and it becomes an anaerobic process.
7. After 30-35 days, the material is turned and it become an aerobic
process.
8. The compost will be ready within five months.

NADEP Method
1. The Nadep method of compost was first invented by a farmer named N.D.
Pandharipande (also popularly known as “Nadepkaka”) living in
Maharashtra ( Pusad, Yavtamal)
2. Pit size: Rectangular tank – 10 Ft X 5 Ft. X 3 Ft.
3. Four walls – 6 vents- remove alternate brick after 1 Ft. from bottom for
ventilation/ aeration.
4. Material required:
i. Agricultural waste ( dry & Green) : 1350 -1400 kg
ii. Cattle dung / biogas slurry: 98-100 kg
iii. Fine sieved soil: 1675 kg
iv. Water: 1350-1400 litters
Continue….

The important technique in the
manufacture of Nadep compost is that the
entire tank should be filled in one go,
within 24 hours and should not go beyond
48 hours, as this would affect the quality of
the compost.
Before filling: The tank is plastered by dilute
cattle dung slurry to facilitate bacterial
activity from all four sides.
Continue….

Sub-layer-1
4 to 6 inch thick layer of fine sticks, stems, (To facilitate aeration) followed by
4 to 6 inch layer of dry and green biomass.
Sub-layer-2
4 kg Cow dung is mixed with 100 liters of water and sprinkled thoroughly on
the agricultural waste to facilitate microbial activity.
Sub-layer-3
60 kg of fine dry soil is spread uniformly over the soaked biomass for moisture
retention and acts as a buffer during biodegradation. Thus the proportion of
organic materials for each layer is 100 kg Organic biomass, 4kg cowdung + 100
liters water+60 kg soil. In this way, approximately 10 -12 layers are filled in
each tank. After filling the tank, biomass is covered with 3 inch thick layer of
soil and sealed with cow dung +mud plaster.
Continue….

Maintenance
After 15-30 days of filling the organic biomass in the tank gets
automatically pressed down to 2 ft.
The tank is refilled by giving 2-3 layers over it and is resealed.
After this filling the tank is not disturbed for 3 months except that it is
moistened at intervals of every 6-15 days.
The entire tank is covered with a thatched roof to prevent excessive
evaporation of moisture.
Under no circumstances should any cracks be allowed to develop. If they
do, they should be promptly filled up with slurry.
2.5 tons of compost- 90-120 days.
Continue….

Benefits
Reduced cash expenses on chemical fertilizer, improved soil fertility,
increased crop yield.
Supports organic crop production, reduced dependence on outside inputs.
From each NADEP tank approximately 2.5 tons of compost is prepared with in
90-120 days.
The use of compost reduced the need for mineral fertilizer thus reducing
production costs and outside dependence.

Bangalore Method
1. Pioneering work in preparation of manure pit was carried by Acharya
(1939), particularly on utilization of town residues and night soil.
2. This process is otherwise called as hot fermentation method of manure
preparation.
3. In this method the compost production depots is located on the city
outskirts to transport town refuses and night soil to the pits.
4. The depots normally accommodates about 200 trenches with a spacing
of 1-5 meters between trenches.
5. First the refuses layer is to make 15 cm height, then night soil is
discharge over this and spread to a layer of 5 cm.

6. After filling the pit with refuses and night soil in alternate layers, the pit
is filled to 15 cm above ground level with a final layer of refuse of 15 cm
on the top.
7. This may be dome shaped and covered with thin layers of soil with red
earth or mud to prevent moisture loss and breeding of flies.
8. The material is allowed to remain as such without any turning and pot
watering for about three months. About in six months manure is
ready.
9. The compost obtain by this method would contain 1.5 % N , 1.0 % P2
O5
,
1.5% K2
O.

Activated Compost
1. Flower developed this technique in which fresh materials are
incorporated in an already fermenting heap so that quicker
decomposition can be obtained with already established microbial
population.
2. this method is useful, particularly when offensive material like night
soil are to be quickly disposed off.

WELCOME
Course No: AGRO 248
By
Prof. S. A.Hulgunde
Department of Agronomy
K. K. Wagh College of Agriculture, Nashik
Choices of crops & Varieties in Organic Farming

Choice of Crops & Varieties in Organic Farming
1. All seeds and plant material shall be certified organic.
2.Species and varieties cultivated shall be adapted to the soil and climatic
conditions and be resistant to pests and diseases
3.In the choice of varieties, genetic diversity shall be taken into consideration.
4. When organic seed and plant materials are available, they shall be used
5. When certified organic seed and plant materials are not available, chemically
untreated conventional seed and plant material shall be used.
6. The use of genetically engineered seeds, transgenic plants or plant
material is prohibited.

Factors influencing decisions on the selection of crops &
cropping system
1.ClimaticFactors: Is the Cropping
System suitable for local weather
parameters such as temperature,
Relative Humidity, Wind Velocity,
Seasons & Agro-ecological Conditions.
2. Soil conditions - Is the crop/cropping
system suitable for local soil type, pH and
soil fertility?

3. Water
i)Do you have adequate water source like a
tanks, wells, dams, etc.?
ii)Do you receive adequate rainfall?
ii)Is the distribution of rainfall suitable to
grow identified crops?
iv)Is the water quality suitable?
v)Is electricity available for lifting the
water?
vi)Do you have pump sets, micro irrigation
systems?
4. Cropping system options
i)Do you have the opportunity to go for
inter-cropping, mixed cropping,
multistoried cropping, relay cropping,
crop rotation, etc.?
Ii)Do you have the knowledge on
cropping systems management?

5. Past and present experiences of farmers
i)What were your previous experiences with
regard to the crop/cropping systems that you
are planning to choose?
ii)What is the opinion of your friends, relatives
and neighbors' on proposed crop/cropping
systems?
6. Expected profit and risk
i)How much profit are you expecting from
the proposed crop/cropping system?
Ii)Whether this profit is better than the
existing crop/cropping system?
Iii)What are the risks you are anticipating
in the proposed crop/cropping
system? Do you have the solution?
Can you manage the risks?
Iv)Is it worth to take the risks for
anticipated profits?

7. Economic conditions of farmers including
land holding
i)Are the proposed crop/cropping systems
suitable for your size of land holding?
ii)Are your financial resources adequate to
manage the proposed crop/cropping
system?
iii)If not, can you mobilize financial
resources through alternative routes?
8. Labour availability and mechanization potential
i)Can you manage the proposed crop/cropping
system through your family labour? If not, do you
have adequate labours to manage the same?
ii)Is family/hired labour equipped to handle the
proposed crop/cropping system? Are there any
mechanization options to substitute the labour?
Iii)Is machinery available? Affordable? Cost
effective?
Is family/hired labour equipped to handle the
machinery?

9. Technology availability and suitability
i)Is the proposed crop/cropping system suitable?
ii)Do you have technologies for the proposed
crop/cropping system?
iii)Do you have extension access to get the
technologies?
Iii)Are technologies economically feasible and
technically
viable? Are technologies complex or user-friendly?

1 0. Market demand and availability of
market infrastructure
i)Are the crops proposed in market
demand?
Do you have market infrastructure to sell
your produce?
Ii)Do you have organized marketing
system to reduce the intermediaries?
Iii)Do you have answers for questions
such as where to sell? When to sell?
Whom to sell to? What form to sell in?
What price to sell for?
iv)Do you get real time market
information and market intelligence on
proposed crops?

1 1 . Policies and schemes
i)Do Government policies favour your
crops?
Is there any existing scheme which
incentivises your crop?
Ii)Are you eligible to avail those benefits?

1 2. Public and private extension influence
1)Do you have access to Agricultural
Technology Management Agency
(ATMA)/ Departmental extension
functionaries to get advisory?
Ii)Do you know Kissan Call Center?
Do you have access to KVKs, Agril. l
Universities and ICAR
organizations?
iii)Do you subscribe agricultural
magazines?
iv)Do you read agricultural articles in
newspapers?
v)Do you get any support from input
dealers, Agribusiness Companies,
NGOs, Agriclinics and Agribusiness
Centers?

13. Availability of required agricultural
inputs including agricultural credit
i)Do you get adequate agricultural inputs such
as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and implements
in time?
ii)Do you have access to institutional credit?
1 4. Post harvest storage and processing
technologies
i)Do you have your own storage facility?
If not, do you have access to such facility?
Do you have access to primary processing
facility?
ii))Do you know technologies for value
addition of your crop?
iii)Do you have market linkage for value
added products?
iv)Are you aware about required quality
standards of value added products
of proposed crops?

WELCOME
Course No: AGRO 248
Practical Topic: Bio-fertilizers
By
Prof. S. V. Sonawane
Department of Agronomy
K. K. Wagh College of Agriculture, Nashik

Bio-fertilizers
• Biofertilizers refers to preparations
containing primarily active stains of
micro organisms.
• They are ready to use formulates of
such micro organisms which on
application to seeds roots or soil fix
atmospheric nitrogen or solubilise/
mobilize plant nutrients or otherwise
stimulate plant growth substances

Important Characteristics of bio-fertilizers
1. These groups are self generating sources
2. These groups can be nutrient fixer, nutrient solubilizes or
nutrient mobilizers.
3. Organisms secrets hormones or growth promoting substances
for better yields.
4. Secretion of antibiotics by these organisms is utilized for
disease control.
5. Use of these organisms reduce environmental pollution.

Types of bio-fertilizers or classification of bio-fertilizers
Depending upon the activity of mobilizing nutrient bio-fertilizers
are classified as
1. Nitrogen Fixers
2. Phosphate solubilizer and mobilizers
3. Compost accelerators and enrichers

1. Nitrogen Fixer
Depending upon the mechanism of nitrogen fixation this group
broadly classified as
i. Symbiotic Nitrogen fixer
There microbes fix atmospheric nitrogen with symbiotic
association
a) Rhizobium is host specific and they fix nitrogen with symbiotic
association with host plants. It is recommended foe leguminous
pulses and oilseeds.
b) Azolla ( Azolla and Anabeana azollae)

ii. Associative Symbiotic
Nitrogen fixer
a) Azospirillum
b) Acetobactor
iii. Non Symbiotic
Nitrogen fixer
a) Azotobactor
b) Blue Green Algae
2. Phosphate Solubilizers
and mobilizers
a) Bacillus
b) Pseudomonas
c) Aspergillus
d) Penicillium
3. Compost Accelerators
and enrichers
a) Trichoderma
b) Penicilium
c) Aspergillus

Details of bio-fertilizers
1. Rhizobium
• Most widely used biofertilizer
• It forms nodule on the roots of leguminous
plants, which fixes the atmospheric nitrogen in
the soil.
• Both the legumes and rhizobium are mutually
benefited by this association.
• The root nodules acts as site for nitrogen
fixation.
• Rhizobium legume association can fix up to 100 –
300 kg /ha/year

• The range of nitrogen fixed per ha per year by different legumes
is 100-150 kg for clover, 80-85 kg for cowpea, 100-130 kg for
alfalfa, 90-100 kg for lentil, 50-60 kg for groundnut, 60-80 kg for
soybean, 100-400 kg for pasture legumes
• Rhizobium species that can form nodules and fix N with specific
leguminous plants are
1. R. ciceri : it nodules with chickpea
2. R. japonicum: it nodules on soybean
3. R. leguminoserum: it nodules on peas, broad beans, lentils
4. R. melilotii: it nodules alfalfa, melilotii( sweet clover)
5. R. trifolii: it nodules trifolium

2. Azolla
• A small floating water fern
• Azolla is commonly seen in low land fields and in
shallow fresh water bodies in rice
• This fern harbours blue green algea, Anabaena
azollea.
• The azolla- anabaena association is a live floating
nitrogen factory using energy from photosynthesis
to fix atmospheric nitrogen amounting to 100-150
kg n/ha/year fro about 40-60 tones of biomass.
• Dry azolla contains 2.08, 0.61,2.05 % NPK

3) Azospirillum
• Azospirillum is an associative symbiotic
bacterium as it lives in close approximity and
sometimes within the root tissue of the plants
and fixes atmospheric nitrogen.
• Crops responds to azosprillum inoculation are
maize, barley, oats, sorghum, pearl millet and
forage crops.
• Azopirillum application increases grain
productivity of cereals by 5-20 % , of millets by
30% and of fodder by over 50%.
Continue….

• Azospirillum exerts growth promoting hormone ( IAA), gibbrellic
acid, cytokines and vitamins which results in more root biomass.
• Azospirillum inoculated plants can tolerate drought and extract
soil moisture from deeper layer of soil.
• It promotes uptake of nutrients.

4. Acetobactor
• Acetobactor is a rod shaped , aerobic, N-
fixing bacteria.
• These bacteria found in the roots, stems
and leaves of sugarcane with the potential
to fix up to 200 kg/ha.
• It is capable of growth at pH 3.
• It also solubilize insoluble forms
phosphorus inoculation with acetobactor is
recommended for sugarcane.

5. Azotobactor
• The beneficial effects of azotobactor biofertilizer
on cereals, millets, vegetable, cotton and
sugarcane under both irrigated and rainfed field
conditions.
• Application of azotobactor have been found to
increase the yields of wheat, rice, maize, pearl
millet and sorghum up to 30%.
• Apart from nitrogen, this
producing antibacterial
is also capable of
and antifungal
compounds, hormones.

6. Blue Green Algae
• The utilization of blue green algae as as a
biofertilizer for rice is very promising.
• They are photosynthetic nitrogen fixers ie.
They use energy derived from
photosynthesis to fix atmospheric
nitrogen.
• Methods have been developed from mass
production of algal biofertilizer and rice
growers in many parts of world.

• Resent researches have shown that algae also help to reduce soil
alkalinity and this opens up possibilities for bio-reclamation.
• BGA also secrets hormones.

7. Mycorrhizea ( nutrient mobilizing bio fertilizer)
• VMA is symbiotic association between
plant roots and fungal mycelia termed
mychorrhizea (fungal root).
• Mychorrhizea fungi infects and spread
inside the root system.
• They possess spread structure known as
vesicles and arbuscules.

• The arbuscules help in transfer of nutrients from fungus to the
root system and the vesicles which are sac like structure stores
P as phospholipids.
• Mychorrhiza fungi increase root absorbing surface and reaches
outside the root depletion zone.
• It directly translocate the nutrients like phosphorus , Zn, Cu, K,
Mn, And Mg from soil to the root cortex.
• Important crops associated with these fungi are wheat, maize,
millets, beans, potatoes, soybean, tomatoes, grapes, apples,
banana, sugarcane, castor tobacco, tea, coffee, cocoa and
rubber.

Advantages of biofertilizers application
1. It is low cost input for crop production.
2. It is pollution free input.
3. It is helpful for quicker decomposition.
4. It maintains soil health without creating any environmental pollution.
5. This input reduces the underground water pollution.
6. It secrets some hormone and growth regulator which indirectly
helpful for higher crop production.
7. Plant nutrients releases from biofertilizers available to the plants
slowly.
8. It secretes some antibiotic which reduces crop diseases.

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