QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF ORGANIC AND BIOFERTILIZERS DEVELOPED FROM FRUIT AND VEGETABLE WASTE

Abstract

Organic wastes play havoc with the environmental health. However, organic and bio-fertilizers can be developed from composted organic wastes for benign environments and low-nutrient input sustainable agriculture. In this study, we utilized fruit and vegetable waste material to develop organic potassium (K) fertilizer and ACC- deaminase rhizobacterial biofertilizers for sustainable maize production. Organic K fertilizer, with L-tryptophan blending, was developed through mechanical composting. This organic material was also used as a carrier to develop two different biofertilizer products by involving selected biotypes of Pseudomonas fluorescens. In a series of short laboratory experiments, we assessed the quality of these newly developed fertilizer products against raw form of organic waste. Composting of organic waste material decreased soil carbon to nutrient ratios and increased the macro and micronutrient contents of soil. A continuous gradual release of CO2 was noted in soil amended with organic and biofertilizers which exhibited greater stability of these fertilizer products over raw form of organic waste. Likewise, soil aggregate stability of these fertilizer products was also higher than raw form of organic waste. Moreover, soil retained comparatively higher moisture when amended with organic and biofertilizer products as compared to raw form of organic waste. These results suggest that organic wastes should not be used in their raw forms and must be transformed into value-added organic and biofertilizers for improving soil health.

Keywords

• Biofertilizer
• composting
• organic fertilizer
• organic waste
• potassium
• rhizobacteria