Title: Developing value added bioactive timber waste vermicompost with addition of microbial inoculants

Authors: Rahul Kumar; Shweta

Addresses: Vermiculture Research Station, Department of Zoology, DS College, Dr BRA University, Aligarh-202001, UP, India ' Vermiculture Research Station, Department of Zoology, DS College, Dr BRA University, Aligarh-202001, UP, India

Abstract: A study conducted at Vermiculture Research Station (VRS), Aligarh, to transform the timber solid waste vermicompost (TSWV) into bioactive compost with the addition of beneficial microbes has brought to light feasibility of a potential technique to develop value added quality product with higher agronomic value for the first-time. TSWV was inoculated with microbes Azotobacter chroococcum, Bacillus subtilis, Trichoderma viride and Pseudomonas striata and incubated at 28-32°C for nine weeks. The results shows that inoculation of A. chroococcum significantly increased ammonium nitrogen content (≈46%) and the availability of organic phosphate (≈ 92-96%) when enriched with P. striata alone or in combination with T. viride. The inoculation T. viride alone or in combination with either A. chroococcum or P. striata increase the plant growth hormones viz., indole acetic acid (IAA) and gibberellic acid (GA) ≈ 38-42% and ≈ 28-34%, respectively. Siderophore production, an important indicator of PGPR trait, was also observed positive when treated with T. viride and A. chroococcum either alone or in combination.

Keywords: timber solid waste; vermicomposting; value added TSWV; compost quality; enriched vermicompost; microbial inoculants; bioactive compost; ammonium nitrogen; organic phosphate; plant growth hormones.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2013.054240

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2013 Vol.11 No.4, pp.420 - 429

Received: 24 May 2011
Accepted: 24 Dec 2011
Published online: 20 Sep 2014 *

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