Organic farming is all about using natural resources for the maintenance of soil health, quality crop production, and pest management. Plants require all the essential nutrients for producing good quality fruit or grain.
Though plants absorb small amounts of many elements, the 17 essential elements are crucial for plant growth. These are:
Primary Nutrients: includes 3 basic elements; nitrogen, potassium, Phosphorus.
Secondary Nutrients: needed by plants are calcium, magnesium, and, sulfur.
Micronutrients: includes zinc, iron, manganese, copper, boron, chlorine, molybdenum, nickel.
A waste decomposer is a combination of beneficial microorganisms that are extracted from desi cow dung. It produces a variety of primary and secondary antimicrobial metabolites that control many plant diseases. It also produces enzymes such as glucanase and beta 1,3 glucanase that help crops in maintaining a good defense mechanism.
- For the preparation of biofertilizers.
- For quick compositing of organic wastes
- For the revival of soil health, it is used in drip irrigation.
- For foliar spray as biopesticides to prevent several plant diseases.
Basically, a micronutrient fertilizer can be prepared by using protein and vitamin-rich foods such as oilseeds and lentils. These are mixed with waste decomposer solution and the final product after decomposition is used as a micronutrient fertilizer.
Let’s discuss how to prepare a waste decomposer solution.
- Take a plastic drum and add 200 liters of water to it.
- Add 2kg jaggery and mix it using a stick.
- Add 1 bottle of waste decomposer culture to it and mix in a clockwise direction 4 to 5 times.
- Cover the drum with a cloth or cardboard and place it in a shady location.
- Make sure to stir it daily. The mixture will get ready after 7 days.
- Waste decomposer solution: 100liters
- Sunflower seeds’ flour: 2kg
- Mustard seeds’ flour: 2kg
- Flax seeds’ flour: 2kg
- Red lentil’ flour: 2kg
- Bengal gram flour: 2kg
- Yellow or green split gram’ flour: 2kg
- Iron Nails: 11
- Copper Wire: Half meters
- Zinc dry cells: 4
- Add all the ingredients to 100 liters of waste decomposer solution.
- Mix well, cover it by using cardboard or cloth and leave for 10 days.
- Make sure to stir it daily.
- The micronutrient fertilizer will be ready to use within 10 days.
- One for the foliar spray to feed the plants through leaves and stomata. For foliar spray, mix one part of the mixture with 10 parts of water. Spray it on the plants and don’t forget to spray it on the underside of the leaves.
- Secondly, it is used as a micronutrient fertilizer for plants. Mix one part of the solution with 5 parts of water and spray it on the plants.
The oilseeds are a rich source of calcium, magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium, and iron.
Though the micronutrient solution based on waste decomposers is an effective source of organic fertilizer for plants, make sure to take proper guidance before using it on the crops.