Waste Management of Temple Floral offerings by Vermicomposting and its effect on Soil and Plant Growth
Abstract
The safe and environmentally harmonious management of solid wastes becomes a major issue in many cities of developing nations .Enormous production of solid wastes coupled with poor management system, results in a significant environmental degradation.. In India at most of the religious places a huge tonnage of solid waste is generated largely during functions, worships, ceremonies and festivals. The quantity of flower waste generated by few major temples of Jaipur city was assessed. In present study different proportions of mixture of cattle dung and floral wastes were taken and performed vermicomposting process using Eisenia foetida earth worm species . The bioconversion ratio i.e., waste into vermicompost was found to be high in 50:50 and 60:40 proportion. Soil was kept as control throughout the study. After Vermicomposting process analysis of various physical and chemical parameters was done. It was found that 25◦C temperature, 8.0 pH, 1 -2mm particle size , 60% moisture content, black colour, odourless ,0.88 bulk density were optimum parameters. Vermicomposting resulted in lowering of EC, C: N ratio, C : P ratio and increase in nitrogen, phosphorus , potassium , Calcium , Magnesium and sulfur . In the pot culture studies of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants (using prepared floral waste vermicompost as fertilizer) various growth parameters like mean stem diameter, mean plant height, mean leaf number, mean length of roots, yield/plant showed good enhancement of growth .The results indicate that integrated effect of all the nutrients present in flower waste vermicompost results in the increased growth and yield of tomato plants and also played a crucial role in improving soil properties, as compared to control. Thus, vermicomposting of temple flow er waste is an excellent and ecofriendly method to get valuable products which will lead to a healthier and waste free environment.
Keywords
Download Options
Introduction
Today in all corners of the world managing different organic wastes at low capital and operational cost as well as in ecofriendly and energy saving basis has attracted much attention. Like other developing countries, Indian cities and towns also suffer with the environmental costs of solid waste management. (Kaur and Joshi 2002) Huge amounts of flowers are offered in temples of Jaipur city (India) creating a large amount of flower waste, which creates severe environmental pollution and health hazards. These materials are wholly biodegradable. The organic nature of these wastes offers various biological management options such as vermicomposting instead of disposal to landfill sites, open dumping or any other environmentally risky waste management alternatives. (Sangwan et al 2002, Aalok et al 2008, Adhikary et al 2012) Hence present study of Jaipur city has been under taken to develop proper and eco-friendly process for floral waste management. Jaipur is the city of temples where many temples are situated. Devotees come from outside as well as from city and offer flowers to God and Goddesses. After this tons of floral offerings generated daily this is generally disposed in open dumps or is released in water generating foul odor as well as act as breeding centers for disease causing micro organisms. Looking into the hazardous impact of the improper disposal of wastes on the environment, proper utilization and management is a demand of today. These wasted flowers can be used in various ways and we can get wealth from waste materials. Floral waste generation occur largely during functions, worships, ceremonies and festivals. Biological processes such as composting followed by vermicomposting to convert floral waste in useful organic fertilizer would be of great benefit. In this process, energy rich and complex organic substances have been bio-oxidized and transformed into stabilized products by combined action of earthworms and microorganisms,(Edward et al 1992) hence earthworms play a considerable role by fragmenting and altering all biological activity of the waste (Dominguez, 2004). The main objectives of the present study are to develop efficient technology like vermicomposting for environmentally safe management of temple solid waste and also to see its effect on soil and plant growth. Vermicomposting of flower waste not only prevent damages to natural sources but help, to some extent, in cleaning the nature.
Conclusion
The present study proved that the Vermicomposting of floral waste with cow dung at 50:50 and 60:40 appears to be the most promising high value bio -fertilizer. This is not only increases the plant growth (as seen in tomato plant) and productivity by nutrient supply but also is cost effective and pollution free. It helped to reduce volume of agro (temple flower) waste, but also generate additional revenue. Thus vermicompost technology can be successfully applied in temples as a solid waste management strategy with flower as the major organic waste.
