Application of rural slaughterhouse waste as an organic fertilizer for pot cultivation of solanaceous vegetables in India

Background: The lack of electricity and water supply in rural abattoirs in developing nations prevents the adoptionof waste-processing technologies practiced in economically advanced countries. This research attempts to recyclewaste blood and rumen digesta generated in rural slaughterhouses as organic fertilizer, thus promoting sustainableagriculture.Results: The values of 5-day biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total Kjeldahl nitrogen,concentrations of oil, grease, total suspended solids, total solids, and total phosphorus characterized blood andrumen digesta as highly polluting wastes. Waste blood and rumen digesta were mixed in 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 ratiosand dried to obtain ‘bovine-blood-rumen-digesta-mixture’ (BBRDM). The efficacy of the organic fertilizer wascompared with diammonium phosphate (DAP) in a pot cultivation of tomato, chili, and brinjal. Five grams ofBBRDM (N/P/K = 30.36:1:5.75)/kilogram of soil applied at the second and sixth weeks produced earlier fruiting by 2weeks and yielded (in terms of total fruit weight) higher by 130% for tomato, by 259% for chili, and by 273% forbrinjal in BBRDM (3:1)-cultivated plants compared to DAP. BBRDM-applied soils showed higher C, N, and Pconcentrations than DAP. High-nitrogen-containing BBRDM mineralized rapidly, and nitrogen and phosphoruswere available within 6 days of drying. Although high nitrogen concentration caused toxicity when applied at thetime of planting to young plants, BBRDM enhanced the yield and productivity when applied to mature plantsafter 15 days of plantation. Higher numbers of Azotobacter, phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, fungi, and amount ofchlorophyll were isolated from soils treated with BBRDM than with DAP. Carbohydrate, protein, and fat contents ofthe vegetables were comparable to DAP-grown vegetables.

کلیدواژه ها:

Slaughterhouse ، Bovine-blood-rumen-digesta-mixture ، Tomato ، Chili ، Brinjal ، Organic fertilizer