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Artificial fertilizers are either manufactured in industries or dug from the earth. They are costly to produce and have negative effects on the soil if not used properly. On the other hand, natural fertilizers are easy to make. They may be made by the farmers themselves and do not have negative effects on the soil but improve it. A common type of natural fertilizers is compost manure.
1. The making of humus in forests
This book explains the importance of compost manure, how it is made and its uses. In doing so, we are interested in getting humus and other plant nutrients in plant and animal left-overs so as to use them in growing other crops. Most farmers are familiar with humus; they frequently see it amidst constant growing plants, such as coffee and bananas on their farms, and in forests. The soil in the forests gets a supply of humus at all times from leaves and branches of trees, or even the trees themselves, when they fall onto the ground and rot. In addition, animals, birds and insects die and decompose in the forests. This decomposition is hastened by the action of microorganisms, earthworms, nematodes, birds and insects. Through this process, the plant nutrients in these dead parts are recycled back to soil.
Decomposition of plant and animal left-overs in the forests takes a long time. Although there is no urgency for this process to take place as far as forests are concerned, farmers need a shortened period of decomposition that fits in with the planting seasons. Preparation of compost manure is one way of accomplishing this.
2. Compost manure
Compost manure is that fertilizer retrieved by farmers from plant and animal leftovers that have been decomposed by the existing micro-organisms. The compost heap is a collection of many plant and animal left-overs that are concentrated in a small area, enabling them to decompose very fast. Structurally, the heap is composed of layers of rotting parts, dung and soil.
Fig. 4: The making of humus in
the forest
3. Reasons for preparation of compost manure
The rationale for making compost manure stems from a realization that as plants grow, they absorb from the soil nutrients which enable their growth. Therefore, a conclusion can be drawn that barren soil cannot sustain plant growth. A careful analysis of a plant shows that every part of the plant - roots, the stem, leaves flowers, fruits and seeds has one or more nutrients. This shows that if a farmer only uses the crop harvest and does away with the other parts of the plant, there will have been loss of nutrients that could have been recycled into the soil for the growth of other crops.
4. Purpose of making compost manure
Plants may be classified into two major groups.
(i) Non-produce plants which include weeds. Some of these plants are eaten by animals.(ii) Produce plants which grow and are harvested eventually. A large proportion of these plants is used by the human population while the remaining part is fed to livestock. In most cases, remains, as well as harvests, of plant crops are eaten by livestock and as a result the animals get the nutrients contained therein, enabling them to grow.
Faeces and urine from animals also contain nutrients. If these are casually discarded, the nutrients are wasted instead of being used for the growth of plants and crops which would, in turn, have been used by humans and livestock. Therefore, the purpose of making compost manure is to recycle the nutrients in the plant and animal left-overs back to the soil and to also create humus. The farmer does this by facilitating the decomposition of the left-overs.
5. Requirements for optimum decomposition of compost heaps
Micro-organisms are responsible for the decomposition of plant and animal remains. The more the number of micro-organisms the better the quality and rate of decomposition.
Micro-organisms are living creatures. Therefore, to remain alive and multiply they need an appropriate environment. Such an environment is one where there is adequate humidity, food, air and warmth. Organic material to be decomposed also needs to be properly arranged and mixed to facilitate the work of micro-organisms, as better decomposition results in better quality of compost manure. If these conditions are not fulfilled well, the resulting compost manure will be of poor quality. Ultimately, however, a low-quality compost manure is better than none as it might be the initial step towards achieving a high-quality one.
Good quality compost manure is one with as many nutrients as possible, especially nitrogen. This is a vital element for plant growth and yet a very difficult one to conserve as it evaporates into the atmosphere. Therefore, good preparation of compost manure is that which ensures that nitrogen is not lost from the pile.
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