Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
throughout the composting process was clearly observed which shifted between the
thermophilic and maturing stages. The 16S rRNA clones belonging to the genera
Bacillus, Exiguobacterium, Desemzia
, and
Planococcus
were the dominant groups
throughout composting.
11.4.1.2
Actinobacteria
These microbes are alike to fungi in fact these are bacteria which forms filaments.
The colonies of the filaments are spread all over the compost pile by these bacteria,
whereas, these are related to the breakdown of the interactable compounds (Yusri
et al.
1995
). They perform key role in the organic material degradation, like lignin,
proteins, cellulose and chitin. Few species could be seen during the phase of com-
posting by thermophillic, where as some can appear at the time of cooling phase.
In the formation of organic aggregates, filaments plays vital role almost at the final
stage of compost. The
Streptomyces
sp.,
Nocardioides
sp. and
Thermoactinomyces
sp. are largely participating in composting process (Hubbe et al.
2010
).
11.4.1.3
Fungi
Fungi plays an important role in the compost formation because of their active
contribution in the decomposition and breakdown of complex organic wastes. Most
of the fungi found in large number during the thermophillic and mesophillic phas-
es of composting (Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
1999
). The hyphae of
fungi maintain compost physically in to small parts, this action of hyphae improve
drainage and aeration of the compost (Nancy and Elaina
1996
). A gram of soil may
contain 0.01-1 million of propagules of fungi. Approximately 0.7 million different
species of the fungi has been described all over the world.
Oil palm waste particularly EFB is resistant to microbial degradation due to
high lignin content. There were 24 fungal types isolated from the EFB compost,
with 70 % of the isolates identified as
Aspergillus
sp. (Peh et al.
2011
). Isolates 1c3
and 7c10 (
Diaporthe
sp.), and 5c9 (
Emericella dentata
) confirmed burly lignin-
degrading activity. At mesophillic composting stage
Aspergillus
fumigates
fungi
are actively involved (Silva et al.
2009
) whereas, at the final stage of composting
process
Aspergillus
fumigates
,
Emericella
sp.
Aspergillus ochraceus
,
Aspergillus
terreus
and
Penicillium oxalicum
fungi are active (Dias et al.
2009
).
11.5
Usage of Bio-compost
Previously before 1980s few countries had maintained the soil fertility through
the incorporation of various types of manures viz. farmyard manure, green ma-
nure, compost etc (Yang and Hansen
1997
). Soil quality has been affected due to
