APPLICATION OF MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGY METHODS TO IMPROVE SOIL FERTILITY

Abstract

A person’s desire to improve the quality of life makes the individual reconsider the attitude towards the quality of consumed food. Despite the fact that the prices of natural products are several times higher than of those grown with the use of herbicides and pesticides, organic food is getting more popular in all countries around the world. Such products can only be received when crops are grown using organic farming methods, one of the principles of which is to increase the amount humus in the soil. The preservation of soil fertility can be ensured using the methods of modern biotechnology, which are based on the vital activity of microorganisms capable of converting organic matter from animal waste into environmentally friendly fertilizers. In animal husbandry, the main portion of agricultural waste is cattle and pig manure. The most economical way to dispose it is to use methane digestion, when biogas and fertilizers are obtained. However, when processing manure bedding materials in biogas reactors, the straw fractions and lignin–containing components of the bedding are not decomposed by bacteria and pass into the solid fraction of the fermented biomass unchanged, which is a problem. The infiltration of such an unprocessed residue into the soil leads to deterioration of soil properties. Thereby, the solid fraction of the fermented biomass requires additional processing to improve its agrochemical properties. Most expedient is to use vermicomposting, that is, process organic waste with the help of earthworms. Biohumus, or vermicompost, is one of the end products of this method. In this work, we studied the procedure of processing the solid fraction of fermented pig manure by Eisenia foetida compost worms (red Californian worm). In order to determine the optimal approach of vermicomposting, the experiment was planned. As a result, a high–quality organic fertilizer was obtained – biohumus –and the optimal parameters of the environment were determined(pH and humidity), at which the worms have the highest biological activity.