Aerobic composting

Aerobic composting

In the presence of air, aerobic bacteria act on the complex organic matter and break it down into simple nutrients.

Five conditions

1. Aeration: Ensure maximum aeration inside the tanks at all times. Holes in the tank and bamboo pipes inserted into the holes help in this.
2. Surface Area: The larger the surface area, the faster the decomposition. Removing big chunks of vegetable waste like banana leaves to be fed to the cattle, coconut shells, egg shells, lemon and citrus fruit peels, will leave only smaller pieces that can get easily decomposed.
3. Moisture: Maintain moisture at all times. Using cow’s urine also enriches the compost.
4. Bacteria: Maximum bacteria help in optimal decomposition. Thoroughly mix the organic waste with bacteria-rich biogas / cattle dung slurry, before loading into the compost tanks.
5. Temperature: In cold areas, keep the sheds well covered and insulated. Having biogas-powered lighting inside the sheds increases the interior temperature.
Procedure

Cover one end of the bamboo pipes with loosened coconut fiber and insert those ends into the holes. After separating cattle edible vegetable waste, egg shells, coconut shells and lemon peels from the organic waste, mix the rest of the waste with bacteria-rich biogas / cattle dung slurry. Uniformly mix every bit of the waste with the slurry. Load this mixture into the tanks for composting. Add the waste everyday till the tank becomes full. After 60 days from the day the tank gets full, remove the compost, dry it (partly) by spreading it in a shady area and sieve it. Remove the final pieces of metal, plastic and glass in the compost. Remove pieces of non-decomposed organic waste and put them back into the compost tank. Keep the sieved compost moist, and pack before selling in small quantities.

Have a separate tank for composting sanitary napkins. Deposit the napkins covered by paper into a pit dug in the earth and spray cow dung slurry on it. After six months after the cotton is composted, sieve it and remove the plastic covers.

Have a separate tank for composting non-vegetarian waste, which is collected in paper covers.

Have a small black piece of slate on the tank or a black-painted area where you can write with a piece of chalk. Note the date you started loading waste into the tank, the date the tank became full. The harvest date will be 60 days after the end date.