Panjab University department develops bioprocessing technology

Chandigarh, March 10

Microbiology Department of Panjab University has developed an indigenous low-cost consolidated bioprocessing technology to transform the biodegradable municipal solid waste into biofertiliser formulations for a sustainable organic farming.

How effective the method is

One ton of biodegradable municipal solid waste can produce 3,500-4,000 litre of liquid biofertiliser and 50-75 kg of carrier-based biofertiliser by the process. The method can prove to be a game changer for solid waste management.

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The expanding population is putting tremendous pressure on cultivable land around the world. To meet such challenges, a continuous expansion of the food-producing ecosystem is required. In this context, chemical fertilisers have to provide nutrients to support plant growth and boost crop productivity. But the excessive and uneven use of these chemical fertilisers has resulted in negative effects on the health of agricultural soil leading to both lower yield as well as efficiency of fertilisers.

Keeping this into consideration, Dr SK Soni, Professor, Department of Microbiology, Panjab University, and his research group comprising Dr Raman Soni, Associate Professor, Department of Biotechnology, DAV Collage, Sector 10; and Apurav Sharma, Research Scholar, Department of Microbiology, Panjab University, has developed an industrially viable and scientifically sound process for the management of biodegradable fruit and vegetable waste by their transformation into biofertiliser formulations.

The use of this indigenous process can be extended at the community as well as municipal levels for efficient, controlled and rapid transformation of food waste residues into value-added products in the form of biofertiliser formulations and will encourage organic farming. Substituting synthetic chemical fertilisers with biofertiliser procured from biodegradable vegetable and kitchen waste would do away with the requirement for synthetic chemical fertilisers which not only reduce the environmental impact of municipal solid waste but also directly benefit agronomy.

In the method, a natural variant of a fungal strain capable of producing multiple hydrolytic enzymes, including cellulases, hemicellulases, amylases, pectinases, inulinases and proteases, is inoculated in thermally treated crushed biodegradable municipal solid waste and dispensed water.

Besides, some bacterial strains having plant growth-promoting traits are also simultaneously inoculated in the thermally treated waste. It is incubated for 4 to 5 days.

No exogenous enzymes are used in the process. The contents are then filtered leading to the generation of a liquid component and a solid residue both containing a high count of biofertiliser organisms thus leading to the production of liquid and carrier-based biofertiliser formulations.