Editors: Dr. Mani Jayakumar

Dr. Natchimuthu Karmegam (2022)

ISBN: 978-93-94174-05-4

Black Gold - A New Era of Fertilizers

P. Akila Vaishnavi, M. Jayanthi and M. Thenmozhi*

Department of Biotechnology, Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

With all the difficulties imposed upon mother Earth, the most significant problem is waste management. Over 30% of the total waste produced globally is organic waste. These wastes that can be recycled to produce organic fertilizers or biofuels, are disposed off in the landfills along with other scraps. The inappropriate disposal causes more harm to the atmosphere even though the waste is from plants, animals, or other natural things. The methane produced from such futile discarding procedures could cause the release of gases 20 times more potent than the existing greenhouse gases. Thus the most effective way to manage solid organic waste is vermicomposting. Aristotle stated that the Earthworms are the intestines of Earth and the restoring agents of soil fertility. The earthworms feed, fragment, aerate, turnover, and disperse the organic waste along with the soil to complete the deed and prove his words. Under a suitable environment, the dormant soil bacteria will also help the wrigglers in the process. The broken organic waste materials are called compost which distributes vital nutrients to the plants that are not available in chemical fertilizers. Hence the name "black gold" since they take care of the health and growth of the plants. The organic waste materials from different sources are collected and subjected to composting treatments for socio-economic purposes. Thus black gold constitutes the most useful fertilizer in the agricultural field.

*Corresponding author; e-mail: drmthenmozhi@gmail.com

Cite this Chapter: Akila Vaishnavi, P., Jayanthi, M., Thenmozhi, M., 2022. Black Gold - A New Era of Fertilizers. In: M. Jayakumar and N. Karmegam (Eds.), Recent Trends in Bioresource Management for Greener Environment. Excellent Publishers, India. pp. 13-31. doi: https://doi.org/10.20546/978-93-94174-05-4_2