Purpose Chicken feather was thrown into the environments, which causes health hazards and environmental pollution. It contains large number of proteins which can be converted into organic fertilizer to reduce the pollution load. These will help to minimize the protein needs and maintain low cost for utilization as raw material for manure production. Methods Chicken feather waste was subjected to composting by mixing it with cow dung and agricultural waste. Four different composts were prepared for composting of the chicken feather waste: E 1 , E 2 , E 3 , and E 4 , along with a control [cow dung (CW) + agricultural waste (AG)]. The major and minor nutrient contents of the compost were analyzed on the 90th day. The prepared compost was applied to Solanum lycopersicum plants; fruits pigments (lycopene, β-carotene, and chlorophyll) were evaluated. Result Chicken feather compost has high nutrient level organic carbon (1.83%), nitrogen (7.33%), potassium (4.40%), sulphur (19.69 ppm), zinc (4.96 ppm), boron (0.59 ppm), and iron (6.62 ppm) except phosphorus (0.26%) in the control. Results revealed highest lycopene in E 4 (0.5881 mg/100 ml) and β-carotene in E 1 (0.2699 mg/100 ml) when compared with the control value lycopene (0.4602 mg/100 ml) and β-carotene (0.1341 mg/100 ml). A positive correlation has been established between lycopene/β-carotene and negative correlation have been existing chlorophyll content vs lycopene/β-carotene. Conclusion Chicken feather can be eco-friendly when converted into compost which in turn enriches the quality of tomato fruits (lycopene and β-carotene).

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an important vegetable crop. At present, about 160 million tons of fresh tomatoes are the production from 4.7 million hectares in India (FAOSTAT, 2011). S. lycopersicum are native to South America but were brought to Europe sometime in the 15th century, where they soon became popular and were exported around the world. Pollination is an important ecological interaction and the first step for the sexual reproduction of most plant species (Murcia, 1996). The ecosystem service for sustainable crop production is the mutualistic interaction between plant pollination. Tomatoes Blossom drop and reduced fruit set in a tomato can seriously impact yields. S. lycopersicum plants are self-pollinated at the rate of 98% or more. Pollination occurs primarily between 10 am to 4 pm (Levy et al., 1978). Insect pollinators are not important for pollination of tomatoes grown in open field production (Levy et al., 1978). The primary causes of blossom drop tomatoes are environmental factors (e.g., Temperature and Relative Humidity), secondary causes can include lack of water, reduced or extended light exposure, excessive wind, and heavy fruit set. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) reports an approximate temperature o st Material and Methods A study of the incidence areas of open field S.

An enormous amount of chicken feather waste materials released by the poultry industry creates severe environmental pollution. Vermicomposting is an eco-friendly way to degrade chicken feather waste along with microbial mixture (Panchagavya). Chicken feather waste was pre-decomposed by mixing it with fresh cow dung (T1), dry cow dung (T2), and Panchagavya (T3). Among these, T3 exhibits rapid deterioration of chicken feather waste and seven combination T3 substrates (E0-E6), taken for the vermicomposting process by Eudrilus eugeniae in 60 days. Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and Fourier Transforms Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy are used to assess compost maturity. The result shows that E1 (0.050:1 ratio) shows various functional groups, rich nutrients, and necessary acids than other combinations. For large-scale commercial vermi-stabilization of chicken feather waste, the E1 combination is suitable for manure production and thereby enhances soil fertility, agricultural production.