Inoculation of sugar mill by-products compost with N2-fixing bacteria

Abstract

Inoculation of sugar mill by-products compost with N 2 -fixing bacteria may improve its quality by increasing total N and available P. Compost was inoculated with Azotobacter vinelandii (ATCC 478), Beijerinckia derxii (ATCC 49361), and Azospirillum sp. TS8, each alone and all three together. Numbers of all N 2 -fixing bacteria in compost declined from an initial population of 5 · 10 5 cells g )1 during incubation. The population of Azotobacter declined to approximately 2 · 10 2 cells g )1 and the population of Beijerinckia and Azospirillum declined to approximately 9 · 10 3 and 3.5 · 10 4 cells g )1 respectively, at day 50. Inoculation with N 2 -fixing bacteria increased acetylene reduction, total N by 6-16% and available P by 25-30% in comparison to the uninoculated control. Increasing the N content and P availability of compost increases its value and there may be additional benefit from providing N 2 fixing bacteria.

Tomato Growth in Soil Amended with Sugar Mill By-Products Compost

“…Plants inoculated with N 2 -fixing bacteria may have increased growth because the bacteria fix N, (Kumar and Narula, 1999;Kumar and Singh, 2001), and/or provide plant growth hormones (Amooaghaie et al, 2002;Bashan and Holguin, 1997;Bashan and Levanomy, 1990;Lin et al, 1983). Additionally our previous research (Meunchang et al, 2005b) had suggested that The treatment not receiving compost was included in the analysis of variance for comparative purposes. inoculated compost resulted in 10% higher rates of organic matter mineralization.…”

“…The inoculated compost showed significant acetylene reduction activity during the composting process and up to 16% increase in total N content (Meunchang et al, 2005b) indicating that the inoculant bacteria were capable of N fixation and may have provided some additional N to the plants. However, the role of increased N mineralization in the soil cannot be ruled out in our study and deserves additional study.…”

“…Filter cake, when composted with bagasse, helped conserve N and it seemed to be suitable for agronomic use because of its neutral pH, low phyto-toxicity and nutrient content (Meunchang et al, 2005a). Inoculation of the compost with the plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, Beijerinckia, Azotobacter, and Azospirillum, increased the available P content by approximately 25% and the N gain by up to 16% (Meunchang et al, 2005b). The rhizobacteria showed good survival in the compost with populations in the range of lÂ10 4 g )l of compost (Meunchang et al, 2005b).…”

“…Inoculation of the compost with the plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, Beijerinckia, Azotobacter, and Azospirillum, increased the available P content by approximately 25% and the N gain by up to 16% (Meunchang et al, 2005b). The rhizobacteria showed good survival in the compost with populations in the range of lÂ10 4 g )l of compost (Meunchang et al, 2005b). Direct inoculation of soil or plants with N 2 -fixing bacteria or plant growth promoting rhizobacteria has been extensively studied and reviewed by Vessey (2003).…”

Biofuel From Cellulosic Mass with Incentive for Feed Industry Employing Thermophilic Microbes

“…Besides the above mentioned diverse and usually bench scale utilities of the substrate Meunchang et al (2005) have rightly commented that one of the under utilized sources of organic materials, is the sugarcane industry. Global sugar production from sugarcane releases large amounts of sugar mill by-products as filter cake and bagasse.…”