Due to intensive agriculture, the soil resource is under increasing stress as there is a big gap between annual output of nutrients from soil due to crop removals and the nutrient inputs from external resources. So, filling this gap we go for nutrient recycling of non conventional resources i.e. agricultural and industrial wastes. On basis crop production, India generate about 312.5 Mt of crop residues, such as straw of cereals, oilseeds etc can supply about 1.13, 1.41 and 3.54 Mt of NPK. It has been estimated that all animal excreta can potentially supply 17.77 Mt of plant nutrients and 150 Mt of municipal wastes generated annually in India that have nutrient potential of about 1.72 Mt of NPK. At present India produces about 8.0 Mt of poultry manure which is sufficient to fertilizer about 3.56 Mha of land annually. These wastes are composted along with addition low grade rock phosphate and waste mica improve the quality of compost. A huge amount of effluents generated from tanning, textile, distillery and paper mill industries which contain several major primary and secondary plant nutrients (N, P, K, S, Mg, Ca, etc.) as well as micronutrients and heavy metals. Application of pressmud cake, FYM and poultry litter increase soil available nutrients and long term irrigation with paper mill effluent causes soil salinity and heavy metal accumulation. Industrial byproducts like phosphogypsum, basic slag etc used as soil ameliorant.

1. Nutrient recycling through
agricultural and industrial wastes -
potential and limitations
Pravash Chandra Moharana
Roll No. 4805
Division of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
New Delhi-110 012

2. Contents
 Introduction
 Nutrient recycling through
 Crop residues
 Animal wastes
 Industrial wastes
 Methods of recycling
 Effect of wastes on soil nutrients availability
 Limitations
 Conclusions
 Future steps

3. Why we go for nutrient recycling through waste??
Due to intensive agriculture, the soil resource is under
increasing stress as there is a big gap between annual
output of nutrients from soil due to crop removals and
the nutrient inputs from external resources. So, filling
this gap we go for non conventional resources.
According to a conservative estimate, around 600 to
700 Mt of agricultural wastes available in India every
year, but most of it is not used properly. We must
convert this waste into wealth by mobilizing all
biomass in bioenergy and supply nutrients to the soil.

4. Recyclable resources
Agricultural
residues
Crop residues like wheat straw, rice straw,
sugarcane trash, etc.
Forest litter and aquatic weeds like water
hyacinth
Livestock wastes Cattle waste, poultry waste, piggery waste,
goat and sheep excreta
Agro industry
wastes
Oil cakes, by-product of sugar industry,
vegetable and fruit processing wastes
Municipal solid
wastes (MSW)
House wastes, market wastes, etc.
Industrial wastes Tannery, textile, distillery and paper mill
effluents, wastes from mineral processing,
fly ash, etc.

5. Recycling of agricultural wastes

6. Nutrient recycling through crop residues
Crop residues are the remnants of crop plants left after
harvest of crop.
Estimates of crop residues production (106
Mg) in the world (Lal, 2005)
Total NPK assimilated in crop residue are estimated at about 25,
4, and 40 Tg in world, equivalent to approximately 30%, 30%, and
200% of the amount of each nutrient respectively, contained in
available chemical fertilizers (Zhang et al., 2008)

7. Estimates of crop residues production in India (2002-03)
Crop Crop
production
(Mt)
Crop
residue
(Mt)
Crop residue
available for
recycling (Mt)
Nutrient (NPK)
available for
recycling (Mt)
Fertilizer (NPK)
equivalent value
for recycling (Mt)
Rice 72.65 108.97 36.32 0.788 0.394
Wheat 65.10 97.62 32.52 0.586 0.292
Sorghum 7.08 10.62 3.54 0.074 0.034
Bajra 4.63 6.94 2.31 0.040 0.020
Maize 10.30 15.45 5.15 0.105 0.053
Pulses 11.14 11.14 3.71 0.122 0.061
Oil seeds 15.06 30.12 10.04 0.195 0.097
Soybean 4.56 9.12 3.04 0.972 0.049
Groundnut 4.36 8.72 2.90 0.093 0.046
Sugarcane 281.57 281.57 93.85 1.746 0.873
Potato 23.16 23.16 7.72 0.138 0.069
Total 499.6 603.39 312.5 6.46 2.1
Panwar and Ramesh, 2009

8. Crop residue Nutrient (%)
N P2O5 K2O
Rice 0.61 0.18 1.38
Wheat 0.48 0.16 1.18
Maize 0.52 0.18 1.35
Pearl millet 0.45 0.16 1.14
Potato tuber 0.52 0.21 1.00
Groundnut (pods) 1.60 0.23 1.37
Sugarcane 0.40 0.18 1.28
Pulses 1.60 0.51 1.75
Nutrient content in crop residues
Reddy and Reddy, 2003

9. Crop residue burning
More than 15 Mt of rice straw
and 9 Mt of wheat straw are
burned annually in three states
of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh.
Farmers burn the residues in
machine harvested fields, as it
is easy and quick approach for
disposal of residue
Incorporation of residues does
not show immediate benefits to
the farmers and requires
special tillage machinery.
Gupta et al., 2004

10. Nutients lost via residue burning
Nutrients kg t-1
of rice
residue
kg t-1
of wheat
residue
% lost during
burning
N 6.0 5.0 82
P 1.0 0.8 44
K 15 10.0 40
S 1.4 1.4 81
Ca 2.8 3.0 52
Mg 12 1.2 47
C 414 400 80
Gupta et al., 2004

11. Animal wastes refer mainly to dung and urine along with
bedding and mixed soil
These wastes available in dairies, slaughter houses and
rural area
Unfortunately, nearly 50% of the cattle dung production in
India today is utilized as fuel and is thus lost to agriculture
Amount and quality of excreta of animal depends upon
Age and weight of the animal
Total quantity of fodder and concentrates fed daily to the
animals
Recycling of animal wastes

12. Annual production of animal wastes and their
composition
Animal
type
Populatio
n
(million)
Daily
Excretion/animal
Composition (%)
Dung (kg) Urine (L) N P2O5 K2O
Cattle 283 11.5 7.5 0.8-1.2 0.2-0.4 0.35-0.65
Poultry 490 0.07 - 2.5-3.0 1.0-1.13 0.7-1.2
Pigs 14 2.0 2.0 0.5-0.53 0.5-0.53 0.3-0.36
Goat and
sheep
186 0.3 0.2 2.5-3.0 0.3-0.4 1.5-1.7
Panwar and Ramesh, 2009
Animal wastes produce in India around 2046.8 Mt which can
potential supply 17.77 Mt plant nutrients
Poultry manures are produced 8.0 Mt which is sufficient to
fertilize about 3.56 Mha of land annually

13. Agro-industrial wastes
Nutrient potential in agro-industrial wastes in India
Source Total quantity
available (Mt)
Total NPK (Mt)
Rice mill waste 20 0.24
Cotton mill waste 12.04 0.0913
Tea industry waste 0.012 0.0006
Jute waste 3 0.034
Pressmud 5 0.42
Veg. & food processing ind. wastes 0.03 0.0005
Oil cakes 4 0.36
N content in oil cakes varies 3-9% and C:N ratio 3-15
Press mud content 1.25 %N, 4.40% P2O5 and 20-25% organic matter.
It is highly beneficial in acidic soils as it contains up to 45% lime.
Panwar and Ramesh, 2009

14. Nutrient content of edible and non-edible oilcakes
Edible oilcake
sources
N % P2O5 % K2O % Kg N + P2O5 + K2O
per tonne of cake
Groundnut 7.29 1.65 1.33 103
Mustard 4.52 1.78 1.40 77
Rapeseed 5.21 1.84 1.19 82
Sesame 6.22 2.09 1.26 96
Coconut 3 1.9 1.8 67
Sunflower 7.9 2.2 1.9 120
Non-edible oilcake
Castor 4.37 1.85 1.39 76
Neem 5.22 1.08 1.48 59
Karanj 3.97 0.94 1.27 62
Mahua 3.11 0.89 1.48 59
Tandon,1997

15. Industrial wastes
Distillery effluents
Paper mill effluents
Tannery effluents
Textile Industrial effluents
Wastes from metal refining
and processing(Basic slag,
phospho-gypsum, etc.)
Fly ash

16.  285 distilleries in India produces 40 billion litres of
effluents which can provide 480000 t of K, 52000 t of
N and 8000 t of P annually.
 3000 tanneries in India mostly spread over Tamil
Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Karnataka, Punjab and Rajasthan which discharged
effluents 30 to 40 liters per kg of skin/ hide processed
(Chhonkar et al., 2000)
 A large paper mill on an average generates 2270 m3
of effluent, containing 1484 mg L-1
of total dissolved
solids daily (Hazarika et al., 2007)
Status of industrial effluents in India

17. Property Values (mg L-1
)
Total N 5.06
Total P 3.0
Total K 47.5
Sulphate 21.3
Total Na 337
Total Ca 240
Chloride 530
Total Cu 0.016
Total Ni 0.007
Total Pb 0.021
Total Zn 0.24
Composition of Nagaon paper mill effluent, Assam
Hazarika et al., 2007
Long term irrigation causes soil salinity and heavy metal accumulation

18. Addition of nutrients with distillery effluent irrigation
Treatment Effluent N P K SO4
kL ha-1
…………………Kg ha-1
……………………….
Dilution 1:20 200 60 4.0 1200 200
Dilution 1:10 400 120 8.0 2400 400
Dilution 1:5 800 240 16.0 4800 800
Dilution 1:3.3 1200 360 24.0 7200 1200
Joshi et al., 1996
Sugarcane can withstand application of concentrated effluent
without showing any reduction in yield whereas cereals like wheat
and rice grow well on dilution 1:20

19.  SAIL steel plants produce 10 Mt of solid wastes (flyash, slags
and flue dusts ) per year
 Slags produced by iron and steel-making have been used
historically in agriculture as lime substitute.
 Blast furnace (iron) slag high calcium carbonate equivalence
(CCE) value (80-100%).
 Basic slags are produced from high-P iron ores and have a high
P content (4-8%) as well as considerable CCE (40-60%).
 Certain metal alloyed in steel (Ni, Cr, Mo) may be present in the
slag and should be carefully monitored in any land application.
Utilization of Basic slags in agriculture

20. Utilization of fly ash in agriculture
Fly ash derive from burning coal in electric generating and
steam plants
It is a fine (typically<0.05 mm dia.) largely siliceous material
Its composition is variability due to differences in coal
sources and furnace operating conditions
Nutrient content in fly ash
Organic carbon (g kg-1
) 2.90
Available N (mg kg-1
) 16.9
Available P (mg kg-1
) 45.8
Available K (mg kg-1
) 63.0
Cation exchange capacity
(cmol kg-1
)
2.31
Major nutrient concentration is low and some of the hazardous
elements present are major concern
Rautaray et al., 2003

21. Utilization of Phosphogypsum
 Phosphogypsum are by-product from industries
manufacturing of phosphoric acid by wet process in which
rock phosphate is treated with sulphuric acid
 India produced 1.6 Mt of phosphogypsum annually
 It contains 16% S, 21% Ca, 0.2 to 1.2% P2O5 and traces of Fe,
Mn, Zn and Cu
 Potential:
 Source of S for oil seed crop
 Amendment for sodic soils
 Limitation:
 Fluorine content
 Radioactive elements
 Heavy metals
Mathew and Thampati, 2007

22. Municipal solid waste generation in India
City Tonnes/day
Mumbai 5320
Kolkata 2653
Delhi 5922
Chennai 3036
Bangalore 1669
Hyderabad 2187
Ahmedabad 1302
Pune 1175
Surat 1000
Kanpur 1100
Central Pollution Control Board, 2006-07
Total Organic Fraction -
40%
Combustible Fraction - 37%
Inert – 15%
Nutrient potential through MSW (biodegradable) is estimated1.72Mt
Average composition of MSW

23.  More than 450 cities in India generated more than 17 x 106
m3
of
raw sewage per day
 Sewage sludge by treatment per day around 1200 tonnes
 Nutrient potential –0.35, 0.15,0.2 NPK Mt per year
Elements Sewage effluents Groundwater
Range mean Range mean
P (mg L-1
) 0.56-5.91 2.57 0.11-0.36 0.22
K (mg L-1
) 9.33-23.1 11.7 0.84-5.03 3.58
S (mg L-1
) 7.71-22.9 15.9 9.85-19.4 14.3
Zn (µg L-1
) 6-151 61 3-38 11
Fe (µg L-1
) 639-3793 1464 100-745 557
Mn (µg L-1
) 24-122 64 1-15 10
Ni (µg L-1
) 39-67 49 9-55 37
Cd (µg L-1
) 1.17-2.44 1.53 1.07-1.76 1.42
Nutrient contents in sewage effluents (Keshopur, Delhi)
Rattan et al., 2005
Nutrient content in sewage effluent and sludge
Biswas, 2009

24. Methods of
waste
recycling

25. Methods of recycling of organic
wastes
Composting
Pit method
Heap method
Indore, Bangalore and NADEP method
Efficient composting techniques
Vermicomposting
P-enriched vermicomposting
Phosphocomposting
Phospho-sulpho-nitro-composting
Microbial enriched composting
Biogas slurry

26. Heap size: 2 m × 2 m × 1.5 m
20 cm layer cover with leaves, straw,
sawdust, chopped corn stalks, etc.
10 cm cover with nitrogenous
material such as cow dung,
legumes, etc.
Pile cover with soil
It is turned at 6 and 12 wks intervals
Process takes about 4 months to
complete.
Heap method composting

27. Biogas Plants
Utilization of residual slurry
obtained after digestion as
manure for crop production
Composition (% on dry weight) of
biogas slurry
Constituent Biogas Slurry
N 1.41
P2O5 0.92
K2O 0.84
Organic Carbon 27.32
C/N ratio 19.37

28. Vermicomposting
Selection of earthworm sp.
Size of pit: 2 m x 1 m x 1 m
Preparation of vermibed
Organic layering
Harvesting of vermicompost
Parameters Vermi-compost
C/N 12-14.3
N (%) 1.90-2.50
P2O5 (%) 1.5-2.05
K2O (%) 1.5-2.0
Chemical composition of vermicompost
Singh et al., 2005

29. Enriched composting
Enriched composting is done by adding different feed stocks like crop
residues, poultry litter, cattle wastes, agro-industrial wastes, urban wastes,
low-grade rock phosphate and pyrites to improving compost quality
Treatments OC (%) TN (%) C:N ratio P2O5 (%)
Crop residue (CR) 21.45 1.35 15.9 0.36
CR + Rock P (12.5%) 18.65 1.62 11.5 3.92
CR + Rock P (25%) 18.45 1.65 11.2 7.42
CR + Rock P 12.5%) + Pyrite
(5%) + N (0.5%)
17.86 1.83 9.6 4.21
CR + Rock P (25%) + Pyrite
(10%) + N (1%)
17.89 2.12 8.4 7.30
Initial CR 50.43 1.24 40.66 0.29
Chemical composition of N-enriched phosphocompost
Singh, 2009

30. Changes in Olsen P (g kg-1
) during preparation of various
enriched organo-mineral fertilizers
Biswas et al., 2009
T1: Rice straw alone; T2: rice straw + Udaipur RP at 2% P; T3: rice straw + Udaipur RP at
4% P; T4: rice straw + mica at 2% K; T5: rice straw + mica at 4% K; T6: rice straw + Udaipur
RP at 2% P + mica at 2% K; T7: rice straw + Udaipur RP at 2% P + mica at 4% K; T8: rice
straw + Udaipur RP at 4% P + mica at 2% K; and T9: rice straw + Udaipur RP at 4% P + mica
at 4% K.

31. Changes in NH4OAc-K (g kg-1
) during preparation of
various enriched organomineral fertilizers
T1: Rice straw alone; T2: rice straw + Udaipur RP at 2% P; T3: rice straw + Udaipur RP at 4% P;
T4: rice straw + mica at 2% K; T5: rice straw + mica at 4% K; T6: rice straw + Udaipur RP at 2%
P + mica at 2% K; T7: rice straw + Udaipur RP at 2% P + mica at 4% K; T8: rice straw + Udaipur
RP at 4% P + mica at 2% K; and T9: rice straw + Udaipur RP at 4% P + mica at 4% K.
Biswas et al., 2009

32. Effect of wastes
on soil nutrients
availability

33. Effect of residue incorporation on mineralisation
Sidhu et al., 2003

34. Treatments
Uptake
N
(kg ha-1
)
Uptake P
(kg ha-1
)
uptake
K
(kg ha-1
)
Yield
(t ha-1
)
N0P0 26.1 5.1 35.4 1.04
N90P19.5 62.3 9.0 66.1 2.45
N90P19.5 + Burning of wheat residue 70.8 10.6 72.1 2.54
N90P19.5 + Ploughing of wheat residue 74.4 15.5 76.3 3.21
N90P19.5 + Wheat residue + SPM 75.6 16.8 79.0 3.40
N120P26 + Burning of wheat residue 94.7 15.2 99.6 3.41
N120P26 + Ploughing of wheat residue 110.6 19.3 109.0 4.00
N120P26 + Wheat residue + SPM 114.5 19.3 105.2 4.09
CD (P=0.05) 9.86 0.87 3.47 0.58
Effect of residue management on yield and nutrient
uptake by rice
Yaduvanshi and Sharma, 2007

35. Soil properties Without PMC With PMC Change (%)
Organic carbon (g kg-1
) 3.3 4.2 27.3
Available K (mg kg-1
) 34 36 5.9
Total N (g kg-1
) 0.53 0.73 37.7
Soil pH 7.45 7.32 -1.7
Available P(mg kg-1
) 5.4 15.4 185.2
Effect of PMC on soil organic C, available K, total N, and
available P, and pH
Singh et al., 2008
PMC-Press mud cake
 Continuous application of PMC over longer periods may lead to high P
build up in soil
 No significant effect on soil pH

36. Treatments Soil available nutrients (kg ha-1
)
N P K Zn
Initial status 1994 125 14.8 275 1.99
N0P0K0 90.2 11.0 220 1.43
N120P0K0 146.1 8.5 250 1.46
N120P26K0 146.3 18.5 240 1.46
N120P26K42 146.4 22.2 282 1.48
N120P26K42 + FYM 158.4 22.0 296 2.31
Effect of FYM and inorganic fertilizer use on soil
available nutrients after 8 year of rice wheat system
Yaduvanshi and Swarup, 2005

37. Effect of agro-industrial waste amendment on soil
micronutrients (ppm)
Treatments Zn Cu Mn Fe
2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004
No organic ( control) 2.31 2.37 0.60 0.61 2.88 2.92 10.6 10.9
FYM 12.5 t ha-1
2.77 2.87 0.73 0.73 3.48 3.49 12.9 13.1
Pressmud 12.5 t ha-1
2.84 2.95 0.75 0.75 3.57 3.59 13.2 13.5
Composted coirpith
12.5 t ha-1
2.79 2.90 0.73 0.74 3.51 3.52 12.9 13.1
Gypsum as amendment
500 kg ha-1
2.46 2.57 0.65 0.66 3.11 3.09 11.6 11.7
CD (5%) 0.04 0.07 0.05 0.04 0.07 0.08 0.19 0.23
Rangaraj et al., 2007

38. Effect of papermill effluent on soil available nutrients
Effluent
Concentration
(%)
Organic C
(g kg-1
)
Available nutrients (kg ha-1
)
N P K S
0 5.7 201.5 30.2 103.7 34.5
25 6.7 187.3 33.0 107.2 38.4
50 7.0 171.4 37.9 113.7 44.0
75 7.5 168.5 35.9 119.7 40.2
100 7.6 166.1 28.5 126.0 33.0
CD (P=0.05) 0.5 6.5 3.1 3.1 5.3
Singh and Singh, 2005

39. Heavy metals (mg kg-1
) in sewage irrigated soil
Metals Sewage irrigated Tube well irrigated % increase/
decrease
Range Mean Range Mean
Zn 2.52-18.6 7.31 0.53-1.84 0.99 638
Cu 1.94-11.9 4.91 0.65-1.23 0.95 416
Fe 8.48-41.6 20.1 1.78-4.04 3.08 554
Mn 1.30-8.26 3.29 4.59-6.95 5.87 -44
Cd 0.11-0.37 0.20 0.07-0.44 0.14 -
Pb 1.25-2.58 1.91 0.66-196 1.31 46
Ni 0.06-2.46 1.19 0.09-0.67 0.31 284
Mean of value significant at 1% probability levels
Rattan et al., 2005

40.  High C:N ratio of agricultural wastes
 Less nutrient content as compare to chemical
fertilizers
 Bulky in nature
 Labour consuming for transportation of residues to
field
 Chance of disease and weed dissemination
 Shortage of animal feed and fuel in rural areas
 Transport and application of biogas slurry may not be
practically feasible
 Liquid portion of excrement is not properly conserved
Limitations in use of agricultural and
industrial wastes

41. Larger portion of the dung used as fuel in rural area
Contamination with various toxic and heavy metals in
industrial wastes
Inadequate no. of effluent treatment plants
Long term effluent irrigation causes heavy metal
accumulation
Limitations……

42. Conclusions
 Around 26 Mt nutrients can be recycled from crop residues,
animal wastes and city refuse by suitable composting method
annually
Quality of composts improve by addition of low grade rock
phosphate and waste mica
Application of composted crop residues and livestock wastes
increase the availability of soil nutrients
Treated industrial and sewage effluents are good source of
nutrients but long term application leads to heavy metals
accumulation in soil
Basic slag, phosphogypsum and pressmud are used as soil
ameliorant

43. Future steps………
Development of a suitable technology for
preparation of organo-mineral fertilizer
product from wastes
Long term field study of residual effect of
agricultural and industrial wastes on soil,
crop and environment

44. Thank you
Recycling is a good thing – we are saving the resources.