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Biodegradation of Saw in Mulching

Author Affiliations

  • 1Post Graduate Institute of Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, SRI LANKA

Res. J. Agriculture & Forestry Sci., Volume 2, Issue (2), Pages 13-20, February,8 (2014)

Abstract

Many horticulture crops and cultivars of corn, soybean and cotton prefer applying saw dust as an additive in plant fertilizer, composting is an aerobic biological process. Composting wood wastes, reduces the waste volume, detoxifies the waste and transform it to humus which is a valuable amendment to soil and improves aeration of soil, but decomposition of saw dust takes years of time for cultivation. This is due to its slow biodegradation and this can be overcome by treating them with fungal enzymes as similar to fungal biological succession, partially degraded saw is a better substrate for decomposition. Main aim of this work is to produce raw information about biodegradation of saw which can be used in the studies on examining the amelioration of applying fungal enzyme treated saw as fertilizer to seek immediate benefit. On this aspect cellulose degrading fungi were isolated from natural sources, cultured on saw dust substrate, extracted crude enzymes were assayed on filter paper substrate and Fpase activity was measured by DNS reagent method. Aspergillus sp. and Trichoderma sp. depicted activity of 26.35and 25.8 FPU/ml respectively whereas their percentage of biodegradation depicted 1.88 and 1.84% respectively.

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