Microbial community insights into antimicrobial rice-straw lignin fractions during poultry litter vermicomposting and their effects on Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) growth.
Mishra P, Mishra U, Singh A, Panda D, Srivastava PK
Composting
Backyard worm bins fed poultry manure can harbor dangerous bacteria, but layering in rice straw — a farm waste most people burn — appears to neutralize those pathogens and turn the finished castings into a richer, safer soil amendment for your vegetable beds.
Researchers mixed chicken manure with cow dung and shredded rice straw, then let worms break it all down for 45 days. The natural compounds extracted from rice straw acted like a built-in disinfectant, killing off harmful microbes while encouraging the helpful ones. The finished worm compost grew healthier okra plants than compost made without the rice straw addition.
Key Findings
Rice straw lignin fractions showed measurable antimicrobial activity against pathogen loads in poultry litter during 45-day vermicomposting with Eisenia fetida.
Microbial community composition shifted toward beneficial decomposer populations when lignin fractions were added, compared to controls without rice straw.
Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) plants grown in lignin-enriched vermicompost showed improved growth metrics relative to plants in untreated poultry litter compost.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Adding rice straw lignin to poultry litter worm compost suppressed harmful pathogens, shifted the microbial community toward beneficial decomposers, and measurably improved okra plant growth compared to untreated compost.
Abstract Preview
Poultry litter (PL) carries high pathogen loads, necessitating eco-friendly valorization. We evaluated rice straw (RS) lignin fractions for 45 days of vermicomposting of PL mixed with cow dung (CD)...
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Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus, known in some English-speaking countries as lady's fingers, is a flowering plant in the mallow family native to East Africa. Cultivated in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions around the world for its edible green seed pods, okra is used in the cuisines ...