Manure contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients that plants need to grow. Farmers can often save money by properly using manure as a fertilizer. Farmers can also sell manure or manure products to gardeners, landscapers, golf courses, and others who use nutrients to grow plants.
Cow dung is a type of organic fertilizer. It increases the fertility of the soil by increasing the nutrients in it. Excessive cow dung does not harm the soil as it is not chemical in nature.
Manures and fertilizers help in increasing the fertility of the soil. Repeatedly growing plants on the same soil, leads the soil to becomes deficient in nutrients. So, it is mandatory to add nutrients into the soil.
Manure not only acts as a source of plant nutrients but, through the addition of organic matter, it also helps to improve soil tilth, structure, aeration and water holding capacity. Manure application is a sustainable agricultural practice.
It can enhance soil fertility, improve the quality of earthworms, and promote crop health by acting as an organic fertilizer. Additionally, cow dung and cow urine are excellent sources of energy to generate biogas and electricity [2,7,8].
Cow manure is rich in nutrients and is suitable for plant growth. It has 3% nitrogen, 2% phosphorus, and 1% potassium—3-2-1 NPK, making it the right type of fertilizer for almost all types of plants and crops. That's because it brings back nutrient balance to fields organically.
Disadvantages of Manure
The manures are reported to provide fewer nutrients to plants, and they are unable to provide high-yielding crops. Manures are slowly absorbed by the plants, and they add a lot of humus to the soil. They are made in fields, so transportation is difficult for manures.
Manure contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients that plants need to grow. Farmers can often save money by properly using manure as a fertilizer. Farmers can also sell manure or manure products to gardeners, landscapers, golf courses, and others who use nutrients to grow plants.
Advantages of Manure
It increases the water-holding capacity of the soil. It makes the soil porous and facilitates the exchange of gases. The texture of the soil improves. The number of microbes increases in the soil.
Adding manure to soil improves the soil's texture and water-holding capacity while providing nutrients needed by growing plants. Unfortunately, fresh manure can also contain bacteria that can contaminate vegetables and cause human disease.
Manure is derived naturally and adds a lot more than just nutrients to the soil. They increase the activity of the microbes in the soil and increase its fertility. On the other hand, fertilisers harm these microbes and cause health issues in the consumers since they are synthesised chemically.
Manure is an organic substance that is obtained from decomposition of vegetables and animal waste. Fertilizers are inorganic substances manufactured in factories. Manures are relatively less rich in plant nutrients, they only remove general deficiency of soil.
Cow, horse, chicken/poultry, sheep, goat, and llama manure are acceptable types of manure appropriate for use in vegetable gardens. There are differences in using raw, aged, and composted manure in a garden. Manure may be composted in a variety of means, for the home gardener, this is usually hot or cold composting.
Cow dung, also known as cow pats, cow pies or cow manure, is the waste product (faeces) of bovine animal species. These species include domestic cattle ("cows"), bison ("buffalo"), yak, and water buffalo. Cow dung is the undigested residue of plant matter which has passed through the animal's gut.
Sometimes, manure is added to the soil before tilling. This helps in proper mixing of manure with soil. The soil is moistened before sowing. Agricultural Implements Before sowing the seeds, it is necessary to break soil clumps to get better yield.
As a rule of thumb, applying manure to your garden should be made at least three months prior to full growth, meaning the best time to add manure to your garden is in the late autumn or winter.
Improves soil fertility. Reduces soil erosion and leaching. Improves the physical properties of the soil and aerates the soil. Improves the water and nutrient holding capacity of the soil.
Manure is an excellent fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other nutrients. It also adds organic matter to the soil which may improve soil structure, aeration, soil moisture-holding capacity, and water infiltration.
Applying too much manure, at the wrong time, or improperly handling it in other ways releases nutrients into the air or into ground or surface waters. Thus, instead of nourishing crops, nutrients become pollutants. Excess nitrogen can leach through soil into groundwater.
Cow manure has relatively less nitrogen than some other manures, so it can be added directly to the soil without damaging plants. It also adds plentiful amounts of organic matter and beneficial microorganisms. Some fresh cow manure, however, may contain harmful microorganisms, weed seed and too much salt for dry soil.
Once the garden is planted, avoid using animal manures unless they have been pasteurized or actively composted. Never use cat, dog or pig manure in your compost pile or your vegetable garden. These manures are more likely to contain parasites that infect humans than other manures.
You can compost cow manure without equipment in six (6) months if you choose to do so. The composting period can be reduced to 20 days if you use manure composting equipment. It will take 7-10 days for an aerobic fermentation pot to complete the composting process.