Usage of Poultry Waste for Welfare of Mankind-A Review

Abstract

In India poultry industry is the fastest growing agro-based industry. There is large amount of accumulation of poultry related wastes in terms of litter, manure etc. and the extent of waste production is more when there is intensive poultry production. Due to intensive poultry production there is every chance of major environmental problems as poultry waste is a major source of pollution, pathogens and odour. Besides all these problems, poultry litter contains lot of energy and fertilizer sources which can be utilized for the betterment of agriculture. The fertilizer obtained from poultry wastes, becomes organic fertilizer which enhances the soil fertility, sustainability which provides prospect for the agricultural sector to reduce their dependence on chemical fertilizers. For sustainability in agriculture, use of chemical fertilizers should be avoided and instead of this new waste management systems should be implemented which will be economically feasible and eco-friendly. For best utilization of poultry waste options like compost preparation should be adopted. Although poultry litter is a good source of nitrogen, phosphorus and trace elements for crop production but its direct application to the fields become counter-productive. Therefore, the best way to utilize poultry litter is to use it in the form of compost. Compost made out of poultry wastes becomes very effective in improving the physical, chemical and biological fertility of soil. Since poultry litter has got lot of nitrogen and phosphorus, so to neutralize the deleterious effect of the toxicity arose out of high concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus, brown materials like dry or woody plant material may be used. A perfect mixture of poultry litter and brown material forms the compost pile may heat up and take less time to break down into useable compost and will not smell bad. The brown material also helps the litter to allow air to pass through the compost which will result in better quality of fertilizer in the form of compost. It can, therefore, be concluded that the poultry litter can be mixed with supplements like rice hulls and straw in proper ratio of carbon and nitrogen for compost preparation for the safe application in the field. Wastes including mortalities, hair, feathers and processing wastes can be converted to products which are useful for mankind.