Studies on effect of cellulolytic fungi on decomposition of sugarcane trash

Abstract

An attempt was made for study the efficiency of cellulolytic fungal isolates and their effect on organic carbon, nitrogen, C:N ratio and loss in weight of sugarcane trash compost. The application of seven cultures viz. Trichoderma sp., Penicillium sp., Aspergillus sp., Paecilomyces sp., Rhizopus sp., mixture of fungal isolates and university (MPKV) composting culture were used in the experiment. The application of these fungal cultures shows significantly accelerated the rate of decomposition than control. However mixture of fungal culture proved to be most effective over uninoculated control. The mixture of fungal isolates recorded significant decrease in C:N ratio (16.3), loss in weight (38.0%), organic carbon content (17.5%) and increase in nitrogen content (1.07%) of sugarcane trash compost over uninoculated control treatment. The decomposing fungal culture also showed beneficial effects on chemical and biological properties of sugarcane trash compost. There was an increasing trend of fungal and bacterial population up to 60 days after inoculation and decreased thereafter up to 120 days of composting. The actinomycetes population was also increased during composting at later stage.