CSIR-IICT demonstrates tech to turn dry leaves into soil conditioner

CSIR-IICT develops cost-effective Accelerated Anaerobic Composting technology to convert dry leaves into soil conditioner efficiently.

CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), which had indigenously developed high rate bio-methanation technology-based Anaerobic Gaslift Reactor (AGR) for the generation of biogas and bio-manure from organic waste, has now successfully demonstrated that it can be re-modelled to convert dry leaves into a ‘soil conditioner’.

This method, called Accelerated Anaerobic Composting (ACC), ensure that only a bio-manure is generated, not the biogas. “This is a much simpler process, four times cheaper and does not require much expertise. It only needs RCC structure and pits without any big machinery,” explained CSIR-IICT chief scientist A. Gangagni Rao on Sunday.

The ₹7.5-lakh 500-kg capacity ACC ‘demonstration’ reactor was established in a gated community, Maple Town Villas, at Sun City in Bandlaguda on request of the residents’ association and is said to be working well for the past couple of months, generating about 10 tonnes of soil conditioner.

The organic manure thus generated out of the dry leaves from the trees on the 40 acre community land is being utilised by the residents of the 275 villas for various plants and trees on the premises, said Mr. Gangagni Rao, who heads the IICT’s bioengineering and environmental sciences division.

“We have tried using dry leaves for the first time after testing it in our laboratory. The soil conditioner parameters adhere to the standards prescribed by the fertiliser control order of the Union Agriculture Ministry about the content of nitrogen, carbon and others,” he explained.

GHMC Commissioner Ronald Rose and his team had recently visited the facility to witness the operation of the AAC plant along with CSIR-IICT director D. Srinivasa Reddy, Maple Town Owner’s Association’s president Sudhakar Reddy and others. The plant was installed by KHAR Energy Optimisers.

The plant can produce about 6,000 kg of soil conditioner a month.