Indian Journal of Waste Management

Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (RS-GIS) techniques were used to determine morphological characteristics of Catchment A, B and C catchments of Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth Central Campus (west), Rahuri in view of acquiring the accurate data of measurable features of stream network of the drainage basin. Three catchments were identified from Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidtyapeeth Central Campus, Rahuri, Dist.Ahmednagar, Maharashtra based on the drainage pattern and catchment boundary. Thematic maps were prepared and the Cartosat-2DEM of the area were used. Morphological characteristics under areal aspects, linear aspects and relief aspects were determined in ArcGIS 10.2 environment.

An attempt had been made to design and develope a flexible balloon stirring digester for anaerobic digestion of JOC. The investigation showed that Jatropha Oil Cake had biogas generation potential of 101.65 litre per kg of dry matter. A stirring device was used to agitate the slurry inside the digester. The methane content of biogas derived from JOC was found to be in the range of 63-68%.

Huge amount of green and dry leaf waste require extensive area for making vermicompost. This process is completed in two stages. The primary decomposition by microbes can occur in an open area, which reduces the bulk of the waste, while the second stage, carried out by exotic earthworms require a smaller area. The present attempt was made to find out the rate of reduction in the volume of eucalyptus leaf litter during vermicomposting. There has also been work to compare the decline in biomass of green and dry leaf litter during the vermicomposting process. The obtained results showed that during vermicomposting of green, dry leaf litter and cattle dung, the amount of organic waste was reduced by about 44-64%. Of the total volume reduced, about 35% decreased in the first four to five weeks, while the remaining reduction occurred in eight weeks. The obtained results recommend that, as large areas are required in the initial decomposition process, once the amount of waste is reduced to half of their initial volume, then the remaining waste can be transferred to a smaller area, where the second process of vermicomposting is done under controlled condition.