Imagine a situation where dead animals and plants remain undecomposed in our surroundings. It
will definitely be an extremely awful and terribly repulsive situation. Fortunately, all biological materials undergo bio-degradation. Bio-degradation is nature's law and decomposition of organic matter into elementary components proceeds unhindered in nature. Dead plants and animal materials are destined to be decomposed and recycled. The products of decomposition like minerals and .nutrients get incorporated into plant and animal
life: in other words they serve as food materials of another set of plants and animals directly or indirectly as nutrients. When these pants and animals die, decomposition sets in and the nutrients are released slowly and gradually . Thus, the cycle is repeated. However, man can intervene to accelerate bio-degradation through a process called
composting. Composting is a method of accelerating natural process of decomposition of organic residues or wastes such as farm and forest waste under controlled conditions to yield a product useful in agriculture and forestry. The decomposition is brought about mainly by microorganisms like fungi and bacteria. An efficient method of composting ensures minimum loss of nutrients from the organic material during the process. The controlling factors are temperature, moisture, air and the nature of organic materials. There are rwo types of composting: Aerobic and anaerobic composting. aerobic involves the decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms growing in the presence of air. In anaerobic composting ,the organic materials like green leaves or waste materials are filled in pits along with cowdung and allowed to remain for several months without allowing fresh air into the organic matter. In the absence of air, composting progresses slowly by the action of anaerobic microorganisms. During anaerobic decomposition, fowl smell is produced.