Composting and Plant Growth Essay Example for Free

Composting and Plant Growth Essay Vermicomposting, as an industrial process, was originally developed to remove unwanted organic materials from the agricultural and industrial waste streams. The derived product: earthworm castings, is now recognized as a high value material which, when blended with soil, can restore soil tilth by correcting the imbalances caused by the over-utilization of petrol-chemical based fertilizers; thus enabling crops and plants to naturally combat pests and diseases, all resulting in increased crop production and general plant health. Using European technology we began researching production processes and the potential of Vermicomposting over 20 years ago. In 1991 we built the first American flow through Vermicomposting processor in Portland Oregon which continues to handle more than 2,000 tons of food waste per year at an annual cost savings of approximately $70,000.00. The Worm Castings are sold as an Organic soil amendment or mixed to form valuable plant growth media, as well as providing a natural pesticide and fungicide. In 1997: Awarded our first of three Phase I, and Phase II USDA-SBIR grants enabling advanced engineering, design and process modifications to be made in order to achieve a greater understanding of the production process and the products potential. In collaboration with Ohio State University, and Professor Clive Edwards, these grants supported extensive field and greenhouse trials using Vermicompost on a wide range of fruits, vegetables and ornamentals. The results clearly demonstrated that the affects were nutritional as all experimental plants received the same full range of nutrients – and remarkably small quantities of Vermicompost promoted enhanced germination, growth, flowering and yield on a variety of crop plants. Agricultural wastes, food and garden wastes, paper waste, and bio-solids from waste water treatment plants, when processed by earthworms, all showed similar results. With the aid of two additional USDA-SBIR grants again collaborating with OSU and Dr. C. Edwards we investigated a range of structural and functional comparisons between Vermicompost and traditional types of compost. * The continuous-flow production process does not allow nutrient leaching as occurs with conventional thermophilic composting and some less efficient methods of Vermicomposting * There were large physical, chemical and biological differences, all seemingly related to leachate control and the organic waste passage through the earthworms gut. * Vermicomposting was far more efficient in controlling odors and other vector issues. * With high worm populations and optimum conditions Vermicomposting is much faster than most conventional composting processes. * The percentages of Nitrogen, Potassium, Potash, Magnesium, and Calcium in forms readily available for plant uptake are much greater in Vermicomposts. * Microbial activity is much greater in finished Vermicompost; maintaining many types of bacteria and fungi that contribute to soil health and fertility. Our research showed in laboratory, greenhouse and field trials that a specific amount of Vermicompost, added to commercial potting mediums suppressed diseases, insect populations and insect damage to and on plants grown in Vermicompost treated soils. It is now widely accepted that the readily available micro organisms available in Vermicompost are the likely source of the plant growth regulators and Humates now known to be responsible for the increased germination, flowering and yields found in the plant growth trials. The project then focused on investigating the reason why the smaller particle size and greater moisture holding capacity in Vermicompost contributed to a decrease in soil nutrient leaching when Vermicompost was added to soils; demonstrating the destruction of viable weed seeds through Vermicomposting and the destruction of humane pathogens in contaminated organic wastes during Vermicomposting. This second part of the Phase I, Phase II: Plant Pest, Disease and Human Pathogen Control results, according to the EPA 503 Regulations, achieved Class A material in 60 days with bacterial levels for Salmonella, Ecoli, and viable Helmath Olva were all non-detectable. We developed our operational protocols from this research, and this research and operational training goes with every system. Other investigations concentrated on the properties of Vermicompost that increased plant growth. The increased plant growth observed greatly exceeded any of the nutrient inputs applied and all recent plant growth trials received balancing levels of nutrient inputs to ensure nutrients were not the cause. * Small additions of Vermicompost decreased the incidence of various plant diseases and the numbers of plant parasitic nematodes were suppressed. * Further research investigating production methods (Third part of Phase I and II) and effective practical applications of water soluble elutriates for foliar application for immediate disease and pest control are ongoing. Initial results were completed in June 2009 : Liquid Extracts for Disease and Pest Control. * Heat sterilization of finished Vermicompost was shown to remove all plant growth enhancing properties, but these could be restored by the addition of aqueous extracts of un-sterilized Vermicompost. This demonstrates the key factor is clearly microbial, most likely associated with plant growth regulators and increased levels of humic acid and folic acid found in Vermicompost. * Results showed increased growth effects were more frequent and more pronounced at specific concentration levels and application rates. When plants were grown in less specific blends or in mixes of greater concentrations of Vermicompost the beneficial growth, disease and pest control was greatly reduced or lost completely. * This result was unexpected, but confirmed by detailed and rigorous studies using a wide range of Vermicompost substitutions in a commercial plant growth media and in a wide range of plant species. * Optimum germination, growth, flowering, and heavier fields occurred only in a specific formulation that included nutrients other than what is in the Vermicompost. * This takes us down a path that suggests that the chemical or biological agent that is providing the disease control and triggering the plants ability to respond systemically to pest and disease issues is either a soluble uptake or has to be manufactured by the plant as an antagonist. * Conclusion: too much Vermicompost can block the functions that triggers these responses; similar to the way too much nitrogen locks in the leaves and does not allow the proper function of the plant. * Lastly, vigorous, healthy plants, as were observed when grown with Vermicompost, are far less susceptible to attack by plant pests and diseases. Tolerance, resistance, suppression, or the ability to manufacture an antagonist to plant pests or diseases are sometimes difficult to distinguish, but decreases in lesions and other symptoms, and decreases in the numbers of causative organisms have been found. Aquaculture of Chanos chanos Milkfish aquaculture first occurred around 800 years ago in the Philippines and spread in Indonesia, Taiwan and into the Pacific. Traditional milkfish aquaculture relied upon restocking ponds by collecting wild fry. This led to a wide range of variability in quality and quantity between seasons and regions. In the late seventies, farmers first successfully spawned breeding fish. However, they were hard to obtain and produced unreliable egg viability. In 1980 the first spontaneously spawning happened in sea cages. These eggs were found to be sufficient to generate a constant supply for farms. Fry are raised in either sea cages, large saline ponds (Philippines) or concrete tanks (Indonesia, Taiwan). Milkfish reach sexual maturity at 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb), which takes 5 years in floating sea cages, but 8-10 years in ponds and tanks. Once 6 kilograms (13 lb) is reached (8 years) an average of 3-4 million eggs will be produced each breeding cycle.[1] This is mainly done using natural environmental cues. However, there have been attempts using gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue (GnRH-A) to induce spawning.[3] Some still use the traditional wild stock method. This involves capturing wild fry using nets. Milkfish hatcheries, like most hatcheries, contain a variety of cultures, as well as the target species. For example rotifers, green algae and brine shrimp. They can either be intensive or semi-intensive. Semi-intensive methods are more profitable with it costing $6.67 US per 1000 fry in 1998, compared with $27.40 per 1000 fry for intensive methods. However, the experience required by labor for semi-intensive hatcheries is higher than intensive. Milkfish nurseries in Taiwan are highly commercial and have densities of about 2000/liter. Indonesia achieves similar densities but has more backyard-type nurseries. The Philippines have integrated nurseries with grow-out facilities and have densities of about 1000/liter. There are three methods of outgrowing: pond culture, pen culture and cage culture. * Shallow ponds are found mainly in Indonesia and the Philippines. These are shallow 30–40 centimeters (12–16 in), brackish ponds with benthic algae, usually used as feed.[1] They are usually excavated from ‘nipa’ or mangrove areas and produce ~ 800kg/ha/yr. Deep ponds (2-3m) have a more stable environment and began in 1970. They so far have shown less susceptibility to disease than shallow ponds. * In 1979 pen culture was introduced in Laguna de Bay, which had high primary production. This provided an excellent food source. Once this ran out, fertilizer was applied. They are susceptible to disease. * Cages culture occurs in coastal bays. These consist of large cages suspended in open water. These rely largely upon natural sources of food. Most food supply is natural food (known as ‘lab-lab’) or a combination of phytoplankton and macro algae. Traditionally this was made on site; food is now made commercially to order. Harvest occurs when the individuals are between 20-40cm (250-500g). Partial harvests remove uniform sized individuals with nets or gill nets. Total harvest removes all individuals and leads to a variety of sizes. Forced harvest happens when there is an environmental problem, such as depleted oxygen due to algal blooms and all stock is removed. Possible parasites include parasitic nematodes, copepods, protozoa and helminthes. Many of these are treatable with chemicals and antibiotics. Vermicast Process Vermicast renews the soil and is used as a natural fertiliser. It is made by recylcling organic waste which is transformed into natural fertiliser by using earth worms. The process of how these worms are utilised will be explained below. The process uses a variety of left over products such as grass cuttings, compost, vegetable cuttings and manure from cattle, pigs and chickens. They will then be placed into the following systems: Wind Row System Food is placed on the right hand side of the row and kept moist. Vermicast is then scraped off the opposite side because the worms will gravitate towards the direction that you feed them on. Therefore you are able to remove the vermicast from the left and it wont contain any of the worms. Pond System Start at the bottom-15cm compost. Keep adding 15cm compost at a time till pond is full. Remove whole pond to wash. Wind Rows Undercover Food is placed on front and kept moist. Vermicast is scraped off the opposite side. Feed from the front, worms keep moving forward so what you remove from the back wont contain any of the worms. This is usually done in sheds and on a smaller scale. Once the earth worms have eaten all the food given then the following steps will be taken: 1) Washing the Worms (As seen in the middle picture)Vermicast containing the worms is put in a tank of water, it is stirred, the worms are separated by the circulating force of the water to the outside. Once everything is mixed up, the vermicast is suspended in the water and the worms disperse to the outside of the tank which are then caught on the racks. 2) Catching Worms (As seen in the bottom picture)

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Jacob bowler Ms. Miller English 12 26 October, 2013 How the Nazi regime changed the world Hail Hitler this was the phrase of the most feared group at the time the Nazi regime. They were one of the most powerful groups in the world even after losing one war they start up another one. Fighting and for the most part concurring and ruling lots of lands. They tricked everyone with their claim of just trying to reclaim the previously lost lands. Now while the nazi party did ultimately fail in their attempt to take over control of the world, they did succeed in creating great amounts of fear making many technological advancements and destroying millions of the Jewish race. One of two greatest motivators of people is fear, or fear of something. This was a great motivator of the Nazi regime their powerful tactics and ideas did not just cause fear for the time period of theirs but also to the present we still fear many things that had happened back then. One small thing that they did that still is here today is the fear of the police, with the secret police there was great fear of them and what they could do to you. With that fear people were less likely to disobey Hitler’s laws and methods. How that method still lasts today is that lots of people still fear cops and generally distrust the police and those associated with them. That means everyone that dose any illegal activity is very afraid of cops and any form of punishment that they could deal out. Then there is the undercover cops just like the secret police, cops that could infiltrate groups doing illegal activities. This also makes the groups very distrustful of most people, just like the pe ople that helped the Jews during the holocaust. So after all the pain and destruction of th... ... They came up with most the terror tactics showing that there can be many different ways of controlling specific groups through through many different tactis. So thought this it shows that the past and what happened there can have a great effect on us that it caused us to learn from the mistakes from the past. It shows that we have done many stupid things but also a lot of great things came out of the nazi party that they created. Showing that the best of things along with the worst of things can come out of the same thing. Horrors and miericals, bad and good everything can have two sides and different effects so this is how the Nazi party while failing to be able to control the world they did succeed in generating great amounts of fear, making many technological advancements and then greatly diminishing the populations of the Jews through murderous activities .

Human Resources Management Contribution

â€Å"How can Human Resource Management contribute to the success of an engineering business? † Although there is no widely acknowledged definition for the term Human Resource Management, as far as I can understand it Human Resource Management is an approach to personnel management that sees people as the key resource of a company. In short it is a system that believes it is important to communicate well with employees and include them in what is going on with the organization, to increase the commitment and help them to identify with the organization. HRM specifically is a body of functions and policies that shape the work environment and control the relationship with employees. Some functions contain alternative methods or practices from which managers can choose. The key functions in HRM are; Planning the HR needs of the organization, particularly for the future. Integrating HRM with the organizations strategic management process and co-ordinating clusters of HR practices to achieve the desired goals. Staffing correctly; obtaining the correct people with regards to their skill set, abilities, knowledge and experience. Some practices involved within this are HR planning, Job analysis, Recruitment and selection. Developing skills, to ensure that workforce can perform satisfactorily in their jobs and can advance within the organization. To identify employee’s key skills and where they are competent the ‘Performance appraisal’ practice can be employed. Motivating employees through reward system, this can be done through performance appraisal, job evaluation. Designing and maintaining work systems that are safe and promote workplace wellness and employee health so as to fulfil health and safety legislations and retain a capable workforce. Managing relationships between employees, it covers a wide range of practices that can be used to create a better co-operation between employees and also a better feeling of involvement/participation. It also extends to co-operation with unions if they are involved. Managing change for the future by helping others be able to envision and understand the change, along with setting expectations for performance and helping develop the capability to reorganize and reallocate resources (including people). Evaluating the value of the entire HR system y designing procedures and processes that measure it. All of these functions and practices are underpinned by legislation. In a practical application typically a company would set out organizational objectives and then decide on a strategy in order to achieve those objectives. In the context of an Engineering company/business the strategic focus could, for example, be on the following: †¢ Ensure effective training and development of all st aff in order to ensure flexibility and competence within roles. Develop effective communication between employees and between departments/functions. †¢ Develop mechanisms to cope with future environmental change including social, political and technological. In this example strategic focus is on developing a flexible organization that can adapt to change in the environment and has a good communication structure in order to achieve this. Intel is a good example of a company in the Engineering business world whose business competitive advantage is its speed and flexibility in meeting the changing needs of various market niches. Given the extremely short product life cycle in this industry, there is a pressing need, according to Andy Grove, CEO of Intel, to channel resources swiftly from declining areas into emerging/growing areas. In these scenarios technological and financial resource transfer can be done quickly, but people are the hardest part of the system to redeploy. In order to develop and encourage continuing success the business must develop a HRM strategy that focuses on the correct HR areas in order to maximise competitiveness. To develop a successful HRM strategy, the business strategy must first be understood (Key driving forces of the business [technology, competition etc. ], Implications of these driving forces and the fundamental contribution of people in the business). From here a mission statement can be developed that relates to the people side of the business, establishing what they contribute. Analysing the organization (Culture, Organization, People, HR systems) and the external business and market environment will determine potential performance, skill issues etc. and highlight opportunities/threats. For each critical issue options can be generated considering the consequences of possible actions. From this a set of broad objectives can be created that can be split into specific HR areas, for example, Management, training/development, communication etc. The choice of strategy will have a big effect on the company’s success. Smaller companies will have to choose different objectives, for example, it is more expensive for a smaller company to offer effective training to their workforce, so a better option would be to select and recruit the correct staff. This is illustrated by Small to medium sized companies in China, which were found to have focused their HR efforts on selection and recruitment, performance-based remuneration and employee involvement in decision-making. This may be working well for these SME’s but for future success it would be a good idea to develop effective training/development programmes in order to further develop their employee’s skills. The problem here is that in order to compete with other companies there has to be compromise in certain areas. SME’s can’t always provide effective/quality training because of the cost, but over a longer period of time the cost-benefit ratio can be swung in a positive way as effective training can mean future development for the organization. In terms of Engineering industry this can provide greater benefit as development in certain skill areas, and skilled workers in general are essential for business growth. Problems can arise here though as if employee’s leave for other, better paid jobs once they have had training and developed skills in certain areas, the companies lose out on work time and incur costs. Another focus of HRM is to develop the central role of managers and also to prevent the view from workers as ‘us and them’ with regards to managers and help create an ‘us and us’ view. Cost can be controlled to a degree within a larger business by developing the roll of line managers as people managers, this cuts down the need for HR persons and helps to create a more ‘personal’ environment for employees. This is shown by Hewlett-Packard (HP) who relatively recently have been moving back towards developing the central role of managers. Primarily the role of the HR department now is to facilitate, measure, and improve the quality of management and teamwork, not to provide an avenue for managers to abdicate their responsibilities for people. HRM also helps to develop workers ability to manage themselves, many companies now are emphasizing flexibility and cohesion through team based activities and self managed work teams. One of the largest and most successful companies in the electronic engineering world, Apple, are a good example of focusing on self managed work teams and creating very strong employee-company bonds. By facilitating the development of self-managed work teams, HR departments can remove themselves from the intermediary role and allow employees to be self-determining. The HRM system can provide great success for an engineering business. It provides a method to narrow down the problems within an organization relating to the people within it, and create specific areas to focus on headed by generalised terms to provide an easy to follow and implement strategic plan. It has many advantages, such as the ability to create a flexible work environment, focusing on specific areas of the business to maximise competitiveness. However it also has some disadvantages, for example if quality training for workers is provided at great cost to the business, without proper precautions in place it is possible for trained employees then to leave and obtain better paid jobs with their provided training. In many of the examples illustrated here it is possible to see that there is strong links between the success of an engineering company and the use of HRM. Without effective management of people the business can fail to achieve its goals or sufficiently succeed in its market. The many different aspects of HRM allow enough flexibility and variation to allow a business to select and develop specific areas to meet its needs, for example Intel has a built a flexible structure for its employees to allow the business to move in and out of growing/declining markets. Resources An empirical study of high performance HRM practices in Chinese SMEs Connie Zheng, Mark Morrison & Grant O'Neill The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol 17 No 10, October 2006 Allbusiness. com – Lower cost, higher value: human resource function in transformation. By Brockbank, Wayne -THE IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCE AND OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON COMPANY PRODUCTIVITY Human Resources Management (Theory and Practice 4th Edition) [Bratton and Gold] The essence of Human Resource Management [McKenna and Beech] Introduction to HRM [Maund] Managementtoday. com – Working Human Resoruces into the system

How Thanksgiving Was Started - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 838 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/03/29 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Thanksgiving Essay Did you like this example? On every fourth thursday of November we celebrate Thanksgiving to give thanks. Have you wondered why we celebrate this holiday and how it started ? Thanksgiving began by the Pilgrims and Indians to give thanks God for the wonderful harvest. Its was a special day then and is still a special day today to thank God for what we have. On September 6, 1620, 102 men, women, and children boarded a ship called the Mayflower to set sail to North America, which they called the New World. Today we call them Pilgrims. They left England in search of religious freedom from King James I, who passed a law that stated no one can practice the religion they wanted. At first the Pilgrims first moved to Holland to practice their religion but after 12 years of financial problems, they received funding from English merchants to sail across to the New World. They sailed on the Mayflower for a little over two months across the stormy Atlantic Ocean, hoping to settle the land where New York City is now located but due to the strong windy condition they had to cut their trip short. They landed on what is now called Cape Cod but one month later they crossed Massachusetts Bay and landed in what we call Plymouth, Massachusetts. They built a settlement at an abandon Pawtuxet Indian village. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "How Thanksgiving Was Started?" essay for you Create order The Pilgrims found themselves in a very harsh environment. The colonists needed to figure something out since they signed a contract with the Virginia Company to settle in Virginia but they landed in Massachusetts instead. The colonists decided that they wanted to make the colony successful and set out to create a short document, the Mayflower Compact, that had a set of temporary laws to rule themselves and form a good colony. On November 11, 1620, male adults signed the Mayflower Compact. When the cold, Decembers came the Pilgrims werent used to hunting or fishing and many suffered from hunger. Most of them remained on board the ship where they suffered exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious diseases. Many of the Pilgrims didnt survive the winter and only half of the passengers survived to see the New Englands first Spring. The Mayflower Compact perished after the winter and William Bradford was elected as governor for thirty years and under his guidance the colonists suffered less hardship than before. In March, Samoset, an Abenaki leader, and Squanto visited the settlers. Squanto was a Wampanoag who had experience with other settlers knew English very well because he was kidnapped by traders wh and sold into slavery before escaping back to his homeland. Samoset also introduced the Pilgrims to Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoag tribe. Squanto helped the Pilgrims to survive the New World. He helped the Pilgrims to plant crops and he taught them how to use fish to fertilize their fields. He taught them how to hunt, fish, how to avoid poisonous plants, and how to Massasoit signed a treaty of alliance with the Pilgrims in 1621, that made a promise to not hurt or fight and to protect one another, that lasted 50 years. If a Wampanoag broke the peace, he will be sent to Plymouth for punishment and if a colonists broke peace then he will be sent to the Wampanoags. In fall the Pilgrims with the help of the Indians had a huge harvest. The Pilgrims and Governor wanted to make a celebration to thank God for the wonderful harvest. The few of the settlers went out to hunt for some food for the celebration. The Wampanoag heard the gunshots and alerted their leader Massasoit, who thought the colonists were preparing for war. Massasoit visited the colonists settlement with 90 men of his to see if they were really preparing for war and they realized they were hunting for the harvest celebration. William Bradford organized the celebration feast and invited the Native Americans allies, including the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit. The Native Americans helped the pilgrims hunt and gather food for the harvest and Massasoit sent his men to go hunt for deer and they brought 5 deer as a gift to the colonists. The harvest was somewhere near the fall season in 1621. The celebration lasted for three days of men, women, and children eating, hunting, praying, and other entertainments. The celebration had many different food, games, singing, and traditions. The celebration had similar and different foods we have today for Thanksgiving. Their were most likely foods like deer, lobster, corn, beans, cranberries, and many more. Their were games and dancing at the celebration like tug-o-war, blind mans bluff, pin game, which were most of Native American games the Indian children played and their was dancing the women did called the jig and they also sang hymns. The adult men made competition like target shoot to see you has the best skills. Thanksgiving started to become a holiday 200 years later. This is how Thanksgiving started by the Pilgrims and Native Americans. Thanksgiving is a very special holiday for us to give thanks to the Lord and it began with them.