CBSE Class 9 Answered

• Composting is the rotting and conversion of organic waste into manure. The product formed after composting is called compost.
• Household garbage such as fruit and vegetable peels, egg shells, waste food, tea leaves as well as farmland wastes such as dried leaves, husk and parts of crop plants from fields after harvesting can all be converted into useful compost.

Method of preparing compost

• A trench of about 5 m long, 1.5 m wide and 1.5 m deep is dug.
• A 30-cm-thick layer of well-mixed refuse and waste is spread on it. This layer is completely wetted with a watery mixture of cow dung and some mud.
• A second layer of mixed refuse is spread over the first layer till the heap rises about half a metre.
• The setup is kept undisturbed for about 3 months during which water is sprinkled over it at regular intervals.
• A trench is then dug, its material is taken out and rearranged in conical heaps and covered with a layer of soil.
• After 50–60 days, compost is ready for use in cultivation fields or in garden flower beds.