Enumeration and characterization of microorganisms in raw coir pith and coir pith dumped soil

Coir pith is being considered as the reject generated during the extraction of coir fibre from coconut husks. It is a light weight and fluffy material with dusts and bits of fibres. The coir pith has many undesirable components and hence it does not carry any value addition. It needs to be degraded for the effective utilization for further activities. Microbes have the ability to decompose coir pith. Coir pith itself posses its own native microbes. Hence in the present study, raw coir pith and the soil dumped with coir pith in the dumping yards along the vicinity of the coir fibre factories were subjected for the enumeration and characterization of microorganisms. The coir pith for the study was collected from two locations in Cuddalore District. The results exhibited the presence of huge quantity of microbes in the raw coir pith than the coir pith dumped soil. Furthermore, the percentage occurrence of bacteria was significantly higher when compared with that of the fungi and actinomycetes. Totally 12 species of bacteria, six species of fungi and three species of actinomycetes were recorded. The results showed significant variation in the quantity and quality of the microbes.