Physicochemical Properties and Nutrient Contents of Compost as Influenced by Organic Wastes and Methods of Composting

Abstract

Compost is the decomposed organic materials that can be used to the degraded soils which is one of the best options to improve the soil organic matter and soil productivity. Suitable organic wastes and appropriate method of composting are important aspects for recycling product that help to chemically transform organic wastes into a valuable soil amendment. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the composition of physicochemical properties and nutrient contents of compost prepared from different organic wastes following different methods of composting. The factorial experiment consisted of three organic wastes (S1= Kitchen waste, S2= Municipal waste and S3= Browns) and two composting methods (M1= Surface heap method and M2= Trench method) with four replications. The analysis of variance showed that physicochemical properties and nutrient contents of compost were substantially influenced by the use of different organic wastes and methods of composting. Kitchen wastes with trench method of composting resulted in higher particle density (1.79 Mg m-3), porosity (70.1%), saturation (20.1%), total N content (1.59%), total K content (0.84%), total organic carbon (17.6%) and C:N ratio (11.69), whereas porosity (70.1%) and Zn content (3.31 mg kg-1) were higher in kitchen wastes with the surface method of composting. The findings of this experiment revealed that the physiochemical properties and nutrient contents of compost was better when prepared from kitchen wastes by trench method of composting.