Journal of Environmental Biology

Study of commercial effective microorganism on composting and dynamics of plant essential metal micronutrients

Ihsanullah Daur*

Department of Arid Land Agriculture, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture,

King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah-21589, Saudi Arabia

*Corresponding Author E-mail: iaslam@kau.edu.sa

Publication Data

Paper received:

29 April 2015

Revised received:

07 October 2015

Re-revised received:

20 December 2015

Accepted:

12 March 2016

Abstract

The present study addresses the problem of organic farmers' that needs local organic resources with their enhanced quality to effectively fertilize their agriculture crops. In accordance with the objective of the experiment that is about enhancing quality of compost, a blend of organic resources, comprising cow manure (CM), poultry manure (PM) and kitchen waste (KW) (2:1:1 ratio by volume) was composted with effective microorganisms (EM.1) (Compost_EM.1) and without (Compost_plain). During composting, temperature, pH, carbon, nitrogen, C/N ratio, total and diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA)-extractable essential metal micronutrient (Fe^3+, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, and Mn²⁺) contents of both the composts were recorded following the standard procedures. Low temperature range (24−24), low pH (6.7−7.2) and higher N-content (1.15−1.40) were recorded for CompostEM.1 as compared to Compost_plain. Carbon degradation was also faster in Compost_EM.1 than in Compost_plain. Consequently, C/N ratio stabilization took 6 weeks in Compost_EM.1 as compared to 18 weeks in Compost_plain, leading to rapid completion of composting. Total concentration of micronutrients increased while their DTPA-extractable content decreased during the composting. Total micronutrient concentration was augmented more in Compost_plain samples than in Compost_EM.1. However, decrease in DTPA-extractable content was similar in both the composts. Increase in micronutrient content was attributed to decrease in organic matter weight, whereas decrease in metal micronutrients was attributed to the formation of organic matter-metal complexes during decomposition. Findings of the study indicated that effective micro-organisms enhanced composting process, however, further studies are required to evaluate its quality, especially effect on plant and soil.

Key words

Composting, Kitchen waste, Manure, Plant nutrients

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