Composting of rice straw with effective microorganisms (EM) and its influence on compost quality

Mohd Lokman Che Jusoh,Latifah Abd Manaf,Puziah Abdul Latiff

doi:10.1186/1735-2746-10-17

Mohd Lokman Che Jusoh, Latifah Abd Manaf + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1735-2746-10-17

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Abstract

This study aims to assess the effect of EM application on the composting process of rice straw with goat manure and green waste and to evaluate the quality of both compost treatments. There are two treatment piles in this study, in which one pile was applied with EM and another pile without EM. Each treatment was replicated three times with 90 days of composting duration. The parameters for the temperature, pH, TOC and C/N ratio, show that decomposition of organic matter occurs during the 90-day period. The t-test conducted shows that there is a significant difference between compost with EM and compost without EM. The application of EM in compost increases the macro and micronutrient content. The following parameters support this conclusion: compost applied with EM has more N, P and K content (P < 0.05) compared to compost without EM. Although the Fe in compost with EM is much higher (P < 0.05) than in the compost without EM, for Zn and Cu, there is no significant difference between treatments. This study suggests that the application of EM is suitable to increase the mineralization in the composting process. The final resultant compost indicated that it was in the range of the matured level and can be used without any restriction.

Highlights

Rice (Oryza sativa) is the most important staple food for a large part of the world’s human population, especially in East and South Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and the West Indies
The temperature pattern showed that there is a rapid progress from the initial mesophilic phase to the thermophilic phase for both these treatments, which points to a high proportion of readily degradable substances, e.g. vegetables and fruits
Even though no microbial test was done on the sample, it can be assumed that the compost treatment with Effective microorganisms (EM) (C1) has high microbial activity compared to C2 based on the high temperature achieved

Summary

Introduction

Rice (Oryza sativa) is the most important staple food for a large part of the world’s human population, especially in East and South Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and the West Indies. It is the grain with the secondhighest worldwide production, after maize (corn) [1]. A major portion of this agricultural waste is disposed of by burning or is mulched in the rice fields. These wastes, if not properly handled, will cause many problems to farmers as well as to the environment. If rice straw is left in the field without proper management, it can cause the

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