Abstract
Substantial quantities solid waste from livestock are potential sources of nutrients for agroecological production on small-scale farms. The processes used to extract these wastes, however, must be capable of eliminating pathogenic microorganisms. We aimed to evaluate composting and vermicomposting processes by inoculating efficient microorganisms at the field scale. We used cattle and sheep manure with the inoculation of efficient microorganisms (EMs) at concentrations of 0, 2, and 4 mL L-1. In vermicomposting experiments, we added Lumbricus rubellus. After the maturation and stabilization phases of the compounds, concentrations of macronutrients, micronutrients, heavy metals, thermotolerant coliforms and Salmonella spp. were measured. We found that composting processes allowed high availability of macronutrients. Vermicomposting, associated with inoculation with 2 mL L-1 EMs, promoted the lowest concentration of thermotolerant coliforms, ensuring greater elimination of pathogens. The compost produced allowed the valuation of waste and use it as a quality organic fertilizer for agroecological production.
Highlights
In order to meet growing demands for food, over-cropping and overuse of inorganic fertilizers have become common practices among farmers
The experiments containing 2 mL L-1 efficient microorganisms (EMs) recorded temperatures above 40°C for a longer time, and the shortest time at these temperatures was recorded in the vermicomposting experiments with the highest concentration of EMs (4 mL L-1) (Figure 1)
At the end of the process, we found that more alkaline pH values were recorded in the composting experiments compared to the vermicomposting experiments
Summary
In order to meet growing demands for food, over-cropping and overuse of inorganic fertilizers have become common practices among farmers. Replacing organic with inorganic inputs reduces soil quality and can lead to environmental pollution (Albiach et al, 2000; Komiyama et al, 2013). This can be avoided with the use of organic solid waste fertilizers, through composting or vermicomposting. These processes improve microbial activity (Ros et al, 2006; Knapp et al, 2010; Elbl et al, 2019), and increases soil cation exchange capacity, which favors mineralization and nutrient recycling (Nath and Singh, 2012; Domínguez and Gómez-Brandón, 2013; Yadav and Garg, 2016). The main challenge of these processes is to control and optimize the interactions between the biological, chemical, and physical mechanisms affecting the composition and degradation behavior of heterogeneous organic matrices, such as organic waste (Hemidat et al, 2018)
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