Abstract
Improper management of organic waste can lead to unnecessary carbon dioxide and methane emissions, and groundwater contamination. In this study, organic waste materials from two of New Mexico’s (U.S.A.) top agricultural industries, pecan (Carya illinoinensis) and dairy cattle dairy manure, were used to evaluate the feasibility of an on-farm compost program. Pecan woody residues (P) served as the primary carbon source; regional cattle dairy manure (M) served as the primary nitrogen source. Additional (A) inputs from a compost consulting company (PM/A) and green waste from community landscaping and on-farm harvested legumes (PMG/A) were employed, both of which required additional labor and material inputs. Finished composts were analyzed for selected macro, secondary and micronutrients, pH, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), electrical conductivity (EC), total carbon (TC) and organic matter (OM) content, bulk density (bd), and microbial biomass. The PM alone treatment showed similar or significantly higher amounts of macro, secondary and micronutrients compared to the PM/A and PMG/A treatments. Total microbial biomass and total salinity were highest for the PM treatment. The total cost of the PM treatment was around 1/6 of the cost of the lowest-cost addition compost production scheme, indicating that simpler, lower-input production methods may be more advantageous for on-farm compost program development.
Highlights
New Mexico (NM) is currently the largest US producer of pecans (Carya illinoinensis) [1]).Mechanical pruning of pecan trees is a common practice for commercial pecan production, resulting in a large supply of carbon-rich biomass
The finished compost amendments can translate to economic benefits as a potential supplement for synthetic fertilizers [19])
The finished compost amendments can translate to economic benefits as acompost potenproducts were half of the total substrate materials, in tonnes
Summary
New Mexico (NM) is currently the largest US producer of pecans (Carya illinoinensis) [1]). Mechanical pruning of pecan trees is a common practice for commercial pecan production, resulting in a large supply of carbon-rich biomass. Woody agricultural waste in NM was burned, infringing upon regulatory and air quality standards [2]). Environment Department (NMED) limits the amount of agricultural biomass burning based upon daily environmental conditions and emission reductions techniques [3]). As of 2017, cattle derived dairy was the highest cash receipt agricultural industry in NM, with the greatest production being in Chaves County [4,5]).
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