Preparation of High Grade Compost by an Enrichment Technique. I. Effect of Enrichment on Organic Matter Decomposition

Abstract

ABSTRACT The effect of nitrogen, phosphorus and molasses enrichment on the decomposition of organic matter during composting of ligno-cellulosic waste was studied. The loss of organic matter increased with decrease in C:N ratio of the waste through the addition of inorganic nitrogen but the loss of this added nitrogen was very high when the C:N ratio narrowed down from 30 to 25. The maximum rate of decomposition with minimum loss of nitrogen was recorded with the enrichment by both nitrogen (C:N ratio of 30) and low grade phosphate rock (Waste: PR ratio of 4: l) at the level of 70% moisture on a dry weight basis. The incorporation of cattle dung into ligno-cellulosic waste suppressed the decomposition while molasses improved it and matured the compost within a short duration of 60 days. The culture of cellulolytic organisms did not compete well with the native micro flora during the composting of the waste. The inoculation with one litre slurry containing 5% each of dung, soil and well decomposed compost ...