in last decades, oil spill pollution has become an important issue of concern due to its serious environmental impacts; therefore, necessary actions should be taken to prevent or reduce these types of pollution and their environmental consequences. natural organic sorbents are emerging as proper choices for oil spill cleanup due to their availability, eco-friendliness, and low cost. in this stu...

Compost teas are fermented extracts of composted materials that are used to control plant diseases. A compost extractor in liquid phase, with forced air blowing system and assembled using farmer facilities, was used to produce “on farm” aerated compost teas (CTs) from five types of compost, in a 14-day fermentation cycle. Solid feed stocks, including one biowaste compost and four composted toma...

Improper use of urea may cause environmental pollution through NH3 volatilization and NO3 (-) leaching from urea. Clinoptilolite zeolite and compost could be used to control N loss from urea by controlling NH4 (+) and NO3 (-) release from urea. Soil incubation and leaching experiments were conducted to determine the effects of clinoptilolite zeolite and compost on controlling NH4 (+) and NO3 (-...

When feedlot pens are scraped in the spring and summer, manure is often stored before land application can occur in the fall. Manure stockpiled or composted was evaluated for nutrient losses in 2 experiments for 104 (Exp. 1) and 111 d (Exp. 2). Stockpiles (n = 2 in Exp. 1 and n = 3 in Exp. 2) and compost windrows (n = 6 in Exp. 1 and n = 4 in Exp. 2) were constructed with feedlot manure scraped...

H ighbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is adapted to soils with high organic matter and pH of 4.5-5.5. Coniferous sawdust is the blueberry industry standard soil amendment and mulch in the Pacific Northwest, USA. However, sawdust prices are increasing, and its availability is becoming limited. Therefore, many blueberry producers are interested in compost as an alternative to sawdust, whi...

In a column experiment with horizontal permeable barriers, the effects of a biodegradable chelator-nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) on the uptake of heavy metals from municipal solid waste (MSW) compost by Festuca arundinacea and metal leaching were investigated. The use of NTA was effective in increasing Cu, Pb, and Zn uptakes in shoots of two crops of F. arundinacea. In columns with barriers and t...

Three compost formulations, consisting of two varieties of Cynodom dactylon (L.) Pers. (Coast-cross and Tyfton) and oat (Avena sativa) straw were tested for the cultivation of A. bisporus strains ABI-01/01, ABI-04/02, ABI-05/03, and ABI-06/04. A completely randomized experimental design in a factorial scheme was adopted, with 12 treatments (4 A. bisporus strains × 3 types of compost) and 8 repl...

The emissions from simulated sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) field burns were sampled and analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs and PCDFs). Sugarcane leaves from Hawaii and Florida were burned in a manner simulating the natural physical dimensions and biomass density found during the practice of preharvest field burning. Eight composite burn tests consisting of ...

Knowledge about gene expression during sugarcane growth and maturation is limited. A gene discovery programme has been in progress at SASEX since 1994 to identify and analyse genes that are expressed in different sugarcane tissue types and developmental stages. A database of sugarcane gene sequences has been established through the generation of Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs). This database, co...

Biological waste gas cleaning is gaining more and more importance for the removal of the volatile organic compounds from air polluted streams. In order to investigate the performance of this technology a biofiltration pilot unit was operated for a continuous period of 14 months. The biofilter was packed with newly developed compost pellets and a mixture of compost and peat. At start-up, the bio...