This study investigated effects of mature compost on gaseous emissions during composting using pig manure amended with corn stalks. Apart from a control treatment, three treatments were conducted with the addition of 5% (wet weight of raw materials) of mature compost: (a) mixing raw materials with mature compost at the beginning of composting; (b) covering raw materials with mature compost thro...

Pilot scale experiments with forced aeration were conducted to estimate effects of aeration rates on the performance of composting penicillin mycelial dreg using sewage sludge as inoculation. Three aeration rates of 0.15, 0.50 and 0.90L/(min·kg) organic matter (OM) were examined. The principal physicochemical parameters were monitored during the 32day composting period. Results showed that the ...

The economic, social and environmental costs of food waste are being increasingly recognised. Food waste consists of both edible and inedible components. Whilst wastage of edible food is problematic for obvious reasons, there are also costs associated with the disposal of the inedible fraction to landfill. This is the third in a series of papers examining the costs of food waste throughout the ...

Compost tea is a liquid organic amendment that has been reported to benefit plant growth and performance through positive effects on microbial communities nutrition. However, few studies have demonstrated this for containerized plants produced in tree nurseries. Five common urban species (Acer negundo, Corymbia maculata, Ficus platypoda, Hymenosporum flavum, Jacaranda mimosifolia) were grown ex...

Three different types of compost, PM-5 (poultry manure compost), 338 (dairy cattle manure compost), and NVIRO-4 (alkaline-pH-stabilized dairy cattle manure compost), and irrigation water were inoculated with an avirulent strain of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium at 10(7) CFU g(-1) and 10(5) CFU ml(-1), respectively, to determine the persistence of salmonellae in soils containing these c...

Potato productivity in the northeastern US has been relatively constant for over 50 years, raising questions about what factors are limiting productivity. Research was initiated in 2004 to identify key constraints to potato productivity by evaluating Status Quo (SQ), Soil Conserving (SC), and Soil Improving (SI) cropping systems under both rainfed and irrigated management, and it was found that...

The effects of compost based substrates on growth and nutrition of geranium (Pelargonium zonale cv Lucky Break F2) were investigated. Substrates of manure compost, cotton gin trash compost, municipal solid waste compost and pine bark utilized as potting media for domestic use, produced an underdevelopment of geranium plants with respect to the control. This behaviour is related to the inferior ...

Conventional wastewater treatment generates large amounts of organic matter-rich sludge that requires adequate treatment to avoid public health and environmental problems. The mixture of wastewater sludge and some bulking agents produces a biosolid to be composted at adequate composting facilities. The composting process is chemically and microbiologically complex and requires an adequate aerat...

The practice of composting mixed green wastes from community collection programs has been on the increase as a means to reduce organic debris to landfills. Recent reports of plant injury have appeared and were attributed to residues of the herbicide clopyralid in compost. Phytotoxicity issues with compost have been reported previously to result from other factors, including heavy metal content,...

Compost use in landscaping and erosion control applications has become widespread. Various types of composts have been utilized on highway embankments for soil conservation and runoff reduction. Different compost materials could have different erosion control effects. The objective of this study is to investigate the erosion resistance of three commonly used composts and their effects on slope ...