Influence of bulking materials on the organic matter degradation during composting of cattle manure

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the degradation pattern of cattle manure with different types of bulking materials during composting. For this purpose, a composting experiment was conducted with three bulking materials e.g., T1 (composting with dry chopped straw), T2 (composting with dry tree leaves) and T3 (composting with saw dust) with 3 replications. Parameters studied were dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), ash, organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), crude fiber (CF), carbon nitrogen ratio (C/N) and pH at different days of intervals. Results showed that the bulking materials have a significant influence on the quality of the final compost. The highest DM content was observed in T3 (48.17%) and the lowest DM content was observed in T2 (38.36%) after 45 days of composting. There were significant (p<0.01) higher reduction rate of OM, OC and CF were found in T3 compared to T1 and T2 and the differences were also significant (p<0.01) among days intervals over 45 days of experimental period. TN content gradually decreases with the increase of time. But there was no significant difference in TN alteration among the treatments along with time intervals. There were significant differences (P<0.01) in C/N among treatments and a gradual increment of C/N was found with the advancement of the composting operation. There was a little change in pH of all the treatments but those treatments were not followed a trend during the total experimental period. Finally, it may be concluded that CF and OM degradation rate is faster in T3compared to T1 and T2. These might be indicated that saw dust might be used as an efficient bulking material that enhances OM degradation during composting of cattle manure.