Advanced Search
Matured compost recycling enhances the efficiency of composting and improves the quality of end-products during composting of herb residues
Received:June 24, 2019  
View Full Text  View/Add Comment  Download reader
KeyWord:composting;matured compost recycling;herb residue;compost quality;himic acids
Author NameAffiliationE-mail
SONG Xiu-chao Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment in Downstream of Yangtze Plain, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China  
GUO De-jie Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment in Downstream of Yangtze Plain, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China  
MA Yan Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment in Downstream of Yangtze Plain, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
School of Environmental and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China 
myjaas@sina.com 
LUO Jia Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment in Downstream of Yangtze Plain, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China  
WANG Guang-fei Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment in Downstream of Yangtze Plain, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China  
LIU Xin-hong Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment in Downstream of Yangtze Plain, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China  
Hits: 2157
Download times: 1912
Abstract:
      Matured compost recycling is widely practiced to reduce the dosage of organic bulking agents used in actual composting processes and is therefore economically advantageous. In order to ascertain the effect of matured herb residue compost backflow on maturation efficiency of composting and quality of compost, this study discussed the transformation of nutrients as well as humus(composition, content, and quality)during the composting process. Two treatments were conducted to achieve this objective. The matured herb residue compost was used in composting in the proportion of 10% of initial raw materials(based on dry weight). A control treatment(CK)was also studied without application in industrial condition. During the experiment, the content of total carbon(TC), total humus(HS), free humus(FHS), water-soluble humus(WSHS), humic acid(HA), fulvic acid(FA), and some elements such as C, N, P, and S were determined. Results showed that matured compost amendment(MCT), wherein the thermophilic phase(55℃)was entered 20 days earlier than that in CK, could significantly accelerate the degradation of organic matter. When compared with CK, application of matured compost resulted in significant reduction in final TOC and C/N ratio(P<0.05), whereas, total N, total P, total K, and total S increased by 17.5%, 17.8%, 14.7%, and 9.4%, respectively. Moreover, MCT dramatically improved the activity of humus, as indicated by the increase in the content of HS, FHS, and WSHS in compost products. During the composting process, HA content increased and FA content decreased, resulting in increased HA/FA ratio, especially in the treatment with matured compost, indicating that MCT accelerated organic matter humification and improved the humus quality. Our results suggest that matured compost recycling could magnify the nutrient and humus quality during composting of agricultural organic wastes.