Effect of Biochar on Composting of Cow Manure and Kitchen Waste

Felicien Sebahire, Faridullah Faridullah (), Muhammad Irshad, Aziz Ur Rahim Bacha (), Farhan Hafeez and Jean Nduwamungu
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Felicien Sebahire: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
Faridullah Faridullah: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
Muhammad Irshad: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
Aziz Ur Rahim Bacha: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Carbon Materials Research and Comprehensive Application, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Prevention and Control, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518055, China
Farhan Hafeez: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
Jean Nduwamungu: Department of Forestry and Nature Conservation, University of Rwanda, Kigali 210, Rwanda

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Composting is a common method for managing organic waste and creating nutrient-rich soil amendments. Recently, biochar, a carbon-rich material from biomass pyrolysis, has been noted for potentially improving composting. This study examines the impact of adding biochar to compost made from cow manure and kitchen waste through a controlled lab experiment. The treatments were labeled as CMX (cow manure), KWX (kitchen waste), and CMKWX (both) with X being the percentage of CM, KW, and CMKW minus that of biochar in the mixture. Key parameters such as temperature (T), pH, and electric conductivity (EC) were tracked during the composting processes, and the final composts were analyzed for total nitrogen (N), available nitrogen (AN), total phosphorus (TP), available phosphorus (AP), total potassium (TK), organic carbon (OC), calcium (Ca 2+ ), magnesium (Mg 2+ ), and organic matter (OM). The results showed that adding less than 10% biochar influenced composting positively. Specifically, 5% biochar amendment led to higher thermophilic temperatures (45–57 °C) and stable pH levels (6.3–8.7) compared to controls. However, biochar did not significantly enhance EC, which peaked at 1.78 dS/m in both the control and 5% biochar treatments. Nutrient analysis revealed that biochar increased Ca 2+ (13.62 meq/g) and Mg 2+ (5.73 meq/g) retention in CM composts (CM85 and CM100). The highest OM content was 16.84% in CM90, while the lowest was 3.81% in CM95. Higher OM negatively affected TN, with CM treatments having more OM and KW treatments having more TN. TP and TK were higher in control treatments without biochar. This study highlights the benefits of integrating biochar with organic waste for enhancing compost nutrient profiles and soil fertility. It was observed that the more diverse the compost feedstock, i.e., CMKW, the higher the nutrient content for treatments containing less than 10% biochar.

Keywords: biochar; composting; nutrients; sustainable farming; cow manure; kitchen waste (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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