Potentiality of palm oil biowaste withcow dung and poultry litter for compost production

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Date
2011-06-01
Authors
Mohammadtaghi Vakili
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Malaysia is the major palm oil producing country in the world. This industry generated many types of biomass including the mesocarp fiber, shell, empty fruit bunch (EFB), oil palm frond (OPF) and oil palm bark (OPB). The application of those biomasses for value-added purposes such as composting needs to be explored and investigated. As an ultimate objective, by using easily available biowaste resources, highly efficient compost is expected to be produced from oil palm biomass with proper elucidation of its characteristics and behavior, varying composting times and conditions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of poultry litter (PL) and cow dung (CD) on composting process of palm oil biowaste (POBW) and to optimize the best ratio of palm oil biowastes and PL and CD in composting process. Palm oil biowastes (EFB and frond) were mixed with PL and CD in eight different ratios and moisture content adjusted to 40% for all treatments during the composting process. The content of compost bins were mixed appropriately and placed in shade for activating decomposition mechanism up to 11 weeks. Results showed that at 1:3 ratio of POBW and cow dung had the optimum qualities of C:N ratio (≤ 25). The electrical conductivity (EC) for mature compost was 2.83 mSm-1 while the optimum value was below 4 mSm-1 in this experimentation. The pH value of this treatment at the end of composting process was 7.92. The POBW with poultry litter at 1:3 ratio showed the C:N ratio was less than ≤25, EC for mature compost was 3.7 mSm-1, and pH value was 7.35. Cow dung and poultry litter addition to POBW was beneficial for ensuring nutrient balance in the compost. Therefore, such compost was suitable for further application in agriculture.
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