Compost Science Complete scientific data on compost process control and end product quality

PERSPECTIVE

Compost Science & Utilization, (2007), Vol. 15, No. 1, 3

Research Ranges Far And Wide

THE FULL RANGE of composting research throughout the world is evident in this issue of Compost Science & Utilization. The initial report discusses crop responses to vermicompost applications. As authors Paula Roberts, Gareth Edwards-Jones and David L. Jones from the United Kingdom explain: Interest in using earthworms for waste management has increased considerably in recent years and

several studies have reported on the ability of earthworms to convert organic wastes such as sewage sludge, animal manures, vegetable wastes and crop residues into a viable organic soil amendment. Vermicomposting is a relatively low-cost method of treating organic wastes which exploits the ability of some species of earthworms to fragment waste residuals by passing them through their grinding gizzards.
Another paper - this one from researchers in Mexico - discusses chemical characteristics of several vermicomposts. After digestion, earthworms excrete terricolous worms, characterized by their high microbial load. Transformation of organic matter (mineralization and humification) occurs through processes integrating the uninterrupted action of insects, annelids, fungi, actinomycetes and bacteria. The purpose of this study is to evaluate performance of Eisenia andrei as a compost-promoting organism in wastes from the southeast of Mexico, as well as to chemically characterize the vermicompost.
Another study - at North Carolina State University by John Classen, Mark Rice and Rhonda Sherman - demonstrates the usefulness of vermicompost in an agronomic setting. Specific objectives were to evaluate response of fresh and dry weight biomass of field turnips to the addition of vermicompost as well as the effect of vermicompost on volume of runoff and nutrients in the runoff from field plots. Goals of this project were addressed using turnips because they are a cool weather crop that can be grown in spring and fall, thereby allowing two applications each year instead of one.
From Innsbruck, Austria at the Institute of Microbiology comes an analysis of chemical and biochemical parameters during composting of lawn clippings with a special examination of a compost starter kit. The objective of the investigation was: To obtain an overview of changes taking place in household composters; and To investigate the influence of a special starter kit on the composting process itself as well as the maturity and stability of the end product.
At research centers of The Ohio State University, widespread colonization of Salmonella and other pathogenic species in the gastrointestinal tracts of livestock animals, and their potential to develop drug resistance and spread through fecal transmission, emphasizes the need for research into the proper management of animal manures destined to be recycled or applied to agricultural farmlands. Investigators were Sukhbir Grewal, Srinand Sreevatsan and Frederick Michel Jr.
And in Barcelona, Spain, a full-scale cocomposting experiment used hair wastes from the leather manufacturing industry to test maturity and stability of the finished product. Thermophilic range of temperature was quickly achieved and maintained for more than eight weeks. Recycling of hair wastes using the compost technology yielded a valuable organic fertilizer.