Effect of Different Livestock Manure Ratios on the Decomposition Process of Aerobic Composting of Wheat Straw

Abstract

Aerobic composting is an effective method of resource treatment for agricultural and forestry solid waste; however, while wheat straw is usually used as a conditioner and is not the main body as in aerobic composting, wheat straw is abundant in annual production, and fertilization is one of the main ways of resource utilization of wheat straw, how to use wheat straw as the main body of aerobic composting for efficient treatment is, therefore, a meaningful research direction. In this paper, to achieve the efficient and economic resource utilization of wheat straw and livestock manure, aerobic composting was carried out with wheat straw as the main body, and pig manure and cow manure were mixed with wheat straw crops at ratios of 20%, 30%, and 40%, respectively, for barrel suspension composting. The changes in pH, EC, NH4+-N, NO3−-N, TN, TP, organic matter and seed germination index, and shoot length inhibition rate before and after composting were compared between treatment groups using different material ratios in the aerobic composting process. The changes in the physicochemical properties and nutrient elements of compost products were studied. The results show that the co-composting of livestock manure and wheat straw can promote the decomposition of the pile, and the addition of 40% cow manure and 30% pig manure has the best effect in promoting decay. In contrast, the addition of excessive pig manure inhibits the decomposition of the pile. Organic matter degradation in the treatment groups using cow manure was more effective than in those using pig manure, and the best results were obtained with 40% cow manure. The pile was alkaline at the end of each treatment, and the wheat straw compost treated with 40% cow manure had the best nitrogen and phosphorus retention. The wheat straw compost treated with 40% cow manure had the highest integrated degree of decomposition, which promoted the deterioration of the pile and provided a research basis for the use of wheat straw as an efficient resource.

Keywords

• seed germination index
• co-composting
• humification
• mixed proportion
• composting parameters