Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Nitrogen Losses and Enrichment of Soil and Sawdust Coverings during Composting of Poultry Manure

Henry Oppong Tuffour

Asian Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition · pp. 13–22 · Published 14 Jun 2022

10.9734/ajsspn/2022/v8i230135

Abstract

Aims: Composting poultry manure is an effective way of enhancing its nutrient content and reduce nutrient losses. There is the need to reduce gaseous nutrient losses during composting through the use of covering materials. Assess the level of chemical enrichment of soil and sawdust used as covering materials; and identify the most suitable medium that can best perform as a covering material during composting of poultry manure. Materials and Methods: Experiments were set up to examine the changes in the chemical properties of soil and sawdust used as covering material for composted poultry manure. Five treatments – no covering, layers of 2.8 kg soil, 5.6 kg soil, 0.9 kg sawdust, and black polythene sheet on 5.28 kg broiler and layer manure heaps with four replications were arranged in a completely randomized design. Samples were taken from the manure piles and the soil and sawdust covering materials for chemical analysis at 3, 6 and 9 weeks after composting. Results: The pH, N, P, K, Na and Ca, in both soil covers increased as time elapsed, whereas the Mg and C/N ratios of the soil coverings decreased with time. With regards to the broiler manure, however, the pH and the nutrient content of the two levels of soils used as cover increased at all the stages of composting. Composting of both poultry manures resulted in the improvement of the chemical properties of both sawdust and soil coverings. The enrichment ratio of N was greater in the 5.6 kg soil than the 2.8 kg soil covering. Additionally, the 5.6 kg soil covering was highly efficient (P = .05) in reducing N losses by 57 and 83.85% from the broiler and layer piles, respectively. In general, the 5.6 kg soil was the most effective covering material.

Compost organic matter poultry manure soil nutrients

References (21)

  1. 1 On-Farm Composting Handbook
  2. 2 Changes in the chemical characteristics of water-extractable organic matter during composting and their influence on compost stability and maturity [DOI]
  3. 3 Fate of nitrogen during composting of chicken litter [DOI]
  4. 4 Loss of nitrogenous compounds during composting of animal wastes [DOI]
  5. 5 Emission of Climate-Relevant Trace Gases and Succession of Microbial Communities during Open-Windrow Composting [DOI]
  6. 6 Effect of composting on nutrient loss and nitrogen availability of cattle deep litter [DOI]
  7. 7 Losses and transformation of nitrogen during composting of poultry manure with different amendments: An incubation experiment [DOI]
  8. 8 Effectiveness of three bulking agents for food waste composting [DOI]
  9. 9 Compost convective airflow under passive aeration [DOI]
  10. 10 Effect of Oxygenation Level on Yard Trimmings Composting Rate, Odor Production, And Compost Quality In Bench-Scale Reactors [DOI]
  11. 11 Aerobic thermophilic composting of piggery solid wastes [DOI]
  12. 12 THE USE OF ORGANIC WASTE MATERIALS AS ORGANIC FERTILIZERS - RECYCLING OF PLANT NUTRIENTS [DOI]
  13. 13 Effect of adding bulking materials over the composting process of municipal solid biowastes [DOI]
  14. 14 The Potential of Sewage Sludge and Composting in a Nitrogen Recycling Strategy for Agriculture [DOI]
  15. 15 Ammonia Volatilization from Liquid Hog Manure Amended with Paper Products in the Laboratory [DOI]
  16. 16 Poultry manure composting. Ammonia capture and aeration control.
  17. 17 Mathematical Model of Compost Pile Temperature Prediction [DOI]
  18. 18 Hormones in Waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations [DOI]
  19. 19 Hormones.in.Waste.from.Concentrated.Animal.Feeding. Operations [DOI]
  20. 20 Controlling ammonia emission at composting plants.
  21. 21 Total Carbon, Organic Carbon, and Organic Matter [DOI]

Cited by 1

Landscape Determinants of Nitrogen Leaching Risk: Mechanisms, Impacts, and Mitigation Strategies

B. Manono, J. Kimiti, Damaris K. Musyoka · Nitrogen · 2026

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

16

Page views

0

PDF downloads

1

Outbound clicks

1

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.