IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i9p5146-d801283.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Composted Rabbit Manure as Organic Matrix for Manufacturing Horticultural Growing Media: Composting Process and Seedling Effects

Author

Listed:
  • Rangling Li

    (College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Hongyun Hao

    (College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Hui Sun

    (College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Liangju Wang

    (College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Hongying Wang

    (College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China)

Abstract

This study investigated composted rabbit manure as an organic matrix to replace peat for manufacturing horticultural growing media, where three kinds of rabbit manures were composted with temperatures > 50 °C lasting > 7 days, with a germination index > 70%. The heavy metal contents in rabbit manure were far lower than the thresholds in Chinese standards for safe use as horticultural growing media. Then, different ratios of compost and peat were mixed with perlite and vermiculite to manufacture growing media, which were evaluated in a 28-day seedling experiment with cabbage. The manufactured growing media characteristics could satisfy the seedlings’ requirements; air spaces in particular were improved from 15.7% to up to 28.7% by mixing composted manure. Seedling emergence percentages > 90% and good seedling qualities (including enhanced root length, seedling height, and chlorophyll content) indicated that composted rabbit manure could effectively replace peat to manufacture horticultural growing media. The best seedling performance was obtained with the following ratio of composted manure, peat, perlite, and vermiculite: 3:3:2:2. However, the mixing ratio could be further optimized, and other methods to reduce the salinity may be required for the different requirements of specific crops in further research.

Suggested Citation

  • Rangling Li & Hongyun Hao & Hui Sun & Liangju Wang & Hongying Wang, 2022. "Composted Rabbit Manure as Organic Matrix for Manufacturing Horticultural Growing Media: Composting Process and Seedling Effects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5146-:d:801283
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5146/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5146/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lu Zhang & Xiangyang Sun & Yun Tian & Xiaoqiang Gong, 2013. "Composted Green Waste as a Substitute for Peat in Growth Media: Effects on Growth and Nutrition of Calathea insignis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-18, October.
    2. Faisal Zulfiqar & Xiangying Wei & Narmeen Shaukat & Jianjun Chen & Ali Raza & Adnan Younis & Muhammad Nafees & Zainul Abideen & Abbu Zaid & Nadeem Latif & Muhammad Naveed & Kadambot H. M. Siddique, 2021. "Effects of Biochar and Biochar–Compost Mix on Growth, Performance and Physiological Responses of Potted Alpinia zerumbet," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-14, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rangling Li & Hongying Wang & Enze Duan & Jiayu Fan & Liangju Wang, 2022. "Rabbit Manure Compost for Seedling Nursery Blocks: Suitability and Optimization of the Manufacturing Production Process," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-17, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rangling Li & Hongying Wang & Enze Duan & Jiayu Fan & Liangju Wang, 2022. "Rabbit Manure Compost for Seedling Nursery Blocks: Suitability and Optimization of the Manufacturing Production Process," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-17, December.
    2. J Jara-Samaniego & M D Pérez-Murcia & M A Bustamante & C Paredes & A Pérez-Espinosa & I Gavilanes-Terán & M López & F C Marhuenda-Egea & H Brito & R Moral, 2017. "Development of organic fertilizers from food market waste and urban gardening by composting in Ecuador," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Ajwal Dsouza & Gordon W. Price & Mike Dixon & Thomas Graham, 2021. "A Conceptual Framework for Incorporation of Composting in Closed-Loop Urban Controlled Environment Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-27, February.
    4. Roberto Calisti & Luca Regni & Daniela Pezzolla & Mirko Cucina & Giovanni Gigliotti & Primo Proietti, 2022. "Evaluating Compost from Digestate as a Peat Substitute in Nursery for Olive and Hazelnut Trees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Muhammad Hasnain & Jiawei Chen & Nazeer Ahmed & Shumaila Memon & Lei Wang & Yimei Wang & Ping Wang, 2020. "The Effects of Fertilizer Type and Application Time on Soil Properties, Plant Traits, Yield and Quality of Tomato," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-14, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5146-:d:801283. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.