Comparative evaluation of organic waste composting rate with urea and KOH application: Environment Development and Sustainability

Composting degradable organic matters with chemical fertilizers produces stable material with the aid of organisms and makes nutrients readily available to plants. A field study was carried out for incorporation of the urea and KOH treatments on composting fresh cattle manure, wheat straw, sawdust, and dried leaves to evaluate the decomposition rate during four months. The mineralization of the organic wastes as increased in microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and organic matter (OM) loss was higher in urea treatments, in contrast with KOH treatments which need more time for optimum decomposition. Laccase activity reduced in the manure but increased in other organic wastes and in the urea treatments. Water-soluble carbon (WSC) decreased in all organic wastes, particularly in urea-treated manure. The fluctuation of pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were observed for four months but increased at the end of the experiment. Total organic carbon (TOC) reduced, and total nitrogen (TN) has risen, especially in the presence of urea treatments; so, the C/N ratio significantly decreased and the trend of composting progressed overtime. Insufficient technical planning in composting has led to changed approaches to increase elements availability with the management of existing plantations. The successive applications of urea were observed to enhance the rate of organic wastes decomposition than KOH treatments. This study further recommends application of urea and KOH with degradable organic materials in which this method should be improved with the ability to mineralize nutrients rapidly, which could make them advantageous to crop growth.