Abstract
An increase in the generation of organic waste with no adequate means of disposal has become a worldwide problem. Composting is an eco-friendly method of organic waste disposal and also producing organic fertilizer. Different methods have been applied by researchers to improve the agronomic value of compost. In this study, a mixture experimental design was used to optimize the proportions of poultry litter, vegetable waste, and corn stalk during composting to enhance the agronomic value. A total of 10 treatments with different proportions of substrate mix were observed for 30 days. Temperature, moisture content, NH4+/NO3–, electric conductivity, organic matter content, and pH were monitored. Germination index was used to determine the maturity and phytotoxicity of the compost mix. The results indicated that organic matter degradation followed a first-order kinetic pattern. The statistical model showed that the special cubic model explained the variation in the trend of germination index with R2 = 0.9827. The simplex–centroid mixture design predicted that the best substrate proportions that would produce a final compost with low phytotoxicity and high agronomic value were poultry litter = 57.58%, vegetable waste = 4.01% and corn stalk = 38.41%. The follow-up experiments validated the model predictions. The outcome of this study when implemented would be of great importance in regards to plant phytotoxicity and sustainable agriculture. Co-composting of different organic waste is a good method of improving the agronomic value of compost.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Dr. Uchenna C. Nduka for his kind assistance in data statistical analysis.
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F.N. Ezugworie contributed to validation, methodology, and writing—original draft. O.C. Okeh performed writing—original draft. C.O. Onwosi contributed to conceptualization, supervision, validation, methodology, and writing—review and editing.
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Ezugworie, F.N., Okeh, O.C. & Onwosi, C.O. Reducing compost phytotoxicity during co-composting of poultry litter, vegetable waste, and corn stalk: mixture experimental design approach. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 20, 2699–2712 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04161-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04161-4