Nutrient release dynamics of an accelerated compost: A case study in an Alfisol and Ultisol

Abstract

Acceleration of composting process could influence fertilizer-efficiency of theaccelerated composts. This study therefore evaluated the nutrient release dynamics ofdifferent rates of a commercial accelerated compost (OBD-plus ) in two soils described asAlfisol and Ultisol, under laboratory incubation study, in order to generate informationfor simulation under field conditions. Accelerated compost (AC) at the rates of 30, 60, 90,120, 150 kg N ha-1, mineral fertilizer (NPK 15-15-15) and conventional compost (CC) at60 kg N ha-1, were each mixed with 2 mm sieved soil (Alfisol and Ultisol) in cups, andarranged in a completely randomised design with three replications. Soils withoutamendment served as control. The treated soils were retrieved at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12weeks of incubation (WOI), air dried and analysed for pH, organic C, N, P and K, and dataanalysed using regression test. The results revealed that the 60 kg N ha-1 AC improvedthe pH, OC, N. P, K by -2%, 11%, 3%, 141% and 4% respectively, across the WOI, on theaverage of performance in the two soils, comparable with mineral fertilizer (-5%, 8%, -1%, 76%, 4% respectively) and CC (11%, 40%, 3%, 773%, 10% respectively). The 60 kgN ha-1 AC significantly correlated (p