Carbon Mineralization of Agro-Food Waste Compost in Soil under Controlled Conditions

Abstract

Compost mineralization study under controlled conditions is a way to predict the compost behavior in the soil. It permits to know how much compost to bring to the soil to ensure a good amendment and how long the compost will last in the soil. Six composts obtained from agro-food waste are incubated under controlled conditions in order to follow the carbon mineralization. Soil-compost mixtures (100:1) are incubated at 2/3 of soil moisture capacity for 75 days and under ambient temperature (30 °C). The soil-compost mixtures released and during 75 days and15.96 to 27.52 mg of C-CO 2 , versus 4.89 mg for the control without compost. This correspond to the carbon potentially mineralizable varing between 25 and 46% of the total organic carbon. The pH of composts and their C/N ratio have effected carbon mineralization.