Effectiveness of crop‐waste compost on a Eutric Ferralsol

Abstract

Lack of environmentally safe handling of garbage is a growing problem in urban sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). Composting the garbage for soil‐fertility management presents an opportunity for reducing the risks of environmental pollution. This study aimed at evaluating the agronomic effectiveness and nutrient‐utilization efficiency of urban market crop‐waste compost on a Eutric Ferralsol. The study was conducted in central Uganda with treatments including compost applied at 0, 5, and 10 t ha–1 (d.w. basis); inorganic N fertilizer at rates of 0, 40, and 80 kg ha–1 and inorganic P fertilizer at 0, 9, and 18 kg ha–1. Maize (Zea mays L.), variety Longe 4 was used as the test crop. The nutrient quality of the compost was medium with total N of 0.9% and total P of 0.45%. Compost significantly increased plant height, LAI, stover weight, and grain yield; however, there were no significant differences between the 5 and 10 t ha–1 rates. Nitrogen also had a significant effect on LAI and stover yield, though there was no significant difference between the 40 and 80 kg ha–1 rates. Likewise, P increased plant height with no significant difference between the 9 and 18 kg ha–1 rates. Mineral N at 40 kg ha–1 led to the highest increase in N uptake by plants (76%) above the control. Nitrogen‐ and P‐utilization efficiencies for the 5 t ha–1 compost rate were more than twice that of the 10 t ha–1 rate. The highest P‐utilization efficiency (69%) was obtained where 9 kg ha–1 P was applied with 40 kg ha–1 N, while the highest N‐utilization efficiency (48%) was obtained with the 5 t ha–1 compost applied together with N at 40 kg ha–1. From the above studies, it is clear that effectiveness of the 5 t ha–1 compost rate is the most promising.

Impact of organic residues and mineral fertilizer application on soil–crop systems I: yield and nutrients content

“…The current alternative option for addressing the soil fertility crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa is the use of materials of plant origin, especially crop residues, which are easily available to farmers but are not widely appreciated as resources (Amoding et al 2011). Integrated use of organic residues and mineral fertilizer is reported to reduce the cost of mineral fertilizer need by 25% (Bokhtiar and Sakurai 2005) or as high as 50% (Kiani et al 2005) and has also been reported to obtain 43% sustainable yield index compared with crop residue removal (Mubarak et al 2003a).…”

Review of the relationship between soil health, climate change mitigation, and crop production when soils is enhanced with organic sources of nutrients

“…One solution suggested for the soil fertility crisis in sub-Saharan Africa is the use of organic resources, considered the most practical choice [9]. Several types of organic resources can be utilized, namely farm manure (FYM), poultry litter (PL), poultry manure (PM), as well as manure and vermicompost [9] and by up to 50% [10]. For example, organic materials such as FYM are traditionally used by rice farmers [8].…”