Effects of effective microbes biofertilizer and curing time on powdery, granular and vermicompost maturity

ABSTRACT

Compost maturity is a key factor before application of compost because an immature compost can harm plants, soil, and the environment. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the stability of three types of composts (powdery, vermi and, granular compost) in the soil in Khorasan Razavi Agricultural Research and Education Center in Mashhad. Treatments included the three composts, at curing time of 0, 30, 60, 90 days, and three rats of EM (a set of effective microorganisms including lactic acid and photosynthetic bacteria and yeast) as compost additive (2, 4, 8 L per ton of compost). Main factors evaluated were: NH₄/NO₃، N، EC، pH، C/N and OC. Results indicated that the effect of EM on compost maturity was not significant in three composts but the effect of curing time was significant on vermicompost and powdery compost maturity at 1% level. With their application two months after production giving the best results.

Keywords: Compost, maturity, effective microbes (EM), curing time, C/N ratio.