Quality of Densified Organic and Soil Conditioners for Organic Production

Published: Pangga, G.V., Cedillo N.O. and V.S. Punzalan. 2015. Quality of Densified Organic Fertilizers and Soil Conditioners for Organic Horticulture Production. Horticulturae. Special Issue. Quality Management of Organic Horticulture Produce 2015. MDPI AG, Klybeckstrasse, Basel, Switzerland. pp 277-285. Introduction

The swine and poultry sub-sectors are among the top economic contributors of the industry in the Philippines. As such, the ‘wastes’ generated from these animals and the potential damaging effects to the environment should be given priority considerations. The risks associated with animal are complex in nature and when not handled properly can cause damages to human and environment. o Eutrophication o Bacterial leaching o Groundwater/surface water contamination o Blue-baby syndrome o Gastro-intestinal diseases o Heavy metals accumulation..etc… PM- 54-105 kg/day SM– 31-66 kg/day PM- 327-525 kg/day SM-148-318 kg/day Manure Production for Lucban, Quezon, Philippines Introduction

There are specific food quality and safety issues related to organic food production and they are greatly affected by farm agricultural inputs such as organic fertilizers and other soil conditioners. An increase in the quality of the composting products and quality control (absence of pathogenic microorganisms) would make animal more competitive with chemical fertilizers. Introduction

Compost made from animal manure is an effective material for improving the physical and chemical properties of soil. However, pathogens hazardous to human health can be introduced to when animal manures are used as raw materials. The quality of compost and its varying nutrient composition also limit its efficient use. With these concerns, it is necessary to design an environmentally recycling system for animal manures.

An effective solution is to apply densification technology.

The production of high-quality compost and the densification or pelletizing technology are solutions to these concerns. Densification of compost or pelletizing could reduce the costs of transportation, handling and storage and adjusting the nutrient content by adding required materials. Pellet provided also a gradual nutrient supply for a long period of time, which improves N fertilizer use efficiency and reduces N (N-nitrate) leaching losses. Objectives To study the major issues associated in the utilization of animal wastes as ; Produce ‘Quality’ organic fertilizers from livestock and poultry wastes which are safe for agricultural use. To demonstrate the application of densified organic fertilizers in an organic horticulture production system.

 Composting and densification technology  Pot experiment Preparation of raw materials

Mix all materials with animal manure with known proportion

Water compost and turn at specified time

Check temperature regularly

Check maturity of the compost after 6-8 wks

Get samples for laboratory analysis

PRODUCTION OF MATURED ‘QUALITY’ COMPOST Steps in composting of animal manure. soya meal Rice bran Gliricidia sepium

Poultry manure Carbonized Molasses rice hull

Alumino- Rice Swine silicate ash material manure Flow chart of pelletized organic fertilizer production Philippine National Standards for Organic Fertilizer (BAFPS, 2013)

Properties Organic Compost/Soil Fertilizer Conditioner Total NPK 5-7% (5-10%) 2-<5% C:N 12:1-20:1 12:1-20:1 (10:1) Organic Matter > 20% > 20% Moisture Content 30-35% 30-35% Color Brown to Black Brown to Black Consistency Friable Friable Odor No-foul odor No-foul odor Pot Experiments The treatments were as follows:

T1- Control, no fertilizer (C); T2- Raw Swine Manure, dried (SM); T3- Raw Poultry Manure, dried (PM); T4- Densified Swine Manure-based organic fertilizer (DSM); T5- Densified Poultry Manure-based organic fertilizer (DPM); T6- Densified (DV); T7- Gliricidia sepium, fresh leaves (GS); T8- Chemical Fertilizer, Recommended Rate (RR). Animal manures differed in nutrient content.

This variation is expected because they came from different farms with different diet/food supplements and management.

The rate of the manure nutrient content to be applied depends on the size and species of the animal, housing, feeding ration, manure storage, and climate Chemical composition of swine and poultry manures used in the preparation of organic fertilizers.

OC N P2O5 K2O Ca Mg Fe Zn Cu Mn Materials pH % ppm

Chicken 7.6 16.16 2.10 3.76 3.74 5.8 0.41 7762 1371 54 571 Manure

Hog 7.1 17.35 2.13 5.60 0.84 0.53 0.11 10262 442 535 502 Manure Chemical characteristics of organic materials used in organic fertilizer production.

Raw Mat pH OC P K Ca Mg SO4 Fe Zn Cu Mn N

% ppm

Alumino- 6.5 0.04 1.94 0.05 0.06 1356 814 1555 7121 16 5 142 *silicates

Soybean oil 5.9 0.49 21.2 0.11 0.42 799 206 ND 167 19 ND 171 cake

Carbonized 9.5 0.18 2.08 0.45 0.90 2415 384 ND 1466 56 8 222 rice hull

Rice Ash 10.2 0.03 0.37 0.28 0.93 1168 233 ND 139 10 ND 86 * CEC = 21.19 cmoles (+)/100 g soil) Chemical characteristics of organic materials used in organic fertilizer production.

OC P K Ca Mg SO Fe Zn Cu Mn Materials pH Total 4 N % ppm

CRhull 8.0 0.15 2.94 0.11 0.04 0.37 0.01 ND 218 42 5 118

Rice Bran 5.4 1.05 37.49 0.41 3.22 0.08 0.11 ND 122 58 8 221 Quality of Organic Fertilizers Produced from Animal Wastes in combination with other raw materials Swine N P K OM OC Total NPK Manure- pH Based % % Batch 1 0.93 3.09 1.32 28.80 14.40 7.30 5.34 Batch-2 0.60 3.64 0.83 8.56 4.28 7.20 5.07 Batch-3 0.86 5.13 0.87 10.96 5.48 6.90 6.86 Batch 4 0.72 3.46 1.38 15.36 7.68 6.92 5.56 Batch 5 0.89 3.96 1.26 33.74 16.87 7.52 6.11 Batch 6 still in progress (waiting for laboratory analysis) Batch 7 still in progress..compost curing Poultry Manure-Based Batch 1 1.44 4.27 1.18 26.38 13.19 7.20 6.89 Batch 2 0.56 2.60 2.75 7.74 3.87 9.30 5.91 Batch 3 1.00 3.26 3.36 9.54 4.77 8.00 7.62 Batch 4 0.71 2.48 4.02 11.28 5.64 7.91 7.21 Batch 5 1.04 3.99 3.31 19.72 9.86 9.25 8.34 Batch 6 still in progress (waiting for laboratory analysis) Batch 7 still in progress..compost curing

Effect of fertilizer treatments on herbage dry matter weight of corn (Zea mays L.).

120.0 a

100.0 b b

80.0 c c c c d 60.0

40.0

20.0

Herbage dry weight (g/pot)weightdry Herbage 0.0

Treatments Effect of fertilizer treatments on the yield of bush sitao (Vigna sesquipedalis x Vigna unguiculata).

Pods Fresh Weight Treatments Number of Pods (g/pot) T1 Control 25c 144.6c

T2 Dried Raw Swine manure 43ab 235.8ab

T3 Dried Raw Poultry Manure 37b 206.3b

T4 Densified Swine-based OF 46a 244.5a

T5 Densified Poultry-based OF 46a 267.4a

T6 Densified Vermicompost 36b 206.8b

T7 Fresh G. sepium 37b 205.7b

T8 Chemical Fertilizer 46a 246.0a Effect of fertilizer treatment on pechay (Brassica rapa chinensis L) fresh weight.

120.0 a 100.0 ab ab bc abc 80.0 bc c 60.0

40.0 d

Fresh weight (g)/plot weight Fresh 20.0

0.0

Treatments Organic Matter, Cation Exchange Capacity and pH of Alipit Clay (Typic Tropudalfs) after corn- bush sitao croppings OM (%) CEC (cmol(+)/kg soil) pH Soil Amendment 1 Crop 2 Crop 1 Crop 2 Crop 1 Crop 2 T1- Control 2.85 2.80 31.23 32.53 5.80 6.46 T2- Dried Swine Manure 2.88 2.85 30.04 31.39 5.91 6.52 T3 Dried Poultry 2.85 2.77 31.33 30.26 5.83 6.54 Manure T4 Densified Swine 2.93 2.91 29.31 29.53 5.73 6.60 Manure-based OF T5 Densified Poultry 3.15 3.07 31.25 32.39 5.67 6.53 Manure-based OF T6 Densified 2.90 2.88 30.32 32.91 5.73 6.38 Vermicompost T7 Fresh Gliricidia 2.87 2.83 33.00 33.23 5.71 6.54 sepium T8 Chemical Fertilizer 2.85 2.75 31.34 28.56 5.73 6.43 Benefits of densified organic fertilizers

Molding composted livestock wastes into pellets can solve problems such as:

(a) high (b) high (c) changing (c) low moisture volume per nutrient density content, unit of weight composition

• It allows for a more uniform and Benefit of using efficient application. pelletized • It releases nutrients slowly over compost time as need them. • More stable aggregates. Raw compost (a) and pelletized organic fertilizer (b). Simple Aggregate Stability Test Potential Impact to Organic Agriculture Promotes the recycling of animal and wastes and the use of pelletized organic fertilizer to avoid soil NO3-N pollution and eutrophication.

The ‘products’ developed can be used as a method for slow-release of N fertilizer that reduces leaching losses and enhanced nitrogen uptake, as well as positive effects on both health and soil nutrient levels.

Introduced methods of fertilizing which takes into account human health and the needs of the environment.

Established technology for producing high-quality organic fertilizer from animal farms which meets the crop requirement and demand of farmers.

Improvement of Soil Quality leading to better Soil Health, Plant Health and Ecosystem Health ---- Thru Improvement of Soil Quality The role of erosion on sustainability TOPSOIL is the capital reserve of every farm. Ever since mankind started agriculture, erosion of topsoil has been the single largest threat to a soil's productivity—and, consequently, to FARM PROFITABILITY.

31 The surface soil: Farmer’s capital

When bacterial To sustain populations and agriculture SOM decrease, Protecting soil means to aggregation from erosion is sustain soil declines, and no the first step resources, other glues are toward a being produced, because that's sustainable the source of a hence, soil agriculture. degradation farmer's follows. livelihood.

32 Conclusion The study showed the role of densification technology in producing a good quality organic fertilizers from animal wastes. At the same time it highlighted the application of these fertilizers to different crops and takes into account the used of soil as receiver of wastes. Results such as these suggest that densified organic fertilizers may be used as alternative to chemical fertilizers in an organic horticulture production systems.

Chemical composition of swine and poultry manures collected from selected farms.

Manure(s) Chemical Composition (%)

pH Total N P K OC

Poultry Manure 1 7.6 2.60 5.09 3.77 18.12

Poultry Manure 2 7.8 1.75 3.51 1.30 21.14

Poultry Manure 3 7.5 2.10 3.76 3.74 16.16

Swine Manure 1 7.4 2.42 3.43 0.75 34.25

Swine Manure 2 7.1 2.13 5.60 0.84 17.35

Sludge Manure 1 7.0 1.09 4.14 0.22 24.60 Chemical Characteristics of compost/ and organic fertilizer (1st batch)

Organic Organic Moisture Compost/Organic Matter Carbon Content pH Fertilizer N P205 K2O % Hog manure-based (5.34 NPK) 0.93 3.09 1.32 18.60 14.40 32 7.30 Poultry Manure-based (6.89 NPK) (bin container) 1.44 4.27 1.18 28.80 13.19 35 7.20 Poultry Manure-based (6.75 NPK) (Berkley composting in screenhouse) 1.07 3.31 2.37 21.40 16.87 30 7.60 Chemical Characteristics of compost/soil conditioner and organic fertilizer

nd (2 batch) Moisture OM OC Content Total Compost/Organic N P205 K2O NPK Fertilizer %

Hog manure-based 0.60 3.64 0.83 4.28 >20

Poultry Manure-based 0.56 2.6 2.75 11.2 3.87 20 5.91

rd Moisture (3 batch) OM OC N P205 K2O Content Total Compost/Organic NPK Fertilizer %

Hog manure-based 0.86 5.13 0.87 5.48 20 1.11 3.98 3.41 22.2 4.73 8.50 Poultry Manure-based 1.00 3.26 3.36 20.0 4.77 20 7.62