PJB-1991-7
LARGE SCALE COMPOSTING OF KALLAR GRASS LEPTOCHLOA FUSCA (L.) KUNTH
TARIQ MAHMOOD, F
AZAM AND KAUSAR A. MALIK
Abstract
Kallar grass, Leptochloa fucsa (L.) Kunth was
composted on a large scale by windrow (open-pile) method. Changes in temperature, substrate loss, cation- exchange capacity (CEC), carbon (C) and Notrogen (N) contents, C/N ratio were followed for 150 days. Cation-exchange capacity was evaluated as an index of compost stability and its validity checked by physic-chemical changes during composting and by plant growth test. Composting of kallar grass for 150 days produced a substrate loss of 57%, lowered the C/N ratio from 67 to 17 and increased the CEC from
13 to 47 m eq/100g ash-free dry matter. Balance of N calculated at different stages of composting showed a net increase of 33-
38%during 15 to 90 days. Kallar grass composted for 75 days or longer, did not cause reduction in dry-matter yield of wheat. Physico-chemical changes during composting and plant growth test indicated that kallar grass compost was stebilized for
75 days.
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