Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Animal Production Science Animal Production Science Society
Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > AN > EA06128
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 47(11)

Determining the agronomic value of composts produced from garden organics from metropolitan areas of New South Wales, Australia

K. Y. Chan A B E , C. Dorahy A C and S. Tyler A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Centre for Recycled Organics in Agriculture.

B NSW Department of Primary Industries, Locked Bag 4, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia.

C NSW Department of Primary Industries, PMB 8, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia.

D 432 Zara Road, Chillingham, NSW 2484, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: yin.chan@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 47(11) 1377-1382 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA06128
Submitted: 4 April 2006  Accepted: 4 April 2007   Published: 18 October 2007

Abstract

About 0.3 million t/year of composted garden organics (CGO) including mulches and soil conditioners are produced annually in New South Wales, Australia, although only a small proportion of this material (<4%) is used in agriculture. A lack of information on product characteristics and agronomic performance has limited the development of agricultural markets for CGO products. These CGO products are the coarse and fine fractions separated by screening after composting. This paper presents the results of a survey of CGO mulches and soil conditioners (unblended or blended with a mixture of other organic materials including biosolids, animal manures and paper), which are commercially produced in the metropolitan areas of New South Wales and assesses their agronomic and soil amendment values in terms of chemical and biological properties. It also evaluates the short-term effects of applying increasing rates (0, 25, 50 and 100 t/ha) of selected composted soil conditioners on radish growth in a pot experiment.

The mulch products had low nutrient concentrations but had high carbon (C) contents (mean C = 45%) and C/Nitrogen (N) ratios (mean C/N = 72) and are most suitable for use as surface mulch. The unblended soil conditioners were low in nutrients, particularly N (average total N = 1.0%, range 0.9–12%), and had lower and variable C contents. The pot trial results indicated lack of growth response of radish at application rates up to 100 t/ha of unblended soil conditioners from garden organics. The blended soil conditioners were more variable in quality and as confirmed by pot trial results produced highly variable plant responses. The high variability in product quality and performance of the soil conditioners, particularly the blended products might be related to the source and type of blending material as well as the composting conditions used in the manufacturing process.

These results highlight the need to improve compost quality and consistency and the need for further research to advance understanding of the benefits using CGO in terms of improving soil quality, crop productivity and net economic returns to growers.


Acknowledgements

Financial support provided by NSW Department of Environment and Conservation is acknowledged. We also thank the compost producers for their cooperation in undertaking this study.


References


ABS (2001) 2001 agricultural census data. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Available at http://www.abs.gov.au [Verified 15 August 2007]

Burgess J (1993) Organic fertilisers – an introduction. Agfact AC.20, NSW Agriculture, NSW, Australia.

Chen Y, Inbar Y (1993) Chemical and spectroscopical analyses of organic matter transformation during composting in relation to compost maturity. In ‘Science and engineering of composting: design, environmental, microbiological and utilisation aspects’. (Eds HAJ Hoitink, HM Keener) pp. 551–600. (Ohio State University: Wooster, OH)

Cook JA, Keeling AA, Bloxham PF (1998) Effect of green waste compost on yield parameters in spring barley (Hordeum vulgare) v. Hart Acta Horticulturae [International Society of Horticulture Science] 469, 283–286. [Verified 15 August 2007]

Isbell RF (1996) ‘The Australian soil classification.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Ntougias S, Ehaliotis C, Papadopoulou KK, George Zervakis G (2006) Application of respiration and FDA hydrolysis measurements for estimating microbial activity during composting processes. Biology and Fertility of Soils 42, 330–337.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | [Verified 15 August 2007]

Resource NSW (2003) Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy. NSW Government 2003. Available at http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/warr2003_fullreport.pdf [Verified 15 August 2007]

Saviozzi R, Cardelli R, Levi-Minzi R, Riffaldi R (2004) Evolution of biochemical parameters during composting of urban wastes. Compost Science & Utilization 12, 153–160. [Verified 15 August 2007]

VSN International Ltd (2003) ‘GENSTAT for Windows.’ 7th edn. (Lawes Agricultural Trust: Rothamsted, UK)

Wilkinson K, Tee E, Hood V (2000) Does AS4454 adequately benchmark compost quality? In ‘Compost 2000 Down Under Conference.’ pp. 1–7. (Compost Australia: Melbourne)

Wilkinson K, Paulin R, Tee E, O’Malley P (2002) Grappling with compost quality down-under. In ‘Proceedings of the 2002 international symposium on composting and compost utilization. 6–8 May 2002, Columbus, Ohio’. (Eds SC Michel Jr, RF Rynk, HAJ Hoitink) pp. 527–539. (Ohio State University: Columbus)

WMAA (2005) Compost industry supply chain – industry position paper. Waste Management Association of Australia, Compost Australia. Available at http://www.wmaa.asn.au/director/divisions/compost/Roadmap%20Strategies%20And%20Actions.cfm [Verified 20 September 2007]

Zero Waste SA (2005) South Australia’s waste strategy 2005–2010. Government of South Australia, Adelaide. Available at http://www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au/pdf/waste_strategy/zw_waste_strategy_final.pdf [Verified 15 August 2007]