TITLE:
Physico-Chemical and mineral analysis of composts fortified with NPK fertilizer, Ammonium Chloride and Kaolin
AUTHORS:
Margaret Ojone Ogundare, Labunmi Lajide
KEYWORDS:
Compost; Fortification; Microbial; Mineral; Physicochemical
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment,
Vol.2 No.2,
May
24,
2013
ABSTRACT: This work presents the physicochemical and mineral analysis of compost samples made from waste materials of cassava, vegetable, banana, orange, and cow dung fortified each with 100g of NPK, 100g of kaolin and 100g of ammonium chloride. Microbial analysis of the fresh compost samples revealed that the unfortified compost possesses more microbial load than the fortified samples. The physicochemical analysis showed that the kaolin fortified compost (KFC) has the highest ash content and phosphorus content while the unfortified compost (UC) contains the highest organic matter. All the compost samples have little nitrogen when compared with NPK chemical fertilizer. However, the fortification with kaolin, NPK and ammonium chloride increased the percentage of nitrogen over that of the unfortified compost by 38.8%, 56.23%, and 71.17% respectively. The fortification with kaolin, NPK, and ammonium chloride also increased the phosphorus content over that of the unfortified by 56.31%, 53.21% and 36.75%, respectively. The result of the mineral content showed that the fortification with NPK and ammonium chloride increased the magnesium content of the compost sample while fortification with kaolin increases the magnesium and calcium content. The nitrate and sulfate contents are reduced by the fortification with kaolin, NPK and ammonium chloride.