Chemical properties of compost as influenced by different crop residues, weed biomass, leaf litter, soil mixture and decomposing cultures

Composting plays a crucial role in sustainable agriculture and environmental management. It involves the natural process of decomposing organic waste, such as crop residues, into nutrient-rich humus that can be used to enrich the soil. In view of better utilizing the resources available with farmer and to prepare the utilizable compost an experiment was conducted at Centre for Organic Agriculture Research and Training (COART) farm, Department of Agronomy, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola during the year 2024. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with 12 treatment (4 main and 3 subfactors) with 3 replications. The compost was prepared with heap method. Among crop residue mixtures, soybean straw (40%) + weed biomass (20%) + leaf litter (8%) + soil (2%) + cowdung slurry (30%) (CR1) recorded highest ash (%), lowest total carbon content and lowest C:N ratio at maturity among other treatment. PDKV decomposing culture recorded highest ash (%), lowest total carbon content and lowest C:N ratio at maturity among decomposing cultures. Soybean straw (40%) + weed biomass (20%) + leaf litter (8%) + soil (2%) + cowdung slurry (30%) (CR1) compost recorded highest enrichment of nitrogen and phosphorus whereas, compost prepared from cotton stalk (40%) + weed biomass (20%) + leaf litter (8%) + soil (2%) + cowdung slurry (30%) (CR2) recorded highest potassium content at maturity as compared with other treatment. Among decomposing culture, PDKV decomposing culture treated compost recorded highest nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and micronutrient content at maturity. However, pigeonpea straw (40%) + weed biomass (20%) + leaf litter (8%) + soil (2%) + cowdung slurry (30%) (CR4) compost recorded highest iron, copper, manganese content at maturity among crop residue mixtures.