Author(s)

Hala M. Omar¹, Yahia I. Mahmoud², Salah M. El-Haggar¹

¹Department of Mechanical Engineering, The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt.
²Soil Microbiology Department, Soil, Water and Environment Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Giza, Egypt.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of different additives including biochar, effective micro-organisms (EM), animal manure and commercial microbial inoculants on the bioconversion of rice straw. Different compost piles were constructed, and each contained 50 kg of rice straw and mixture of natural rocks to enrich the compost nutritional value. The physical, chemical and biological parameters indicating the decomposition of organic material, maturation and quality of the organic fertilizer product were investigated during the composting process. A rapid increase in compost temperature was obtained in inoculated piles. All piles reached maturation after around 42 days. All analysis of the properties of the final compost products indicated that it was in the range of the matured level and can be used as organic fertilizer without limitation. The highest decomposition rate and highest organic fertilizer quality were obtained in the pile inoculated with EM and 10% biochar compared to other treatments.

Biochar, Effective Micro-Organisms, Organic Fertilizer, Rice Straw

Omar, H. , Mahmoud, Y. and El-Haggar, S. (2020) Sustainable Bio-Conversion of Rice Straw Waste into High Quality Organic Fertilizer. Journal of Environmental Protection, 11, 315-331. doi: 10.4236/jep.2020.114018.