In many tropical regions, slash-and-burn agriculture is considered as a driver of deforestation; the forest is converted into agricultural land by cutting and burning the trees. However, the fields are abandoned after few years because of yield decrease and weed invasion. Consequently, new surfaces are regularly cleared from the primary forest. We propose a reclamation strategy for abandoned fi...

Compost and mulch blankets have been widely used for slope stabilization and erosion control at construction sites; however, the majority of research on these erosion control blankets has failed to meet state or federal specifications for particle size distribution. The primary objective of this study was to determine how blending wood mulch with compost may affect its performance as an erosion...

Outbreaks of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections associated with lettuce and other leaf crops have occurred with increasing frequency in recent years. Contaminated manure and polluted irrigation water are probable vehicles for the pathogen in many outbreaks. In this study, the occurrence and persistence of E. coli O157:H7 in soil fertilized with contaminated poultry or bovine ...

Residual effects of manure or compost application can maintain crop yield level for several years after Residual effects of manure or compost application on crop production and soil properties can last for several years. This study was manure or compost application ceases since only a fracconducted to evaluate residual effects of annual or biennial application of the N and other nutrients in ma...

Composts prepared from a variety of feedstocks were tested for their ability to suppress seedling and root diseases of creeping bentgrass caused by Pythium graminicola. Among the most suppressive materials in laboratory experiments were different batches of a brewery sludge compost and a biosolids compost from Endicott, N.Y. Batches of these composts that were initially not suppressive to Pythi...

The effects of adding of a range of organic amendments (biosolids, spent mushroom compost, green waste compost and green waste-derived biochar), at two rates, on some key chemical, physical and microbial properties of bauxite processing sand were studied in a laboratory incubation study. Addition of all amendments tended to decrease bulk density and macroporosity but increase total porosity, av...

The survival rate of Phytophthora ramorum was assessed when introduced at high rates into composts of varying provenance and curing time, produced by both “turned windrow” and “forced air static pile” techniques. Survival in some compost media was high and statistically indistinguishable from positive controls (P<0.01), while other sources were statistically indistinguishable from negative cont...

Numerous studies have demonstrated the potential of composted organic wastes not only as substitutes for peat as a growth substrate but also to stimulate plant growth and suppress soil-borne diseases. The major impediment to the use of compost as substrates or biocontrol agents has been variation in physical and chemical characteristics and disease suppression levels across and within compost t...

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the residual effect of rock phosphate and waste mica enriched compost on phosphorus and potassium supplying capacity under soybean crop grown after wheat in a Typic Haplustept. Enriched compost prepared using rice straw, rock phosphate, waste mica and Aspergillus awamori had higher chemical (total P, K, Ca, Mg and micronutrients) as well as biologica...

A pot experiment was conducted to determine the effect of compost and bio-fertilizers on the growth, yield and oil constituents of marjoram (Majorana hortensis L.). Forty five days old seedling were transplanted in soil treated with 15 and 30% aqueous extracts of compost and/or biofertilizers (mixture of Azospirillum brasilienses, Azotobacter chroococcum, Bacillus polymyxa & B. circulans) in ad...