We examined the mycoparasitic and saprotrophic behavior of isolates representing groups of Trichoderma harzianum to establish a mechanism for the aggressiveness towards Agaricus bisporus in infested commercial compost. Mycoparasitic structures were infrequently observed in interaction zones on various media, including compost, with cryoscanning electron microscopy. T. harzianum grows prolifical...

A permeable reactive barrier, consisting of a mixture of compost and calcite gravel, was built in Aznalcóllar (SW Spain) to treat acidic groundwater containing zinc, aluminium and copper. Monitoring results show that practically no dissolved sulphate is reduced as water flows through the barrier, which has a residence time of about 1 to 2 days. Despite this lack of bacterial activity significan...

Title of Dissertation: ASSESSMENT OF FOODBORNE PATHOGEN SURVIVAL DURING PRODUCTION AND PRE-HARVEST APPLICATION OF COMPOST AND COMPOST TEA David T. Ingram, Ph.D. 2009 Directed By: Sam W. Joseph, Professor (Emeritus), CBMG and Director, Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health Jianghong Meng, Professor, NFSC, and Interim Director of the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition The...

Potato productivity in the northeastern US has been relatively constant for over 50 years, raising questions about what factors are limiting productivity. Research was initiated in 2004 to identify key constraints to potato productivity by evaluating Status Quo (SQ), Soil Conserving (SC), and Soil Improving (SI) cropping systems under both rainfed and irrigated management, and it was found that...

Composted organic biomasses at 60, 90, and 150 days of maturity were studied for changes in molecular composition. Compost samples were subjected to a mild sequential fractionation based on (1) organic solvent extraction, (2) transesterification with boron trifluoride in methanol (BF3-CH3OH), and (3) methanolic alkaline hydrolysis (KOH-CH3OH). The general chemical variations in compost residues...

The effects of compost based substrates on growth and nutrition of geranium (Pelargonium zonale cv Lucky Break F2) were investigated. Substrates of manure compost, cotton gin trash compost, municipal solid waste compost and pine bark utilized as potting media for domestic use, produced an underdevelopment of geranium plants with respect to the control. This behaviour is related to the inferior ...

Conventional wastewater treatment generates large amounts of organic matter-rich sludge that requires adequate treatment to avoid public health and environmental problems. The mixture of wastewater sludge and some bulking agents produces a biosolid to be composted at adequate composting facilities. The composting process is chemically and microbiologically complex and requires an adequate aerat...

The practice of composting mixed green wastes from community collection programs has been on the increase as a means to reduce organic debris to landfills. Recent reports of plant injury have appeared and were attributed to residues of the herbicide clopyralid in compost. Phytotoxicity issues with compost have been reported previously to result from other factors, including heavy metal content,...