Composting of water hyacinth using Saw dust/Rice straw as a bulking agent

Abstract

The water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is a free floating aquatic weed generally observed in the 23.15% wetland area of north east region of India. Due to its fast growth and the robustness of its seeds, it has caused major problems in the whole area. However, the composting has the advantage of producing a product that is easy to work into the soil compared with dried water hyacinths, because of the decomposed structure. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the evolution of some physico-chemical parameters during high rate pile composting of water hyacinth in combination with cattle manure and saw dust/rice straw as a bulking agent. Results suggested that the optimal degradation of water hyacinth can be possible in the presence of large amount of cattle manure; and rice straw could be a better option as a bulking agent in comparison with saw dust. © 2010.