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    Enhanced biological N2 fixation and yield of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) in an acid soil following biochar addition: dissection of causal mechanisms
    (Springer Nature, 2015-10) Van Zwieten L; Rose T; Herridge D; Kimber S; Rust J; Cowie A; Morris S; Lehman J
    Background and aims: Acid soils constrain legume growth and biochars have been shown to address these constraints and enhance biological N2 fixation in glasshouse studies. A dissection of causal mechanisms from multiple crop field studies is lacking. Methods: In a sub-tropical field study, faba bean (Vicia faba L.) was cultivated in rotation with corn (Zea mays) following amendment of two contrasting biochars, compost and lime in a rhodic ferralsol. Key soil parameters and plant nutrient uptake were investigated alongside stable 15 N isotope methodologies to elucidate the causal mechanisms for enhanced biological N2 fixation and crop productivity. Results: Biological N2 fixation was associated with plant Mo uptake, which was driven by reductions in soil acidity following lime and papermill (PM) biochar amendment. In contrast, crop yield was associated with plant P and B uptake, and amelioration of soil pH constraints. These were most effectively ameliorated by PM biochar as it addressed both pH constraints and low soil nutrient status. Conclusions: While liming resulted in the highest biological N2 fixation, biochars provided greater benefits to faba bean yield by addressing P nutrition and ameliorating Al toxicity.
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    Development and trial of a methodology for the quantification and evaluation of home composting in Palmerston North, New Zealand : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Management (without major) at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2017) Mensah, Sabina
    Home composting and commercial composting can be regarded as part of the Municipal Solid Waste Management system. Currently, in Palmerston North and more broadly in New Zealand, home composting plays an important, but an unquantified role in waste diversion. In Palmerston North, the quantity of organic waste diverted from landfill via home composting is not captured in the City’s official ‘waste assessment’ or recorded in the ‘waste management and minimisation plan’. Additionally, there appears to be little local social and technical data on why, who, when, what and how well home composting is practised. The aim of this study was to develop and implement a methodology for a mixed-method quantitative-qualitative study for the quantification and evaluation of home composting practices in Palmerston North. The development process for the research methodology drew upon an international literature review of scientific research, a range of municipal best practice guidelines for home composting and referenced elements of the New Zealand composting standard. The data collection for this study involved a combined telephone and door-to-door survey of 300 households (that is, approximately 1% of occupied dwellings, randomly selected from across all 15 suburbs in the City). To support the physical data collection, a novel home composting evaluation tool was also developed and trialled for empirical and quality assurance evaluation. The overall participation rate recorded in the present study (64%) was high and both data collection methods proved to be viable, yielding positive results. 36% of the households who participated in the present study were home composters which could mean that about 10,761 households in the occupied dwellings of the City practise home composting. At the time of the survey, it appears that nearly 4005 tonnes of organic waste was being treated via home composting processes. The results also indicated positive quality assurance of the home composting process and the resulting compost in the City. Whilst most of the study participants have a positive experience towards home composting, nuisance insects, rodents and odour problems were reported as issues. In terms of motivation around current and future home composting practices, a range of support options appears to be available for Councils to encourage and enhance this positive environmental practice.
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    Composting of high moisture dairy manure using sawdust or mixed paper as amendments and wood chips as the bulking agent : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology in Environmental Engineering at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2002) Mollah, Md. Shahjahan
    The agricultural industry in New Zealand is a major source of waste generation and about 84% of the country's point source pollution comes from dairy sector alone. Dairy farm effluent in New Zealand is most commonly treated via waste stabilization ponds. Two-pond systems which are frequently used, are not sufficient to make the dairy shed effluent suitable for discharging to surface water, thus there is a need for investigation and development of treatment/disposal technologies, especially where land treatment is not a practical option. Composting is a process whereby the heat that is liberated from the decomposition of organics drives the evaporation of water. By reducing the large amount of water in the slurry, its mass, bulk weight & volume through composting, there is a large potential to reduce associated transportation and handling costs of disposal as well as minimising the area of land required for manure application. Composting can further reduce the risk of pollution from runoff, odour, and nitrate contamination of ground water. A passively aerated composting system was used to treat high moisture (90%) dairy manure slurry. Both sawdust and mixed paper were investigated as amendments with wood chips as the bulking agent. Two identical piles (1,2m× 1.2m× 1,2m) for the sawdust investigation and another two for the mixed paper experiment were established. Passive aeration was achieved with three horizontal aeration pipes in the base of each pile. The piles were monitored for about 70 days for all the experiments. During the active phase of composting, piles reached above 60°C and thermophilic temperatures were sustained for more than three weeks. The importance of pile cooling because of excessive wind flow was demonstrated suggesting the advisability of a wind barrier to protect piles Moisture content in the piles decreased over the period of study. Initial moisture content varied from 67% to 71% but diminished to between 47% and 58% by the conclusions of the experiments. Results of these studies suggest that composting can remove water by virtue of the biologically produced heat. The results of this study also suggest that the amount of heat energy generated from composting depends on the amount of volatile solids degraded. Energy rich feed materials were shown to be converted to energy poor materials due to reduced volatile solids degradation and energy poor feed materials emerged as energy rich due to the greater amount of volatile solids degradation. In this study from 47.2% to 76% of produced heat was lost as latent heat through convective (evaporative drying). From the comparison of results using two different amendments, mixed paper was found better than sawdust as an amendment in terms of biodegradability, heat development, heat accumulation, evaporative drying, moisture removal, volume reduction and weight reduction. The results of this study also indicated that the required extent of total coliforms destruction was not achieved within the period of composting using the materials and method undertaken. A longer maturation or curing phase may be helpful in achieving the recommended level of total coliform inactivation.
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    Small-scale composting enterprise initiatives : a study of four Jakarta, Indonesia based small-scale composting schemes within the solid waste management framework : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2001) Purwanti, Krissanti Juni
    Urban development creates its own problems. Solid waste management is one of them. The Municipal Government of Jakarta, Indonesia deemed it urgent to cope with this problem in a more integrated manner that includes 'Reduce, Reuse and Recycle' approaches. Composting is deemed importance in the solid waste management process. It process refused materials into fertilizer and, thus, puts them back in the food production cycle. Moreover, since lack of budget is one of the problems in dealing with waste, the growing interest in community-based and participatory approaches and the growing importance of NGOs role, are seen as more economical. This study focuses on the small-scale community-based composting enterprise schemes for the purpose of generating recommendations for the improvement of the scheme within the framework of solid waste management system in Jakarta. A study case was conducted and semi-structured interviews was employed to address the following questions: what were the benefits of the scheme for the people involved and their local neighbourhoods; what were the roles of NGOs and the municipal government in the scheme; what were the methods and approaches applied and how to ensure projects success? A case study framework was used to examine data collected during the field research in order to understand how the small-scale community-based composting schemes could contribute to the municipal solid waste management system in Jakarta. The results of this study were used to generate options to enable the municipal government to improve the scheme implementation in the future. The research concluded that this scheme is beneficial and could help the municipal government in coping with urban solid waste problems, in terms of decreasing the amount of waste to be landfilled, reducing the costs to be borne by the municipal government, providing a better service to those living in a lower socio-economic areas and creating employment opportunities. In the long run, together with the reduce and recycle approaches, it can be headed toward an urban agriculture, to create a more toward self-sufficient urban area. This research also generated suggestions for privatization and encouragement of people's participation through among others, the provision of simpler an easier credit loans schemes, education regarding the importance of compost and the participation of NGOs and other support institutions, such as universities/academic institutions in the process. Amongst the options is to put these organizations in the front line to disseminate information and conduct training on recycling and composting.