Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and improve soil physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting mixture is rich in plant nutrients and beneficial organisms, such as bacteria, protozoa, nematodes and fungi. Compost improves soil fertility in gardens, landscaping, horticulture, urban agriculture, and organic farming, reducing dependency on commercial chemical fertilizers. The benefits of compost include providing nutrients to crops as fertilizer, acting as a soil conditioner, increasing the humus or humic acid contents of the soil, and introducing beneficial microbes of that help to suppress pathogens in the soil and reduce soil-borne diseases.
At the simplest level, composting requires gathering a mix of 'greens' (green waste) and 'browns' (brown waste). Greens are materials rich in nitrogen such as leaves, grass, and food scraps. Browns are woody materials rich in carbon, such as stalks, paper, and wood chips. The materials break down into humus in a process taking months. Composting can be a multi-step, closely monitored process with measured inputs of water, air, and carbon- and nitrogen-rich materials. The decomposition process is aided by shredding the plant matter, adding water, and ensuring proper aeration by regularly turning the mixture in a process using open piles or "windrows." Fungi, earthworms, and other detritivores further break up the organic material. Aerobic bacteria and fungi manage the chemical process by converting the inputs into heat, carbon dioxide, and ammonium.
Composting is an important part of waste management, since food and other compostable materials make up about 20% of waste in landfills, and these materials take longer to biodegrade in the landfill. Composting offers an environmentally superior alternative to using organic material for landfill because composting reduces anaerobic methane emissions, and provides economic and environmental co-benefits. For example, compost can also be used for land and stream reclamation, wetland construction, and landfill cover. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost
See Also
ammonia
asphalt
body
cadaver
Cadaverine Poison in Ray-Form - Ptomaine Radiation
Cadaverine Poison
cadaverine
compost
crude oil
death
decadent
decompose
decomposive energy
disease
dispersion
Dissociation
earthly remains
Entropy
Envelope
ester
excrement
faecal matter
faecal
fat
fatty acid
Fatty Matter
fatty-matter
Fractionating Column and Distillates
gasoline
hydrogen
inner metabolic processes
interred earthly remnants
less valuable
life-negating
life-removing forces
lipid
matter
metabolic function
metabolic process
metabolic waste
metabolic
metabolism
methane
natural gas
nightside
nitrogen
oil
paraffin wax
petrol
polarization
primary metabolic process
putrefy
radiation
steam
tallow
tar
two metabolic processes
waste matter
wax
worm-fat