Effects of Turning Frequency on Ammonia Emission during the Composting of Chicken Manure and Soybean Straw

Here, we investigated the impact of different turning frequency (TF) on dynamic changes of N fractions, NH3 emission and bacterial/archaeal community during chicken manure composting. Compared to higher TF (i.e., turning every 1 or 3 days in CMS1 or CMS3 treatments, respectively), lower TF (i.e., turning every 5 or 7 days in CMS5 or CMS7 treatments, respectively) decreased NH3 emission by 11.42–18.95%. Compared with CMS1, CMS3 and CMS7 treatments, the total nitrogen loss of CMS5 decreased by 38.03%, 17.06% and 24.76%, respectively. Ammonia oxidizing bacterial/archaeal (AOB/AOA) communities analysis revealed that the relative abundance of Nitrosospira and Nitrososphaera was higher in lower TF treatment during the thermophilic and cooling stages, which could contribute to the reduction of NH3 emission. Thus, different TF had a great influence on NH3 emission and microbial community during composting. It is practically feasible to increase the abundance of AOB/AOA through adjusting TF and reduce NH3 emission the loss of nitrogen during chicken manure composting.

Water content, resorption of N and P, and the growth of teak Tectona grandis L.f. seedlings on four types of growing media under drought stress

Growing media that contain organic materials can provide nutrients and water for plants. This study analyzed the availability and effects of nutrients and water, N and P resorption, and growth of teak seedlings under drought stress. The growing medium was made from ultisol soil (M1), ultisol soil with husk charcoal (M2), ultisol soil with chicken manure (M3), and ultisol soil with compost (M4), then planted with teak seeds. Maintenance was conducted by field capacity watering for 30 days. Teak seedlings were treated with drought stress for 90 days. Based on the analysis, growing media total N ranged from 0.19 to 0.28%, total P ranged from 0.10 to 0.17%, and water ranged from 11.40 to 16.20%. Teak seedling leaves contain N nutrient ranging from 0.34 to 0.95 % and P nutrient ranging from 0.04 to 0.16 %. The N resorption ability of teak seedlings ranged from 26 to 31%, and P resorption was around 20 to 25 %. The height growth of teak seedlings ranged from 80 to 115cm, the stem diameter from 1.4 to 1.8cm, the leaf area from 630 to 650cm2, and the thickness of the leaves from 545 to 462µm. Growing media made from ultisol soil and chicken manure (M3) produced the best water content, N and P resorption, and the growth of teak seedlings after 3 days of drought stress.

Accumulation of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Pakchoi (Brassica Chinensis L.) Grown in Chicken Manure-fertilized Soil Amended With Fresh and Aged Biochars

Biochar has been used to alleviate the contamination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in soil and to inhibit ARGs transfer from soil to plants. However, the effect of aged biochar on ARGs abundance in soil and ARGs enrichment in plants are scarcely investigated. In this study, a pot experiment was conducted to compare the effects of fresh and aged biochars on the accumulation of five typical ARGs including tetX, tetW, sul2, ermB and intI1 in a chicken manure-fertilized soil and in pakchoi (Brassica chinensis L.). Results showed that both biochars significantly decreased the abundance of tetW, sul2, and ermB and increased the abundance of tetX and intI1 in soil. However, the accumulation of all tested ARGs in pakchoi were significantly decreased by both biochars. At the lower addition rate (1%), the fresh biochar was superior to the aged biochar in decreasing the accumulation of some genes (tetW, tetX, and sul2) in pakchoi, whereas an opposite tendency was observed for other genes (ermB and intI1). As the addition rate increased to 2%, the difference between the two biochars diminished and a similar capacity of decreasing ARGs transfer was observed. The reduction in ARGs accumulation in pakchoi was highly related to the type of ARGs, the biochar addition level and the aging of biochar. Our results provide insights into the naturally aged biochar on the fate of ARGs in a soil-plant system.

Impact of Granular Activated Carbon on Anaerobic Process and Microbial Community Structure during Mesophilic and Thermophilic Anaerobic Digestion of Chicken Manure

In this work, the impact of granular activated carbon (GAC) on the mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of chicken manure and the structure of microbial communities was investigated. These results demonstrated that GAC supplementation effectively enhanced the consumption of produced organic acids in the mesophilic and thermophilic batch tests, accompanied by faster biomethane production in the presence of GAC than from reactors without GAC. However, since the free ammonia level was 3–6 times higher in the thermophilic reactors, this led to the instability of the anaerobic digestion process of the nitrogen-rich substrate at thermophilic temperatures. Bacteroidia and Clostridia were the two main bacterial classes in the mesophilic reactors, whereas the class Clostridia had a competitive advantage over other groups in the thermophilic systems. The archaeal communities in the mesophilic reactors were mainly represented by representatives of the genera Methanosarcina, Methanobacterium, and Methanotrix, whereas the archaeal communities in the thermophilic reactors were mainly represented by members of the genera Methanosarcina, Methanoculleus, and Methanothermobacter. New data obtained in this research will help control and manage biogas reactors in the presence of GAC at different temperatures.

Prospective measures of control and prevention of Helminthosis among agricultural animals in animal complexes

Prospect of timely cleaning of livestock complexes from accumulated manure prevents environmental pollution. For this purpose, the most promising was the “cold” method of dehelminthization of a heap of manure, complete neutralization of chicken manure when heated and dried at temperatures above 100 °C, a “dry” method for neutralizing horse, pig, cow, sheep manure from helminth eggs using the Kranz biothermal method. For dehelminthization of humans and animals, science has recommended, and practice has successfully tested a fairly large, constantly growing and updated range of highly effective anthelmintics, mainly for gastrointestinal and partially for pulmonary helminthiasis.

Periphyton Technology Enhances Growth Performance and Delays Prolific Breeding of Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758), Juveniles

This study evaluated the effect of periphyton technology (PPT) on the growth performance and breeding schedule of Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) juveniles. Six ponds, each measuring 81 m2 were used for the study. The ponds were applied with agricultural lime at a rate of 4 g.m-2, and fertilised using chicken manure to facilitate primary productivity. The PPT ponds were fitted with two-metre-long eucalyptus poles of 5 cm diameter placed at 50 cm intervals with the regular addition of molasses as a carbon source. Tilapia juveniles were stocked at a density of 3 fish.m-2 in all ponds and fed on a commercial diet of 20 % crude protein (CP) twice daily at 3 % body weight. Fish were sampled weekly for growth and survival data and bi-weekly for fecundity estimates. The PPT-ponds registered significantly higher survival rate (97.50 ± 0.35 %), mean weight (150.69 ± 0.99 g), specific growth rate (SGR) (2.75 ± 0.01), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) (1.29 ± 0.01), than the control ponds, which registered survival (91.15 ± 0.88 %), mean weight (99.23 ± 0.96 g), SGR (2.29 ± 0.00), and FCR (1.58 ± 0.01). There was significantly higher fecundity in the PPT-ponds (2.28 ± 0.09 g.fish-1) than control (1.74 ± 0.06 g.fish-1), with prolific spawning starting 4 weeks earlier in the control ponds than in the PPT-ponds. This study demonstrated the potential of PPT for enhancing tilapia growth while delaying prolific breeding behaviour. Further studies should explore PPT in replacing synthetic hormones for sex-reversal of tilapia fry in hatcheries.

Tanggapan Morfologis dan Fisiologis Jagung Varietas Lokal Tambin terhadap Berbagai Pupuk Organik

Food crops of local varieties are solutions to realize national food security. To boost the production of local corn varieties, various organic fertilizer is promising to develop. This research aimed to study the morphological and physiological response of local variety corn Tambin. The research used a completely randomized design (CRD) one factor with seven treatments: various fertilizers. Various fertilizers consist of no organic fertilizer, liquid organic, compost, cow manure, rabbit urine, chicken manure, and goat manure. The results showed that the application of various organic fertilizers did not affect morphological characters of the local variety of corn Tambin. In This study, the application of various organic fertilizers did not affect the morphological character of corn, including the height of the plant, the number of leaves, the diameter of the stem, the length of the leaves, and the angle of Tambin corn leaves. Application of cow manure, compost, chicken manure, and goat manure could increase the leaf area aged 3 WAP (week after planting) by 716.13 - 1086.52 g per plant. In physiological character, the application of various organic fertilizers could not increase the net assimilation rate, relative growth rate, chlorophyll content, and the specific leave weight. The application of all organic fertilizers, except liquid organic fertilizer, increased the dry weight of plants at the time of harvest by 2.97 – 36.81 g.