Effect of litter amendments on nutrient quality and emission of greenhouse gas from poultry litter during composting under natural conditions

A study was conducted to estimate the effect of poultry litter amended with sodium bisulphate and alumsulphateon nutrient composition of poultry litter before and after composting. Three experiments were conducted in different seasons (summer, rainy & winter) of the year. Earlier 240 day old commercial broiler chicks were reared under similar environment conditions and their litter was collected after 42 days and was composted under natural conditions. The experiment includes control group (Tc) having no litter amendments whereas treatment groups include litter amendment with sodium bisulphate @ 25 gm/sq.ft. (Ts) and litter amendment with alum sulphate @ 90 gm/sq.ft. (TL). The whole litter comprising treated rice husk, droppings, feed remnants etc. collected from each group was tested for nutritive value before and after composting and release of nitrous oxide (N₂O) gas during the composting period. The nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) content of the compost was estimated at 0, 30, 60 and 90 days of the composting period. The gas samples were collected on day 0, 20, 40, 60 and 90 days during the composting period. The data revealed that at zero and 30^th day of composting period there was a significant (p ≤ 0.05) higher values of nitrogen in Ts and T_L groups as compared to control group. The phosphorus and potassium content in different treatment groups was non-significant at different intervals of composting. The nitrous oxide emission was also more from the treatment groups as compared to control group.