Digital Proceeding Of THE ICOEST’2013 - , Cappadocia

C.Ozdemir, S. Şahinkaya, E. Kalıpcı, M.K. Oden (editors)

Nevsehir, Turkey, June 18 – 21, 2013

Effects of Composts from Co-Composting of Saw Dust, Cow Dung and

Egg-shell on Soil Acidity Neutralization and Growth of Vegetable

S. Karnchanawong1 and N. Tadkaew2

1, 2
Dept. of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Thailand.
(E-mail: somjai@eng.cmu.ac.th, ae_amppppp@hotmail.com)

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this research were to determine the effects of compost produced from co-composting of saw dust, cow dung
and egg-shell on soil acidity neutralization and vegetable growth. The acid soils were mixed with five different composts and
lime i.e. Run 1: compost from saw dust and cow dung; Run 2: compost from saw dust, cow dung and egg-shell ≤ 2 mm; Run
3: compost from saw dust, cow dung and egg-shell ≤ 20 mm, Run 4: compost from saw dust and cow dung mixed with lime,
Run 5 solely lime. After that they were cured for 30 days, then were placed in ten 200-mm diameter pots for growing Chinese
Cabbage (Brassica chinensis var. parachinensis), for 45 days. The composite samples of soils during curing and planting
were taken every 5 and 7 days and analyzed for their pH, exchangeable hydrogen and aluminum ions. During vegetable
planting, the height of each vegetable was measured every week. The fresh and dry weights of each vegetable were
determined after harvesting. The acid soil with a pH 4.71±0.02, contained exchangeable hydrogen and aluminum ions of
0.600±0.14 and 0.425±0.04 cmol/kg, respectively. After curing, exchangeable aluminum ions of all soil mixtures were not
detected. The results showed that lime can increase soil pH and decrease exchangeable hydrogen in the curing and planting
periods a little bit better than the compost with egg-shell. However, the highest growth of vegetables was found in the pot
using soil mixture of compost with battered egg shell with size ≤ 20 mm, followed by the pot using soil mixture of compost
with ground egg-shell and the pot using soil mixture of compost without egg-shell and lime, respectively. The higher nutrient
contents of the compost and the higher porosity of soil mixture, as a result of the battered egg-shells, might have been the
cause of this observation.

Keywords: Composting, Egg-shell, Soil Acidity, Vegetable

1. INTRODUCTION

Egg-shells are approximately 95 percent calcium carbonate and 4.5 percent

membrane [1]. The avian egg-shell is composed of six layers [2]. The innermost two layers
are the uncalcified inner and outer shell membranes; each of them is made up of a network of
fibres that envelops the albumen. The inner zone of the calcified shell is composed of
irregular cones corresponding to the mammillary knob layer, the tips of which are penetrated
by the outer membrane fibres. The palisade layer extends beyond the base of the cones and
ends in a thin vertical crystal layer where the crystallites are aligned perpendicular to the shell
surface. The outer layer, the cuticle, is an organic layer deposited on the surface of the egg.
The disposal of egg-shell from egg processors and food industries is a problem in some
countries [3]. Most of the egg-shell waste from egg processors and food industries in Thailand
are directed to landfills. Soil acidity is rapidly becoming a problem in Thailand. Acidic soils
 536

create production problems by limiting the availability of some essential plant nutrients and
increasing the soil solution's toxic elements, such as aluminium and manganese, both major
causes of poor crop performance and failure [4]. Currently limestone, which is predominantly
calcium carbonate or CaCO3, the salt of the weak acid H2CO3, is used to neutralize acidic
conditions in both soil and water. Salts of weak acids are weak bases, and when CaCO3 comes
into contact with acidic soil, the carbonic acid is reformed, which allows the carbon dioxide to
be released as a gas leaving the pH of the soil more neutral and dissolving calcium in the
moisture of the soil. Composting may be an alternative method to recycle egg-shell wastes.
The calcium carbonate in the eggshells can be a substitute for mined minerals that improve
soil acidity. The egg-shell membrane contains high nitrogen. Therefore, the egg-shell wastes
may be used as compost material to produce the compost for neutralization of soil acidity and
as a good source of nutrients.
The objectives of this research were to determine the effects of compost produced
from co-composting of saw dust, cow dung and egg-shell on soil acidity neutralization and
vegetable growth.

2. Material And Methods

2.1. Composting

Three 200-L plastic passive-aeration bins were prepared (see Fig. 1). The compost
mixes in the bins were as follows; R1: cow dung and saw dust (control bin), R2: ground egg-
shells (size ≤ 2 mm), cow dung and saw dust, and R3: battered egg-shells (size ≤ 20 mm),
cow dung and saw dust. The initial C/N ratio of the compost mixes is 25:1. The composting
process was conducted at an indoor ambient temperature in the range of 22-29 °C. The filled
air porosity in all bins was in the range of 0.4-0.6. The moisture content of the compost mixes
was controlled in the range of 55-65%, by spraying water. The experiment was conducted for
150 days.

2.2. Soil curing and vegetable planting

The acid soil used in this study was silty sand, had pH 4.71±0.02, contained exchangeable
hydrogen and aluminum ions of 0.600±0.14 and 0.425±0.04 cmol/kg, respectively. This soil is
classified as strongly acid soil. Soils used were air-dried for 15 days at room temperature and
homogenized by manual mixing, before being mixed with the composts. The soil was sieved
through an 8-mm sieve to remove rocks, large roots, and debris. Soil and compost, at 1:2 v/v
 537

[5] and cured for 30 days, from each pile were manually mixed together before being used in
planting. A comparative study with lime was conducted in this study. Table 1 presents the
details of soil mixing for the experiment. In case of Runs 4 and 5, lime requirement to raise
the soil pH to 7.0 was predetermined and the resulting amounts of lime mixed with 10 g soil
were 3.5 and 4.6 mL of 0.5 N Ca(OH)2 for Run 4 and 5, respectively. Then, each cured mix
soil was placed in ten 200-mm diameter pots for growing Chinese Cabbage (Brassica
chinensis var. parachinensis). The experimental design was completely randomized with ten
replicates in each group (see Fig. 1). The plants were grown for 45 days, watered daily and
rotated periodically. About 200-300 mL of water was sprayed per pot 2 times a day, in the
morning and in the evening. No fertilizer was added during the planting period. During the
planting process, the planting area was covered by a net to protect the plants from insects and
other inhibitory elements from outside. The composite samples of soil were taken and
analyzed for their pH, exchangeable hydrogen and aluminum ions every 5 and 7 days during
curing and planting, respectively, as based on the KCl Extraction method [6]. During
vegetable planting, the height of each vegetable was measured every week. The fresh and dry
weights of each vegetable were determined after harvesting.

Table 1. Details of soil mixing for the experiment.

Run Soil descriptions

1 Acid soil + compost from R1
2 Acid soil + compost from R2 (egg-shell size≤ 2 mm)
3 Acid soil + compost from R3 (egg-shell size≤ 20 mm)
4 Acid soil + compost from R1 + lime
5 Acid soil + lime

a) Composting Bin b) vegetable planting

Figure 1. Composting bin and vegetable planting.

 538

2.3 Statistical analysis

Two-way ANOVA at a 95% confidence limit was used to compare the study results.

3. Results And Discussion

3.1 Composting

The results of the composting performances are presented elsewhere [7], which
revealed that egg-shell can be co-composted with cow dung and sawdust and the smaller size
of egg-shell resulted in the better composting performance. Table 2 showed the compost
characteristics. It was found that all composts’ characteristics met Thai compost standards
except for their sizes.

Table 1. Details of soil mixing for the experiment.

Run Soil descriptions

1 Acid soil + compost from R1
2 Acid soil + compost from R2 (egg-shell size≤ 2 mm)
3 Acid soil + compost from R3 (egg-shell size≤ 20 mm)
4 Acid soil + compost from R1 + lime
5 Acid soil + lime

Table 2. Compost characteristics.

Bin pH EC MC VS OM C/N N:P2O5:K2O GI size

(dS/m) (%) (%) (%) Ratio (%:%:%) (%) ≤ 12.5
mm
(%)
R1 6.6 2.16 26.0 49.7 30.2 9.16 1.91:2.34:0.68 193 90.8
R2 7.1 1.24 17.3 34.3 24.8 9.54 1.51:1.63:0.32 197 97.7
R3 6.9 1.39 22.7 44.3 26.9 8.52 1.83:1.62:0.28 241 94.2
Std* 7.0-8.0 ≤6 ≤ 30 ≤ 30 ≥ 20 ≤ 20:1 1.0:0.5:0.5 ≥ 80 100
Remarks: * Thai compost standard

3.2 Acid soil curing

3.2.1 pH

After mixing of soil with compost and lime, the maximum pH of soil mixture was
found in Run 5 (see Table 3) that pH increased from 4.75 to 7.25. The minimum pH of the
soil mixture was found in the soil mixed with compost from R1, which increased from 4.74 to
6.0 due to the lower calcium content. The pH of the soil mixed with lime and egg-shells (≤ 2
mm) were higher than other runs due to the faster reaction of acid with lime solution and
 539

smaller particle of egg-shell.

Figure 2 presents the variation of pH of soil mixture during curing. It was found that
pH variation of all soil mixtures were significant different (P≤0.05). pHs of the soil mixed
with compost from R1 and soil mixed with compost from R1 and lime decreased continuously
during the curing process due to the lower content of calcium presented, when compared with
other runs. The pH of soil mixed with composts from R2, R3 and soil mixed with lime had
been rather constant during curing process. After curing for 30 days, the highest pH value was
observed in the soil mixed with lime, followed by the soils mixed with egg-shells, and soil
mixed with compost and lime, respectively. These results were corresponding to the past
research [8] where the pH effect of lime and egg-shell application was tested on soils and it
was found that lime increased pH better than egg-shells.

3.2.2 Exchangeable aluminum and hydrogen ions

After mixing of soil with compost and lime, during curing and planting, the
exchangeable aluminum ions of all soil mixtures were not detected. This result clearly
illustrated that the all aluminum ions were neutralized by OH- and HCO3- resulted from the
dissolutions of CaCO3 and changed to Al(OH)3. The compost itself can reduce aluminum
toxicity due to the complexation process of aluminum ion with organic matter [9].
The exchangeable hydrogen ion of soils after mixing with compost and lime decreased
from 0.175±0.11 cmol/kg to be in the range of 0.02-0.62 cmol/kg (see Table 3 and Figure 2).
The lowest exchangeable hydrogen ion was found in the soil mixed with lime, followed by
the soil mixed with compost from R2, compost from R3, compost from R1 and lime, and
compost from R1, respectively. This might be because of calcium carbonate in lime could
dissolve in the water better than egg-shell. In addition, lime solution and ground egg-shell can
be mixed thoroughly with soil better than battered egg-shell, and resulted in the faster
neutralization of acid. The comparison of exchangeable hydrogen ion after curing for 30 days
showed that the soil mixed with compost from R1 had the highest exchangeable hydrogen
(1.03 cmol/kg), followed by soil mixed with compost from R1 and lime (0.58 cmol/kg), soil
mixed with compost from R3 (0.23 cmol/kg) and R2 (0.22 cmol/kg), and soil mixed with lime
(0.05 cmol/kg), respectively. This means that lime can neutralize the soil acidity better than
the egg-shell in the curing process. In case of the high exchangeable hydrogen ion detected in
the soil mixed with compost from R1, it was because of the lower amount of lime added in
this run, compared with the soil mixed with lime in Run 5. In addition, during curing process,
some increasing values of exchangeable hydrogen ion were observed, this might be because
 540

of potential acidity occurring during the hydrolysis of aluminum ions. Moreover, during the
beginning period of curing process, the ground egg-shell showed the better performance on
acid neutralization, compared with the battered egg-shell.

Table 3. Characteristics of soil before and after mixing with compost and lime, after curing and vegetable harvesting
(avg ± sd, n = 3).
After mixing with
After curing After harvesting
compost/lime
pH of
Run
acid soil
pH Exch. H+ pH Exch. H+ Exch. H+
pH
(cmol/kg) (cmol/kg) (cmol/kg)

1: soil+compost
4.74±0.01 6.00±0.01 0.62±0.04 5.80±0.01 1.03±0.11 6.98±0.06 0.38±0.04
from R1
2: soil+compost
4.69±0.00 6.71±0.01 0.17±0.00 6.54±0.02 0.22±0.04 7.48±0.05 0.13±0.04
from R2
3: soil+compost
4.65±0.01 6.50±0.01 0.22±0.04 6.35±0.03 0.23±0.04 7.49±0.03 0.13±0.04
from R3
4: soil+compost
4.70±0.01 6.53±0.01 0.25±0.04 6.41±0.04 0.58±0.11 6.84±0.05 0.38±0.00
from R1+lime
5: soil+lime 4.75±0.01 7.25±0.03 0.02±0.04 7.26±0.02 0.05±0.07 7.44±0.02 0.00±0.00

Remarks: Exch. Al3+ of all mixed soils was not detected.

3.3 Vegetable planting

3.3.1 pH

The pH variation during planting shown in Figure 2 illustrated the increasing pattern
during the first month of planting and unchanged or a little bit of a decreasing pattern after
that. The pHs of the soils mixed with compost from R1 with and without addition of lime had
been raised during the first month of planting but the final pH levels were less than pHs of the
soils mixed with lime or composts mixed with egg-shell. The soil mixed with compost with
egg-shell (R2 and R3) can increase the pH as well as the soil mixed with lime which showed
that Ca2+ in egg-shell had enough efficiency to raise the soil pH during planting of Chinese
cabbage.

3.3.2 Exchangeable hydrogen ion

All exchangeable hydrogen ion contents in soil mixtures had been decreased during
planting. Less exchangeable hydrogen ion concentration was observed in the soil mixed with
lime, followed by soils mixed with compost from egg-shells (R2 and R3), the soil mixed with
compost from R1 and lime and the soil mixed with compost from R1, respectively. There
was no any exchangeable hydrogen ion remained in the soil mixed with lime after vegetable
 541

harvesting. The statistical analysis showed that all runs except the run that mixed with
composts from egg-shell were significantly different (P≤0.05).

Curing period Planting period

Curing period Planting period

Figure 2. pH and exchangeable hydrogen ion of soil mixed with compost and lime during curing and planting.

3.3.3 Vegetable growth

The cabbage height and weight are presented in Figure 3 and Table 4. A significant
growth of all cabbage was found in the last 15 days of planting. The average heights and
weights of vegetable of all experiments showed significant differences (P≤0.05). The highest
growth of vegetable was found in the pot using soil mixed with compost from R3 (height,
fresh and dry weights were 37.7 cm and 8.89 and 1.90 gm/plant, respectively), and followed
by the pot using soil mixed with compost from R2. The lowest growth of vegetables was
found in the pot using soil mixed with lime, soil mixed with compost from R1 and lime and
soil mixed with compost from R1, respectively.
The results expressed above clearly illustrated that compost produced from egg-shell
 542

as co-material can neutralize and improve acid soil for growing cabbage better than the
control experiment. This might be because of the nutrient and calcium carbonate present in
the egg-shell. This result is corresponding to the study of DOST [10] that studied the effect of
application of ground egg-shell and lime in acid soil on Mung Bean plant growing. In
addition, the better growth of cabbage in the soil that contained battered egg-shell was
observed, compared with the ground egg-shell. The high porosity in the soil mixed with
compost from battered egg-shell might be the cause of this finding.

30
vegetable height, cm

20

10

0
0 15 Day 30 45
R1 R2 R3 R1+Lime Lime

a) Vegetable height

10

8
Weight, g/plant

0
R1 R2 R3 R1+Lime Lime
Fresh weight Dry weight

b) Vegetable weight
Figure 3. Vegetable height and weight.

Table 4. Height, fresh and dry weights of vegetable growing in different soil mixtures.

Cabbage growth (avg±sd, n = 10)

Run
Height (cm) Fresh weight (g/plant) Dry weight (g/plant)
1: soil+compost from R1 6.91±3.03 3.94±1.87 0.81±0.37
2: soil+compost from R2 14.5±11.1 6.38±2.17 1.36±0.41
3: soil+compost from R3 23.6±10.3 8.89±2.00 1.90±0.30
 543

4: soil+compost from R1+lime 9.95±8.63 5.04±1.33 0.76±0.33

5: soil+lime 2.84±0.61 0.69±0.09 0.18±0.03
4. Conclusion

The effects of compost produced from co-composting of saw dust, cow dung and egg-
shell on soil acidity neutralization and vegetable growth were conducted. The acid soil had pH
4.71±0.02, contained exchangeable hydrogen and aluminum ions of 0.600±0.14 and
0.425±0.04 cmol/kg, respectively. After curing the soils with lime or composts, exchangeable
aluminum ions of all soil mixtures were not detected. The results showed that lime can
increase soil pH and decrease exchangeable hydrogen in the curing and planting periods a
little bit better than the compost with egg-shells. However, the highest growth of vegetable
was found in the pot using soil mixture of compost with battered shell-egg with size ≤ 20 mm,
followed by the pot using soil mixture of compost with ground egg-shell and the pot using
soil mixture of compost without egg-shell and lime, respectively. The higher nutrient contents
of the compost and the higher porosity of soil mixture resulted from the battered egg-shell
might be the cause of this observation.

References

[1] Burley, R. W.; Vadehra, D. V. (1989) The Avian Egg, Chemistry and Biology; Wiley:
New York.
[2] Nys, Y., Zawadszki, J., Gautron, J. and Mills, A.D. (1991) Whitening of brown-shelled
eggs: Mineral composition of uterine fluid and rate of protoporphyrin deposition, Poult.
Sci., 70: 236–1245.
[3] ADAS Consulting Ltd., (2002) UK Utilisation of egg shell waste from UK egg
processing and hatchery establishments, Paper prepared for Jones, D.; Pigs, Eggs and
Poultry Division, DEFRA, Whitehall Place East, London; pp 1-4, Retrieve from
www.defra.gov.uk (1 March 2012)
[4] Ball, J., Understanding and Correcting Soil Acidity. (1999) The Samuel Roberts Noble
Foundation, Retrieve from http://www.noble.org/ag/soils/soilacidity/index.htm
[5] US. EPA. (2008). Compost Specification for Soil Incorporation. Compost Use on State
Highway Applications: www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/rrr/composting/highway
/highwy4.pdf (15 November 2010).
[6] McLean, E.O., 1965. Aluminium. In: Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2: Chemical and
Biological Properties, Black, C.A. (Ed.). American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.,
USA., pp: 987-990.
[7] Karnchanawong, S. and Tadkeaw, N., Co-composting of egg shell, cow dung and sawdust
using passive aeration, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Industrial and
Hazardous Waste Management, Chania, 12-14 September 2012.
[8] Mitchell, C. (2005). Crushed Eggshells in the Soil. Agriculture & Natural Resources
[9] Hue, N.V., Craddock , G.R. and Adams, F. (1986). Effect of organic acid on aluminum
toxicity in subsoils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 50: 28-34.
[10] DOST (2008). Potentiality of Chicken Eggshell as Neutralizer to Acidic Soil. Department
of Science and Technology - Region 10, The Repubics of Phillipines.
(http://region10.dost.gov.ph/ (07 August 2008).