ABSTRACT

Accumulation of wood waste from sawmills is increasingly posing a problem to the environment. This study was conducted at Michael Okpara University ofAgriculture Umudike, Abia State to evaluate the“Influence of poultry manure and termite mounds as additives in enhancement of wood waste composting. The objectives of this study were to determine the major tree species generating wood waste in Umuahia timber market; to determine the effective method of composting wood waste using different additives and determine the carbon and nitrogen ratio (C/N) in wood wastes from different plant species. With the use of simple random sampling technique, questionnaires and interviews were administered to sawmillers and timber dealers in Umuahia Timber Market to determine the sources of timber and preferences. Pot experiments were established to determine decomposition patterns.Samples ofthree tree species of wood wastes materials were collected from Umuahia Timber Market while the poultry manure and termite mould used as additives were collected from poultry farm and Relie forest in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike respectively. The pot experiment on composting of wood wastes was laid out using a Randomized Complete Block Design by separately filling 2kg bucket with saw dust of Brachystegia eurycoma, Gmelina arborea and Rubia codifolia and introducing some additives comprising of Nasutitermes ephratae, Nasutitermes coniger and poultry manure. The experiment lasted for a period of 6 months from May to October 2017 and weight loss was measured monthly. Sample of compost was collected randomly from each treatment and taken to the laboratory for analyses. After collection, the samples were air-dried and analyzed for Total Nitrogen (TN), Organic Carbon (OC) and organic matter Content (OM). The results deduced show that most ofthe logs supplied to the timber market were mainly from Bayelsa, Abia and Cross River States. The mean weights of the controls (Brachystegia eurycoma, Gmelina arborea and Rubia cordifolia) were 2.00kg respectively in May but varied in October in the range of 1.96kg, 1.98kg and 1.99kg respectively. At the end of experiment in October 2017, the final weights (g) of Brachystegia eurycoma composted with poultry manure, Nasutitermes ephratea and Nasutitermes coniger were 0.29± 0.01, 0.31± 0.0land 0.30± O.Olrespectively. The final weights (g) of Gmelina arborea composted with poultry manure, Nasutitermes ephratae, and Nasutitermes coniger were 0.40± 0.01, 0.42± 0.01, and 0.41± 0.01 respectively. For Rubia cordifolia composted with poultry manure, Nasutitermes ephratae, andNasutitermes coniger were 0.60g± 0.01, 0.59g± 0.01 and 0.58g± 0.01 respectively. Brachystegia eurycoma with poultry manure had the lowest mean weight of 0.29g± 0.01 showing that it had the fastest rate of decomposition. The C/N ratio for the controls (Brachystegia eurycoma, Gmelina arborea and Rubia cordifolia) saw dusts were 21.983, 22.217, and 27.500, respectively. Brachystegia eurycoma with poultry manure had the least C/N ratio of 6.37 which also may have accounted for the highest rate of decomposition which was observed in it.The accumulating problem of saw dust waste can be addressed by converting the material to organic manure through a faster rate of composting using poultry manure as additive.