Abstract:
Farmers in resource-poor areas of the Guinea Savanna zone of Ghana often face
declining soil fertility due to the continuous removal of nutrient-rich harvested
produce from their fields. This study focuses on the Lawra Municipality in the
Guinea Savanna zone of Ghana, where low soil fertility, specifically, limits
phosphorus (P) bioavailability and hinders crop production. The objective of
this research is to formulate P-enhanced biochar-compost from maize stover
(MS) and groundnut husk, which abound in the area, to close the nutrient loop. MS
was co-composted with groundnut husk biochar at varying rates of 0, 10, 20, 30,
and 40% by volume. To facilitate decomposition using the windrow system, the
composting heaps were inoculated with decomposing cow dung, and the
moisture content was kept at 60% throughout the monitoring period. The
addition of biochar shortened the lag phase of composting. However, rates
above 20% resulted in reduced degradation of MS. Biochar incorporation
enriched the available phosphorus content in the final compost from 286.7 mg
kg−1 in the non-biochar-compost to 320, 370, 546, and 840.0 mg kg−1 in the 10,
20, 30, and 40% biochar-compost, respectively
