Microbial inocula used in a livestock manure rapid composting system

Aerobic composting is an attractive solution to non-point source environmental contamination of livestock manure. However, the traditional method has slow kinetics and takes approximately 60 to 90 days to obtain the mature compost. In this study, we propose to boost up the decomposition process by artificially maintain a thermophilic environment and addition of bacterial isolates that were able to produce lignocellulolytic enzymes. Compost with microbial inoculation was superior to no inoculation control no matter in accelerating organic matter degradation, shortening composting process, or promoting wheat growth as fertilizer.