Evaluation of maturity and stability parameters of composts

Bioconversion of farm wastes with agro-industrial wastes into enriched compost is an important possibility in need of research. The composting of organic wastes has been demonstrated to be an effective method for producing end-products which are stabilized and sanitized, ensuring their maximum benefit for agricultural. However, the compost should be of high quality in order to guarantee its marketability. The maturity of compost is a rather complex characteristic that evolves gradually during the degradation process of organic matter. Establishing compost maturity parameters is difficult due to wide variations in the composition of raw materials used for composting. Amongst the controllable factors which influence manure composting are temperature, aeration/turning, C:N ratio and composition of raw materials used. The agricultural value of a compost increases when the organic matter reaches a high value of stability and maturity, which cannot be established by a single parameters. Several indices based on chemical and stability parameters have been used for manure compost by different authors. However, it is necessary to standardize the criteria used by official institutions from