Where to Find Compost Materials

Backgrounder

Everywhere people are looking for cheap alternatives. Farmers are not left out in this search. They are looking for cheap alternatives to expensive farm inputs such as chemical fertilizers.

Chemicals are not only expensive, they can also damage the soil and the environment, especially if used incorrectly. Farmyard manure is one alternative. It supplies all the necessary plant food and it improves the soil. Composted manure gives best results. However, the question most farmers ask is: “Where do we get a continuous supply of material for composting?”

The Kenya Institute of Organic Farming has an answer. Mr. John Njoroge of the institute says that crop residues and hedge cuttings are good materials for compost. He believes that there are lots of organic materials on and around the farm that can be used for composting. All that is required is to collect and bring the material to the farm.

When composted and properly stored, animal manure is very good for the land. The crop residues and manure in compost decompose into humus. Crops use humus as food. It is just as effective as artificial chemical fertilizer. Manure has many other benefits which purchased fertilisers do not have. Farm animals provide manure. Depending on the land area and water available, a farmer can keep one or two cows as well as goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits and pigs. Confining the animals, especially at night, ensures that the manure is concentrated in a small area and you can collect the urine and droppings easily. You can also collect food remains and bedding for compost.

Many animals such as rabbits and poultry need bedding and litter. Sweep the pens regularly and take the bedding and litter to the composting site. Chickens are the most common poultry that most farmers keep. Chickens provide eggs and meat. They also provide a regular supply of manure.

There are many other composting materials that a farmer can use. These include sweepings from around the yard, leaves and soil from the forest floor, kitchen waste, and any other rubbish that will decompose. Another source is the vegetation along the road. Sweeping under large trees can provide a lot of material for composting. Fallen leaves, twigs and branches are excellent for composting. Leaves from trees such as the Jacaranda species, Croton species and Cordia abyssinica (large leafed cordia), are good sources.

Composting material can also come from live fences around the homestead, the vegetable gardens, along field boundaries, terraces and contour ridges. Bunch grasses like napier grass (Pennisetum purpereum) and vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanoides) are excellent bulk compost material. Trim hedges regularly and use the cuttings for composting. Plant quick growing trees such as sesbania (Sesbania sesban), Croton species, leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala), neem (Azadirachta indica), Siamese acacia (Cassia siamea)and Calliandra species. These trees also provide fodder for animals. And some of them add nitrogen to the soil. These are nitrogen fixing trees.

Sometimes weeds from the garden cannot be fed to animals. These could be used for making compost. Pile the weeds at the compost site. When manure from animal pens is added, composting begins. Weeds decay quickly and can be recycled back to the garden. Crop remains which cannot be fed to the livestock can be used as animal bedding. The animals trample them down and urinate on them. The material decomposes more quickly this way.

Plantation crops like tea and coffee provide good composting material. Collect coffee waste material such as pulp and husks and take them to the compost site. Tea buying centres are often full of the remains of plucked, sorted green tea. These are good composting material. Markets are familiar places for all farmers. Vegetable remains and market sweepings can be collected on each market day and taken home for composting.

In urban areas, there are many composting materials. Waste from the market place is one good source. Other materials in urban areas are left overs from hotels, hostels, boarding houses, and small households. However, when garbage is used, remove all material such as plastics, cans, and torch batteries that will not easily decompose. Garbage compost can be used in nurseries, small vegetable gardens, and flower gardens.

Mr. Njoroge of the Kenya Institute of Organic Farming is convinced that there are many kinds of vegetable matter and waste around the farm that can be used for composting at no cost. All it means is collecting and transporting the material to the compost site.