Palm Secondary Products as a Source of Organic Material for Compost Production: Applied Examples from Egypt

The increasing amounts of fruit pruning wastes in local societies of Egypt cause environmental problems closely related to human health. Its utilization as renewable materials has received a great attention in our present days and encouraged the use of it as an organic fertilizer. Composting these wastes not only reduces their weight and volume but also produces high-value-added products (compost). Manure is the most common organic and natural fertilizer form in our Egyptian rural Village. Due to the high cost of chemical fertilizers and the increase of organic fertilizers demand, it is necessary to use the local crop residues, "Palm Secondary Products" (PSP) as a basic (raw) material which contains 92.99% organic matter. Compost manufacturing provides successfully produce an organic fertilizer from available waste in each region which serves as both fertilizers and soil conditioners. In this study, we present Egyptian examples of the recycling of date palm pruning products mixed with other organic wastes in small scale (Faris rural village, Kom-Ombo, Aswan Governorate and Mandisha village, Baheria oases, Giza Governorate) and in large scale (Al-Kharga, New Valley Governorate). Introduction The total world number of date palms is about 120 million trees, distributed in 30 countries and producing nearly 7.5 million tons of fruit per year [1]. Arab countries account for 70% of the world's date palms number and are responsible for 67% of the global production of date palm [2]. The total number of palm tree planted in Egypt is 16 million including 12 million fruiting tree [3]. Mohamed [4] reported that the significant annual increase of fruit dates was about 298.9 thousand palm trees, equivalent to 2.75% of the average number of fruitful dates during the period (1997 2012). Due to its adaptation to various stress condition, its plantation is nowadays spread out all over Egypt including the new reclaimed land in the desert and in saline-affected areas. The utilization of by-products of date palm as raw material source for industrial activities gave a promising issues. Some studies have reported that Egypt alone generates more than 300,000 tons of date palm biomass each year [5]. Although date palm residues (DPR) consist of hardly decomposed elements (Cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin and other compounds) they could be composted with microbiological process instead of burning in farms and causing serious threat to environment [6]. Many researchers reported about compost production from date palm by products [7, 8, 9, 10, and 11]. It should be noted that Egyptian agriculture is mainly dependent on chemical fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphates and potassium) and organic fertilizers. So, recycling palm residues could reduce chemical fertilizers as well as the impact of drought and desertification and pesticides. Moreover, social, economic and environmental benefits could be obtained from the Recycling palm residues including increasing agricultures production in quantity and quality. By-Products of Palm Trees and Their Applications Materials Research Forum LLC Materials Research Proceedings 11 (2019) 150-158 doi: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644900178-10 151 Materials and Methods There are 3 experiments of DPR composting; two of them were conducted in small scale in compost units in different Egyptian village (Faris village Kom-Ombo – Aswan and Mandisha village, Baheria Oasis – Giza Governorate) and the other experiment was made in large scale in sustainable integrated system in (Al-Kharga, New Valley Governorate). Experiment 1. Faris village is an Egyptian rural village, which located in the west side of the Nile in Kom Ombo, Aswan Governorate. It produces annually about 5000 tons of renewable biomass from fruit trees as date palm (Phoenix daetylifera), Mango (Anacardiaceae) and doum palm (Hyphaene thebicia). Palm secondary products (PSP) represent about 80% of this total [11]. The first stage was conducted in site which residues were collected and transported to this site which called (fixed shredding system). Meanwhile, in pilot stage shredding and composting process was made where the residues accumulated (mobile shredding system). The amount of compost produced at pilot stage is equivalent to 70% of the total waste of palm trees. This is in addition to 20% Mango residues and 10% Doum palm residues. Filter mud cake by product produced from sugar can industry in this region was used as organic activator in composting process. About 45 tons and 33 tons of compost were produced in the first and pilot stage respectively. The produced compost was distributed on the local farmers to use in the cultivation of onion crop. Experiment 2. Baheria Oasis is a depression and lies in the Western Desert of Egypt. Located in Giza Governorate, the main economic sectors are agriculture. The number of palm trees in the oases is estimated at 1.3 million palms; the wealth of palm oases is about 10% of Egypt's total palm wealth (according to estimates that the number of palm trees in Egypt is approximately 13 million palm trees) El-Mously [12]. Large quantities of PSP are available; currently estimated at 69.5 thousand tons / year (dry weight); these quantities are not only abundant but also renewable diversity and pricing, and the possibility of using them as inputs to the manufacturing of many products (as confirmed in this study). A pilot experiment of compost production was conducted in the village of Mandisha. The main additive material in composting process was poultry manure wastes as a common by product of Poultry Industry used as compost activator material. About 3 ton compost was produced from 8 ton DPR+8 m poultry manure. Experiment 3. The New Valley Governorate is considered the largest governorate in Egypt with a total area represents about 44% of Egypt's area. Date palms (more than 1.5 million palm trees) represent the economic axis of the governorate. A study of the development of the number of fruitful dates in the New Valley Governorate reveal that these numbers has increased significantly by 1.28% during the period from 1997 to 2012 [4]. The date palm pruning produces large amounts of PSP, leading to serious environmental problems. The governorate has approximately 92503 tons per year according to the report of the Directorate of Agriculture in the Governorate of [13]. Experimental pilot attempts produce about 170 ton compost. The main additive materials in composting process was Farmyard manure (FYM) as common by product of cattle Husbandry as organic activator. Analysis of Fiber Derivatives Fiber Derivatives of date palm, Mango and Doum palm residues were determined according to TAPPI standard method. The samples were first placed into soxhlet extraction for 6 hours according to method T 264 cm-07 to remove plant extractives. The determination of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content were assessed by using the following respective standard method: Kurscher-Hoffner approach [14], chlorite [15], T 222 om-06 and T 211 om-07. As recommended by various pertinent standards, all experiments were conducted in triplicates. By-Products of Palm Trees and Their Applications Materials Research Forum LLC Materials Research Proceedings 11 (2019) 150-158 doi: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644900178-10 152 Characterization of compost Compost resulting from 3 experiments was analyzed. Compost samples were dried at 70 ̊C to constant weight ground. Values of pH and EC were determined as described by Jackson [16]. The organic matter (OM) content of compost was analyzed by weight loss on ignition at 43 ̊C for 24h and total organic carbon (TOC) was calculated from (OM) to the following equations [17]: OM = [(W105 – W430) / W105] × 100 (1) Where W105 = oven dry weight of mass at105 ̊C; W430 = furnace dry weight of mass at 430 ̊C TOC = 0.51 × OM + 0.48 (2) Compost samples were digested using a mixture of H2O2 and H2SO4. Total nitrogen was determined by using the micro-kjeldahl procedure [16]. Total phosphorus and potassium were determined by Page et al. [18]. Moisture content throughout this study was measured by drying at 105 ̊C for approximately 24 h or at constant weight. Bulk density (Bd) was measured by obtaining the dry weight of a known volume of the sample. Bulk density was calculated by the following formula [19]: