Proceedings

Organic waste compost application to agricultural land is expected to increase following the implementation of European Community and National regulations, which limit the disposal of organic rich material in landfills. Therefore, it is important to determine the variation of physicochemical properties of types of organic waste composts, and to assess the agronomic influence and the risk of adverse environmental effects of their application to agricultural land. The effects of a single application of three rates of a vegetable and a municipal solid waste (MSW) compost, surface applied and incorporated, were compared with a mineral fertilizer and a control treatment in a sandy loam soil, in a pot experiment. Forage maize was used as the monitoring crop. We anticipated evaluating the effect of application rate and method of types of organic waste composts on crop production and the environment, by measuring crop growth, yield and nutrient uptake, nitrogen leaching, and soil properties.

KEY WORDS: Compost, Forage maize, Leachate, MSW, Nutrient uptake, Soil properties, Yield