Effect of EM microbial agent on aerobic composting for dairy cattle manure.

Basing to the controversy on the function of the effective microorganisms (EM) microbial agent in manure aerobic composting, the differences of physical and biomass indexes of the experimental group (EP) (manure with EM inoculant) and the control group (CK) (manure without the EM inoculant) were studied and compared during composting. The results showed that the differences of physical indexes variation between the EP and the CK were similar during the process of composting. The number of operational taxonomic units (OTU) in the EP was lower than that in the CK at the beginning, while it was on the contrary in the end. The current study suggested that the presence of the EM microbial agent did not improve the number of OTU at the initial stage and early warming stage of aerobic composting. And, it intensified the competition with indigenous microorganisms in the piles. Furthermore, no obvious difference effects were observed between the EP and the CK. Considering the composting cost, the addition of the EM bacteria was unnecessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]