| Summary: | The Malaysian government has been challenged with handling unmarketable vegetables
and fruit waste that pollutes the environment and emits greenhouse gases, mainly methane
and nitrous oxide. These greenhouse gases have been contributing to climate change. In
contrast, these wastes consist of high moisture and readily biodegradable nutrients that
can serve as the perfect substrate rate for fermentation. The valuable nutrients contained
in these wastes can produce liquid organic fertilizers (LOF), which help improve the soil’s
physical, chemical, and biological characteristics and reduce the demand for inorganic
fertilizers and costs to farmers. In this regard, a study was conducted to produce and
characterize LOF derived from unmarketable vegetables and fruit waste. The waste was
identified from the nearest wet market, collected, and incubated in containers with a ratio
of 1: 2: 0.1 (10 kg unmarketable vegetable and food waste: 20 L water: 1 kg inducer)
for 30, 45, and 60 days. The unmarketable vegetables and fruits were fermented using three different types of inducers: yeast
(Y), brown sugar (BS), and shrimp paste
(SP). Unmarketable vegetables and fruit
waste with no inducer were also included
as a control. Samples from the produced
LOF were taken after 30, 45, and 60 days
of fermentation, filtered, and subjected to
analysis for pH, electrical conductivity
(EC), macro-, and micronutrients. These
experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three
replications. The highest nitrogen (0.95%),
phosphorus (0.31%), potassium (1.68%),
copper (0.23 ppm), and manganese (9.03
ppm) were obtained from LOF fermented
for 60 days using yeast, indicating that
it improved the nutrient availability of
agricultural waste. Moreover, this treatment
provided optimum pH and EC values for
the growth and development of plants.
Thus, LOF derived from unmarketable
vegetable and fruit waste can be considered
an attractive alternative for supplementing
chemical fertilizers.
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