Assessing Physiochemical Characteristics of Agricultural Waste and Ready Compost at Wadi Al-Far'a Watershed of Palestine.

The Wadi Al-Far'a Watershed (WFW) is one of the most important agricultural lands in Palestine where considerable amounts of organic wastes are generated. Yet, mismanagement of agricultural waste, including random disposal and/or burning, is a prevalent practice in the WFW. Such a practice might result in greenhouse gas emissions and leachate penetration into underlying soil and groundwater. To encourage compost production in the WFW as an efficient way for organic agricultural waste treatment and emission reduction, this study aims at evaluating the quality of both raw organic agricultural waste and ready compost, locally produced or imported. The evaluation considers the physiochemical characteristics as well as the heavy metal contents. The analysis of 17 samples of raw organic agricultural waste showed a good potential for compost production due to the high content of organic matter and other nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The analysis of 15 ready compost samples, however, showed that compost quality is relatively low due to the high electrical conductivity and low moisture content measurements as well as the high levels of sodium, chloride, and potassium. Furthermore, heavy metal contents of both raw organic agricultural waste and ready compost samples are less than the limits specified by the Palestinian and international standards. Therefore, local farmers can safely use raw organic agricultural waste generated in the WFW for compost production. Composting will not only enhance soil reclamation and crop production but also protect human health and the environment and promote sustainable economic development.

Socioeconomic, agricultural, and individual factors influencing farmers' perceptions and willingness of compost production and use: an evidence from Wadi al-Far'a Watershed-Palestine.

In Palestine, open dumping and/or burning the waste, including agricultural waste, are prevalent practices resulting in emitting leachate and acidifying greenhouse gases. Composting the agricultural waste can reduce emissions and provide 'compost' as an organic fertilizer and soil amendment; yet, it has not been implemented at the national level. To develop a local marketing strategy for compost, this study views a need to identify farmers' perceptions and willingness of compost production and use in agriculture and examine various socioeconomic, agricultural, and individual factors shaping them. The case of Wadi al-Far'a watershed (WFW) is investigated, where farmers practice inappropriate waste disposal and overuse of agrochemicals. A semi-structured questionnaire is administered to 409 farmers through face-to-face interviews. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, Chi-square test, and binary logistic regression are used for data analysis. High acceptance level (84%) is disclosed among farmers in WFW for the hypothetical idea of producing and using compost. Farmers also have high, yet lower, willingness level (63.6%) of the more salient option of producing compost themselves and using it in agriculture. Tenure systems, large cultivated areas, rainfed irrigation, and lack of access to training sessions inhibit farmers' acceptance of the idea of compost production (overall p value = 0.000). Large cultivated areas and rainfed irrigation is also associated with farmers' unwillingness to produce compost, besides high household monthly income, animal or mixed animal-plant farming, experience in compost production, and use of pesticides (overall p value = 0.000).