Although a decrease of N
can occur due to leaching of NO−3-N and ammonia
volatilization, in this experiment, both piles were covered
with plastic to retain the moisture and avoid moisture
from outside, which could lead to the result obtained.
Moreover, in high technology composting, where they can
control the leaching problem, the resultant compost
achieves an increment in total N [23,24]. The dependent
pair t-test done on the treatments showed that the application
of EM also had a significant (P < 0.05) positive
effect on the net mineralization of N. The increase in the
N value at the end of the composting period might occur
due to the usage of N by microorganisms to build up cells,
thus reducing the N, and some of the organisms will eventually
die, which will be recycled as N and thus contribute
to the increase