Have you ever heard of the term compost house ? Actually, the compost house is not a new concept in Indonesia. There have been many campuses and institutions that have made compost houses to solve the waste problem.

However, did you know that compost houses can also solve the problem of fertilizer scarcity? How to? Keep up with the following reviews!

Home Compost Fertilizer Scarcity Solution

In the midst of a shortage of fertilizers, compost houses have come to be a reliable solution. Farmers can make their own organic fertilizer in the compost house, instead of buying chemical fertilizers from factories.

In addition, sometimes the supply of fertilizer in the market is also limited. If you only rely on factory-made fertilizers, farmers will be affected by not being able to produce the harvest as expected.

Compost houses in various regions have been inaugurated as a form of government concern for the environment. One of them is located in Lembang District, Pinrang Regency, South Sulawesi.

In the compost house program, the government wants to reduce household waste and open up employment opportunities from local residents. Furthermore, household waste which is used as raw material for compost is also collected from community settlements.

For example, husks, straw, sawdust, fruit peel waste, kitchen waste, and others. If the farmers can make their own organic fertilizer in the compost house, they can provide their own fertilizer needs.

From liquid and solid compost, crop production will increase. In addition, from the compost house, it is hoped that farmers can save on the cost of buying fertilizer.

Development of Compost House for Processing Organic Fertilizer

So, what is a compost house? Simply put, a compost house is a building that is used to process composting organic waste, such as livestock manure, crop residues, straw, and others, into organic fertilizer. Inside the compost house, there are fertilizer processing equipment, decomposers, garbage cutting machines, containers, carts, and others.

Almost every year, the price of fertilizer has increased. Meanwhile, farmers spend rice production costs from their personal budget. Not enough, other problems arise due to the use of chemical fertilizers that reduce soil fertility.

The condition of decreasing fertilizer efficiency is strongly influenced by soil factors that experience constraints. For example, the health of the soil is reduced due to chemical fertilizers, as well as improper soil management.

Usually, soil damage often occurs in rice fields, dry land, and swamp land. This can occur due to crop residues such as burned straw. In fact, crop residues such as straw should be left to become organic fertilizer to support soil fertility in the next planting process.

Manual Organic Fertilizer Manufacturing Process

In the compost house, the process of making crop residues such as straw into organic fertilizer takes about 5 weeks with a manual process.

However, if you use a chopping machine or a cutting machine, it will only take 1 week. Then, the government can facilitate the composting house with several supporting tools such as conveyances or tricycle carts.

Compost House Purpose

The objectives of developing a compost house are as follows:

1. Helping farmers improve soil fertility by utilizing organic waste and crop residues such as straw into compost.
2. Farmers can exchange ideas and support each other in making compost.
3. Compost houses are an alternative to overcome the scarcity of fertilizers
4. Educate the public about the importance of organic fertilizers for environmental sustainability and fertility.
5. Overcoming the increase in fertilizer prices in the market.
6. Can reduce the burden of the government's subsidy budget.

Important Things in Composting House Construction

Before making a compost house, here are the important things to consider:

• In the area around the compost house there are compost raw materials, for example: straw, livestock manure, leaves, harvested waste and other household waste. Or, waste cooking spices, such as chili seeds, onion skin, garlic, and so on.
• Farmers are willing to form groups or communities to manage and develop compost houses independently.
• The compost house that has been built has available land and preparation of materials for composting, without land compensation to the government.
• There are facilitators or field officers as active facilitators of farmer groups.

How to Make Compost from Organic Ingredients

Compost houses can be an alternative for handling waste, especially organic waste in the community. Even though there are TPS, the collected waste is just left without any handling. As a result, it becomes air , water, and soil pollution . In fact, it smells bad.

Compost comes from organic waste from flowers, tree branches, and leaves. In addition, compost can also be made from food scraps, kitchen waste, cooking spices, and others.

Follow these steps for composting:

1. Organic waste is sorted by density, leaves, and domestic waste.
2. Then, the waste is put into a cutting machine or chopper.
3. Garbage is sifted or filtered until the remaining fine grains.
4. The results of the mixed waste that have been refined are stored in a container.
5. Enter the starter bacteria for the waste fermentation process.

If the fertilizer is ready to use, then you can see the following characteristics:

• Fertilizer doesn't smell bad
• The color is dark brown or earth color
• Not easily soluble in water
• Texture of dry or not wet fertilizer

Benefits of Compost Fertilizer

Not only reducing the amount of waste around the environment, compost has various benefits, including:

• Can absorb water for plants.
• Improves soil fertility conditions
• Improve the quality of crop yields
• Improve soil structure and quality
• Prevent weeds and plant pests
• Reduce air pollution or bad odors

Imagine if compost houses could be built in every village or region throughout Indonesia, then the problem of scarcity of agricultural fertilizers could be overcome independently by the community. What do you think, do you agree if a compost house is built in your area?