Composting of sugar cane bagasse by Bacillus strains

Composting of sugar cane bagasse with Bacillus sp. CMAGI2 and Bacillus subtilis JCM 1465T strains was carried out during five months at horticultural center. Chemical, biochemical and microbial parameters were followed during this process. There was a difference between inoculated composts and non-inoculated compost. These bacterial additives allowed greater biodegradation compared to control compost. The inoculated composts were more degraded than the control compost with compost3 which presented the highest OM loss with 91.37%, compost1 with 90.15% and compost2 had 89.47% of OM loss. Control compost showed the lowest C/N ratio, however compost3 had the highest C/N ratio compared to compost1 and compost2. Microbiologically, Bacillus strains in compost1 and compost2 had probably inhibitory effect on microflora statistically if they were inoculated alone when the mixture of two strains (compost3) had no inhibitory effect on microflora during the composting process. The inoculated composts presented higher enzymatic activities than control compost, probably due to the presence of Bacillus strains. Key words: Sugar cane bagasse, composting, Bacillus sp.CMAGI2, Bacillus subtilis JCM 1465T.