Commercial poultry industry is growing rapidly in Bangladesh. Estimate shows that poultry population is increasing at the rate of 6.5% per year in the country (Huque). There are over 116.5 million chickens and 13.47 million ducks in Bangladesh. This poultry sector is growing may be because the fish population is declining and people are switching to poultry as a source of animal protein. According to a 2001 census completed by the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) and the Poultry Sector Development Project (PSDP), there are approximately 22,570 commercial poultry farms housing 84,10,000 layers and 57,84,5000 broilers in Bangladesh (Jarjour, 2002). These poultry farms are producing approximately 4474 tons (I.e., 1.63 millon tons every year)of excreta every day in the country.

A study carried out by PSDP shows that poultry waste generated from these farms is not properly managed. 46 (forty-six) farms were visited during this study to determine the nature and extent of environmental pollution from the poultry industry. Small, medium and large farms, which are believed to be representative of typical farms within Bangladesh, were visited during the study (Jarjour, 2002). The study found that lack of proper disposal system of poultry waste is creating environmental and health hazards and foul smell near and adjoining areas of the poultry farms. As a result local communities are complaining against these poultry farms, which in the long run may become threat to the sustainability of poultry industries.

The value of animal manures has long been recognized in crop production systems. In recent years, co-composting of poultry manure has been receiving increased attention as an alternative manure management practice to biologically stabilize manure, trap plant nutrients in microbial biomass, kill pathogens and weed seeds and reduce the mass and volume of manure requiring disposal. Experience shows that poultry waste can also be co-composted with urban Municipal Solid Waste (MSW).

Considering these issues PSDP took the initiative to look at possible options to mitigate the problem arising from poultry waste in Bangladesh. PSDP is a joint venture between DLS of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestocks of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) of the Government of Canada. PSDP approached Waste Concern Consultants (WCC), a sister concern of Waste Concern (a national NGO) to conduct a research to find out the possibility to converting this unsafe poultry waste into a safe compost product. WCC conducted 40 trails (20 trails/Batch) and carried out two different techniques of aerobic composting using 5 (five) different inputs (chick litter, Layer droppings, household waste, Rice husk) with addition of Effective Micro-organisms (EM) during two seasons. This research envisions significant reduction of pollutions resulted from unmanaged poultry waste in Bangladesh.

Main goal of this research is to convert poultry waste into a safe compost product through scientific method based on the research findings. Specific objectives of the study are:

-To determine suitable methods of composting for farmers
-To evaluate the effects of EM on the composting process
-To evaluate physical and chemical parameters of compost such as moisture, pH, organic, carbon, total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, zinc, calcium, and magnesium.
-To evaluate the impact of the compost on various crops
-To recommend a suitable model for composting poultry waste using public-private partnership approach.