ABSTRACT
Water hyacinth is one of the plants with the highest production capacity due to its biological characteristics of strong photosynthesis adapted to wide range of Photosynthetically–Active Radiations (PAR), rapid growth and prolific reproduction. The chemical composition of water hyacinth revealed it is rich in carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other inorganic and organic components so that the water hyacinth biomass could be used to produce animal feed, organic fertilizer and bio–energy. Water hyacinth biomass after dehydration can be easily transported, utilized and composted to ensure that most of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were preserved in organic fertilizer. Large–scale production of organic fertilizer using water hyacinth biomass was successfully explored in the pilot project to demonstrate annual production of 10 thousand tones of organic fertilizer using water hyacinth biomass, especially using dehydrated water hyacinth residues mixed with pig manure.
