Standardization of composting technique for cocoa leaf waste

The present investigation was conducted to standardize the protocol for composting of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) leaf wastes. Cocoa leaf litter is a important waste material from cocoa. Since these wastes are rich in lignin and cellulose, it takes long time for decomposition and hence add nutrients slowly to the soil. In order to decompose the waste quickly, the effectiveness of several decomposing agents, including micro organisms, in degrading the waste of cocoa and the performance of cocoa compost were studied. The treatments included Cocoa leaf waste + cow dung slurry (T1), Cocoa leaf waste + Earthworm (T2), Cocoa leaf waste + TNAU Biomineralizer (T3), Cocoa leaf waste + Phanerochaete chrysosporium (T4) and Cocoa leaf waste + Pleurotus Sajor- Caju (T5). Physiochemical properties such as changes in temperature, pH and EC were recorded. Among the different days and treatments, the highest temperature of 60.5°C was recorded in cocoa leaf waste inoculated with cow dung slurry (T₁) on 30^th day of composting, the lowest pH of 6.09 was recorded in the cocoa leaf waste inoculated with earthworm (T₂) on 120^th day of composting and the lowest EC of 0.52 dSm^-1 was registered in cocoa leaf waste inoculated with Phanerochaete chrysosporium (T₄) on 120^th day of observation.