Recycling of leaf litters on cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) plantation

Abstract

Field experiment was carried out to standardize the protocol for effective decomposing of cocoa wastes, which includes both leaf litters and pod husk. For these, the experiment comprise of five treatments: cowdung slurry, earthworms, TNAU Biomineralizer, Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Pleurotus sajor-caju. Data on temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon, total nitrogen, carbon: nitrogen ratio, total phosphorus and total potassium were analyzed. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with four replications. The cocoa waste imposed with chrysosporium and Pleurotus sajor-caju showed the rapid decomposition rate than compared with other treatments used in the experiment. The nutrient content of N, P, K were found to be more in the treatment with TNAU Biomineralizer followed by Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Pleurotus sajor-caju.