Enriched cocoa pod composts and their fertilizing effects on hybrid cocoa seedlings

Fidelis, Chris; Rao, B. K. Rajashekhar

doi:10.1007/s40093-017-0156-8

Cited by 34 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…This would be unusual as the soil most suited for crop production is managed to be a circumneutral pH (Silva 2012). The food wastes screened in this study could, therefore, be used as amendments to upgrade soil fertility and crop productivity (Pellejero et al 2017;Fidelis and Rao 2017). Apart from the agro sectors, food wastes can even be used in the environmental remediation sector as bioadsorbents of toxic pollutants (Kuppusamy et al 2015(Kuppusamy et al , 2016a(Kuppusamy et al , b, 2017.…”

Section: Below Detection Limit Of Icpms (Znmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of nineteen food wastes for essential and toxic elements

Kuppusamy

Venkateswarlu

Megharaj

2017

Int J Recycl Org Waste Agricult

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Purpose The study evaluates and provides an overview of the nutritional importance of 19 selected food wastes as aids in human/livestock/soil/plant health. Methods Nitric acid-digested extracts of food wastes belonging to four different classes (fruits, vegetables, oilseeds and beverages) were analysed for different elements in an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Results Our study recommends spent coffee grounds, tea leaves, radish peel, watermelon rind and pineapple skin that contain substantially high concentrations of essential elements such as N, P, K, S and Fe for their use as: (a) substrates for composting, (b) biofertilizers, (c) soil amendments, and (d) bioadsorbents of toxins. Although these food wastes are rich in essential nutrients, we do not suggest them for the preparation of food supplements as they contain non-essential elements in concentrations beyond the human safety limits. However, food wastes like banana peel, plum pomace and pistachio shell that contain low and permissible concentrations of toxic elements can be recommended as dietary supplements for oral intake in spite of their lesser essential elemental composition than the other residues examined. Conclusions Our study confirms that food wastes are rich sources of essential nutrients and there is need to harness their real industrial systems.

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Section: Below Detection Limit Of Icpms (Znmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of nineteen food wastes for essential and toxic elements

Kuppusamy

Venkateswarlu

Megharaj

2017

Int J Recycl Org Waste Agricult

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“…Globally, cocoa productivity ranges from smallholder productivity of 0.3–0.4 t ha −1 year −1 , plantation yields of 1.5–2.5 t ha −1 year −1 and the potential productivity through research blocks of 4.4 t ha −1 year −1 (Freyne, Bleeker, Wayi, & Jeffery, ; Wessel & Quist‐Wessel, ). Continuous removal of nutrients by crops, nutrient depletion through leaching and traditional nutrient management practices contribute to such low yield (Fidelis & Rao, ). Nutrient availability in such dynamic environments is expected to play a pivotal role in nutrient uptake for maintaining cocoa productivity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of cocoa input needs using soil types and soil spectral analysis

Singh

Vasava

Snoeck³

et al. 2019

Soil Use and Management

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In this study, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) approach was examined for making input recommendations in the smallholder cocoa farms of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Soil samples were collected from four provinces of PNG. Soil samples from four different depths (0–10, 10–30, 30–60 and 60–90 cm) of 32 profiles in each of these site were used to create a database of soil chemical and physical properties. Spectral reflectance values at 1 nm interval covering visible to shortwave‐infrared (350–2,500 nm) were collected for each of these soil samples to develop partial least squares regression models. Soil textural fractions, soil organic carbon contents and available N were well predicted by the DRS approach with R2 values larger than 0.75. Moderate to poor estimation efficiencies were observed for remaining parameters. Nevertheless, the estimated soil attributes and their corresponding measured soil parameters were used as inputs to an input recommendation model of soil diagnosis to create input recommendation for a targeted cocoa yield of 1,000 kg dry cocoa beans ha‐1 Resulting input recommendations were similar for both of these input sources (measured and DRS‐estimated) suggesting that the DRS approach may provide an easy way to create input recommendations.

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“…The global burden of pod husk waste continues to increase well over 40 million tons (Vriesmann et al 2012). Cocoa pod husk waste valorization has been attempted by recycling into various products including compost (Fidelis and Rajashekhar Rao 2017). Generally, agro-wastes need conversion into compost or farm-yard manure before being used in crop production to improve soil fertility (Meena and Biswas 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The cocoa pod borer (CPB) larva causes damage to cocoa by boring into the pod and disrupting the development of the beans. Although the burial of infested pods is the recommended practice for the control of CPB infestation, the majority of growers find this as a cumbersome activity (Fidelis and Rajashekhar Rao 2017). Hence, many of cocoa growers abandon CPBinfested pods and opened husks in piles scattered which can be a good source of raw material for composting and recycling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, some N is lost while composting through volatilization of ammonia (NH 3 ) in aerobic composting facilities (Steiner et al 2010;Tuomela et al 2000;Askri et al 2016). Our earlier studies on the co-composting cocoa pod with animal manures and mineral fertilizer additives indicated potential emission of NH 3 during composting (Fidelis and Rajashekhar Rao 2017). NH 3 losses through volatilization could be significant when alkaline waste materials are composted and were exponentially proportional to the temperature of the composting mixtures (Pagans et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of chemical amendments on modulating ammonia loss and quality parameters of co-composts from waste cocoa pods

Vitinaqailevu

Rao

2019

Int J Recycl Org Waste Agricult

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Purpose Nitrogen loss as ammonia (NH 3) in a waste cocoa pod co-composting process was determined following the addition of three potential chemical amendments that could lower NH 3 loss. Further, amended compost products were assessed for quality and possible phytotoxicity in a pot experiment. Methods Pod borer damaged cocoa pods were co-composted in lab-scale vessels under ambient conditions with double superphosphate, phosphoric acid, and gypsum at 2%, 5% and 1% of fresh weight, respectively. NH 3 emitted during composting was trapped in standard H 2 SO 4 and determined titrimetrically. Composting mixtures were sampled on days 0, 7, 56 and 90 to monitor pH, total C, total N, and C:N ratio. Mature co-composts were incorporated to the soil at 20 t ha −1 and growth response of Chinese cabbage plants (Brassica rapa chinensis) assessed for the phytotoxicity. Results The chemical amendments were ineffective (p > 0.05) in preventing loss of NH 3 but the quality of composting mixtures were significantly (p < 0.0001) improved. The manure compost generated had acceptable parameters (C, 31.2-31.9% and C:N ratio, 9-10:1) and were free from phytotoxicity for soil application as revealed by the response of Chinese cabbage crop. Conclusions Chemical amendments used in the co-composting process mainly modulated pH without any detrimental effects on quality. The results also demonstrated that the NH 3 loss is insignificant from the cocoa waste-composting process. Further studies are required with increased rates of acidifying amendments like phosphoric acid to further augment the quality of cocoa pod composts.

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Enriched cocoa pod composts and their fertilizing effects on hybrid cocoa seedlings

Cited by 34 publications

References 30 publications

Evaluation of nineteen food wastes for essential and toxic elements

Evaluation of nineteen food wastes for essential and toxic elements

Assessment of cocoa input needs using soil types and soil spectral analysis

The role of chemical amendments on modulating ammonia loss and quality parameters of co-composts from waste cocoa pods

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