Characterization of Tectona grandis leaf litter compost: an ecological approach for converting leaf litter waste into organic product using composting

Safe management of plant and animal waste is one of the most pressing environmental issues the world is facing today. In the present study, leaf litter (LF) waste of Tectona grandis was combined in different ratios with cattle dung (CD) on dry weight basis. It was observed that within 120 days, leaf litter underwent considerable alterations in nutritional availability. Among different combinations of leaf litter, a significant percentage decrease in physico-chemical parameters was observed as the following: pH (9.43–1.78%), total organic carbon (30.10–20.04%), C:N ratio (62.88–34.95%), while significant increase in total nitrogen (11.31–103.75%), total phosphorus (53.85–103.31%), and total potassium (39.27–262.32%) and EC (10.16–30.71%). Similarly for heavy metals, significant percentage decrease was observed for Cr (99.23–33.13%), Cd (35.29–9.76%), Pb (65.84–53.64%), and Ni (72.88–11.79%), whereas increase for Zn (19.76–113.41%). The study was further performed to explore the germination index (GI) values using Lepidium sativum seeds and GI was observed as 42.19–99.13%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the irregularities of the compost (120 days) with a higher porous texture. Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) revealed excellent compost maturity. The study revealed that composting could be a sustainable method for recycling agrarian waste into organic fertilizers, which can help in increasing productivity by enhancing nutrient supply and decreasing heavy metal extractability.