Quality assessment of citrus-processing industry waste compost for organic and conventional farming

Summary

The aim of the work was to verify the potential of citrus by-products for the production of a quality compost to be used in both conventional and organic farming. Two different composts were produced utilizing Pastazzo (mixture of citrus pulp and skins). One of them, to be used in conventional farming, was prepared adding sludges obtained from citrus industry waste water treatment to pastazzo. The other one, whose final destination was organic farming, was produced without the addition of sludge as starting raw material. Chemical parameters were used to evaluate the characteristics of the final product. Results obtained demonstrated that organic residues from citrus-processing industry could be considered as raw materials for the production of quality composts for both conventional and organic farming.