Organized and optimized composting of agro-waste some important considerations and approaches

In the modern industrialized society, generation of solid waste, such as agricultural waste, yard waste, waste paper and food waste is increasing at an alarming rate. In countries, like India, a common method of their disposal adopted by farmers, agro- industries, municipal workers and contracting agencies is to burn such waste on site or in incinerators leading to emission of green house gases and release of pollutants directly into atmosphere. In developed countries, these solid wastes are disposed of through landfilling, which are clogging under ever-increasing load. Emission of gases from land- fills poses yet another environmental challenge. Today, composting offers a promising solution to disposal of agro-waste with minimum harmful impact on environment. Need of the hour is to carry out composting in an organized and controlled manner to derive maximum benefits with minimum undesirable effects and researchers are attempting to compost agro-wastes with these objectives in mind.