Q. I’m looking for [a] carbon rich source ingredient to build compost in the Dominican Republic. Do you have region specific information?
A. Carbon rich sources for composting include crop residues such as corn stalks, corn husks, rice hulls, rice straw, and sorghum or millet chaff. Cut and dried leaves are high in Nitrogen and could be the green component of compost even if dry. Fallen leaves are naturally high in carbon. Sugar cane bagasse (the leftover stalk and pulp from pressing sugar cane) is a high carbon source. Saw dust or wood chips could be used to make a fungal dominated compost, but take longer to break down.
When choosing ingredients consider how they are used by farmers. For example, corn stalks could be used to feed cattle or left in the field to prevent erosion. If so, their use for compost might be of less value. On the other hand, a material that is not usually used or is discarded would be helpful in making compost.
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