per hectare. Guayas province led sugarcane processing with 87% of national throughput, largely due to the activity of Milagro, home to the country's highest-producing sugar mill. Agroindustrial production generates significant volumes of waste. Improper management of sugarcane residues--such as leaves, bagasse, molasses, and filter cake--remains a global concern, with by-products exceeding 190 million tons annually [3]. Waste treatment systems that promote disposal or recycling help recover nutrients and reduce the environmental impact caused by accumulation or dumping into water sources. However, in Ecuador, a traditionally agricultural country, management practices remain inefficient. The open burning of sugarcane fields after harvest is still common and contributes to biodiversity loss, soil degradation, and air pollution [4]. In this context, current trends in the sugarcane sector are increasingly focused on more sustainable waste management strategies, where the transformation of residues into value-added products, the adoption of circular economy models, and the implementation of cleaner technologies are becoming central. Current trends include the use of sugarcane biomass for biofuel and biogas production, the development of integrated biorefineries, and the cascade utilization of by-products for bioplastics, biofertilizers, and lignin-derived materials [5; 6]. Additionally, sustainable field practices such as mulching are being promoted over open burning to improve soil health and reduce emissions [6]. These approaches reflect a growing interest in environmentally sound alternatives for managing sugarcane waste. In the search for improvements in waste management, new technologies have been tested to reduce degradation time, such as the use of subcritical water and alkaline heat. Subcritical water, in brief, is a chemical method based on thermodynamic principles in which water is heated and pressurized to a point where it remains in a liquid state, although below its critical point [7]. Under these conditions, subcritical water acquires physical and chemical properties similar to those of conventional organic solvents, but without the risks associated with these harmful compounds [8]. On the other hand, chemical methods have the disadvantage of denaturing the biological properties of organic wastes, through the alteration or destruction of molecular structures, since the purpose of these techniques is to reduce the volume of agricultural wastes [9]. Other studies have reported the participation of microorganisms in the decomposition of organic wastes for composting [10]. Heterotrophic microorganisms act as the primary decomposers of organic matter in terrestrial ecosystems, and are considered the drivers of natural ecosystem restoration [11]. Fungi and bacteria are primarily responsible for the physicochemical changes that occur in composting, regulate the rate of conversion of organic wastes, and determine the final quality of compost [12]. Phytopathogenic fungi, classified as plant pathogens due to their ability to colonize plant cells and induce allelochemical precursors of apoptosis, play a key role in plant degradation processes. Although they can cause significant economic losses, studies have shown that the joint participation of fungal consortia formed by _Colletotrichum_ sp., _Penicillium_ sp., and _Rhizopus_ sp. enables the decomposition of plant material and contributes to the nutrient cycle, facilitating recycling, mineralization, and the release of essential compounds into the environment [13]. Given their recognized biodegradation potential, this study focuses exclusively on evaluating the efficiency of _Colletotrichum_ sp. and _Rhizopus_ sp. spores as biological agents for the decomposition of processed sugarcane residues in the city of Milagro. The selection of these fungi is based on their natural presence in the local ecosystem and their ability to enhance composting processes by accelerating the degradation of agricultural waste. _Colletotrichum_ spp.