Title: Recycling of agro-wastes into value added manure using vermitechnology for sustainable agriculture
Abstract: Introduction: Increasing in earth’s population significantly increases the quantum of waste in ecosystem. In India, 0.5 kg / person / day of solid wastes are generated. The major contributors viz., food, paper, demolished, glass and metal wastes generating from domestic, commercial and agriculture sectors causes various environmental problems (1). To ensure a safe disposal and recycling of these wastes, the present study has been formulated using Perionyx excavatus (2), a indigenous earthworm species of India through Vermicompost technology.
Methods: The experiment was conducted using P. excavatus of different age groups collected from Vermicompost Unit and raw materials viz., vegetable waste (VW), food waste (FW), paper waste (PW), ash waste (AW) and cowdung (CD) collected from Hostel’s and Livestock farm of Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Each raw material were processed and mixed with cowdung on dry weight basis at 1:1 ratio for the experiment. A cement tank of 250 Litre capacity (1 × 0.5 × 0.5 m) was taken and filled with 1.5 cm thick layer of sterilized soil at the bottom to provide supporting material for vermicomposting. In each tank, 200 g of earthworms were introduced. Experiment was carried out with four replications for 105 days duration. The matured vermicompost was collected and subjected to qualitative analysis.
Results & Discussions: Results indicated that there was significant decrease in C:N ratio with a tune of 70, 48, 54, 84 and 79 per cent in the cattle manure, vegetable waste, food waste, paper waste and ash waste, respectively compared to the initial level. Also, 1.2 – 6.1, 1.5 – 2.7, 1.2 – 2.8 fold increase in total N, P and K content were observed in all substrates from initial to matured stage. Among all the substrates, vermicompost produced from cattle manure followed by vegetable and food waste performed better with respect to nutrient content and C:N ratio. The matured vermicompost of different substrate like cattle manure, vegetable waste, food waste, paper waste and ash waste was found to meet the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO) requirement thereby indicating that high degree of stabilization of organic matter and potential for agronomic use.
Conclusions: According to nutrient status of vermicompost from different substrate and earthworm multiplication rate, cattle manure showed the best substrate for vermicomposting followed by vegetable waste, food waste, paper waste and ash waste. Hence, vermitechnology employing native earthworm species P. excavatus converts the different substrates tested here into nutrient rich humus, indicates a suitable technique for disposal and reduction of waste material.
Keywords: Wastes, Recycling, Vermitechnology, Nutrients, C:N ratio
Acknowledgment: Authors are thankful to Agricultural College & Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
References
Triphathi G, & Bhardwaj P. Decomposition of kitchen waste amended with cattle manure using an epigeic species (Eisenia fetida) and an anecic species (Lampito mauritii). Bioresource Technology. 2004; 92: 215–18.
Deka H, Deka S, Baruah CK, Das J, Hoque S, Sarma H, Sarma NS. Vermicomposting potentiality of Perionyx excavatus for recycling of waste biomass of java citronella – an aromatic oil yielding plant. Bioresour Technol. 2011; 102: 11212–17.
Publication Year: 2021
Publication Date: 2021-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
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