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Vermicomposting of Vegetable Wastes Amended With Cattle Manure

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Author Affiliations

  • 1Department of Civil Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, INDIA
  • 2 Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, INDIA

Res.J.chem.sci., Volume 1, Issue (8), Pages 49-56, November,18 (2011)

Abstract

Three different earthworm species Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae and Perionyx excavatus in individual (Monocultures) and combinations (Polycultures) were utilized to compare the suitability of worm species for vermicomposting of vegetable waste amended with cattle manure. Eight different reactors including three monocultures and four polycultures of Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae and Perionyx excavatus and one control were used for the experiment. Compost stability studies revealed that compost from monoculture reactors became very stable with final oxygen uptake rate and CO evolution of 2.60-1.53 mg/g volatile solids (VS)/day, 1.38-1.88 mg/g VS/day respectively. However, the compost obtained from the polyculture reactors attained maturity faster than the monoculture reactors as confirmed by the oxygen uptake rate results, with a reduction of 70 to 80%. The results show that vegetable waste amended with cattle manure produced high quality stable compost free from pathogens but the waste is not ideal for the growth and reproduction of earthworms.

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