Search

Domestic waste and wastewater treatment face serious environmental challenges associated with waste management. Vermitechnology offers the potential for the alleviation of many problems, viz., NH3, odor, green house gases and high nutrient rich compost. The present study aim was to evaluate the potential of two indigenous Perionyx excavtus (P.E), Perionyx sansibaricus (P.S) and one exotic epigeic earthworm species Eisenia fetida (E.F), in treatment of domestic mixed solid waste along with domestic waste water using vermitechnology. The physico-chemical and biological parameter were measured over a period of 55 days after employing these earthworms. The results clearly elucidate that vermireactor with indigenous earthworms gives over all comparable similar results with world wide known exotic species (E.F). The results of the study show a significant reduction in initial C/N ratio from an initial value of 25 to 20 for all reactor with earthworms, total organic matter (TOC) reduced by 50% and pH also reduce nearer to neutral, but increase in, total nitrogen (TN) 102%, total phosphorus (TP) increase from the initial concentration of 7.62 g/kg to 13.2 g/kg, However, removal efficiency of Fecal coliforms (indicator organism) in the prepared vermicompost through P.S, P.E and E.F was in the 6 log, 7 log and 7 log (MPN/gm) respectively. The compost obtained was having 3% total nitrogen, 6.5g/kg total phosphorous and 1.5% Potassium on an average in all reactors. These species are indigenous of the study area and shall provide decentralized solution for waste management for small community, helmet or a house become necessary. Present study also concluded that maximum mortality rate was observed in combination reactor of earth worms and exotic species became dominant might be due to high reproduction food consumption rate. Only 10 % indigenous species (P.E and P.S) were remaining in combination reactor with exotic (E.F) at the end of the study. Therefore present study indicates a threatening experience for indigenous species because of the exotic earthworm species used extensively for vermicomposting and its application in field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epigeic earthworm species Eudrilus ugeniae, Eisenia fetida, Perionyx excavatus, and an anecic arthworm species Lampito mauritii were explored separately for the vermicomposting of Ipomoea leaves in reactors that were operated for four months. The earthworm species which consistently produced more vermicast was E.eugeniae followed by E.fetida, P.excavatus, with L.mauritii being the least producer. Seen from the standpoint of average of vermicast production per gram of earthworm body weight, E. eugeniae scored over E.fetida but the difference is very less.The average zoomass of E.fetida, E.eugeniae, and P.excavatus increased over time but decreased in L.mauritii decreased. In terms of fecundity, the performance of E.fetida (29 juveniles, 16 cocoons) was similar to that of E. eugeniae (20 juveniles, 10 cocoons) followed by P.excavatus. L.mauritii respectively. The results indicate that E.fetida and E. eugeniae are the most suitable among the four species screened for vermicomposting of Ipomoea leaves; their performance in terms of efficiency of vermicomposting, zoomass gain, and being close to each other. P. excavates is not suitable for the vermicomposting because of mortality. The anecic L. mauritii came out a poor fourth and is clearly unsuitable for the vermicomposting of Ipomoea carnea leaves as it didn't gain weight on feeding upon Ipomoea carnea. Due to this fact, and the animal's poor fecundity in Ipomoea-based vermireactors, this species will not be able to provide sustainable vermicast output. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Solid wastes can be converted as compost using earthworms. Vermiculture is one among the adventure, which signifies the preparation of compost using solid wastes and enhances the soil aeration for crop cultivation. In promoting vermiculture, the performance of epigeic earth worms should be known with their adaptability and efficiency for composting different solid waste materials under local conditions. Investigation was carried out to study the biology, reproductive potential, composting efficiency of three epigeic worms viz: Eisenia fetida (Savigny), Eudrilus eugeniae (Keinbrg) and Perionyx excavatus (Perrierr) under local conditions. Mass rearing of these worms was done using diet mixtures consisting fallen leaves and cattle manure. The duration from cocoon to cocoon was 124, 106, and 59 days for E. fetida, E. eugeniae and P. excavatus, respectively. Clitellum initiation was at 43, 36 and 29 days, respectively. E. eugeniae produced as high as 5.2±1.04 cocoons month-1 worm1 followed by E. fetida (3.2±0.68) and P. excavatus. The latter produced low number of cocoon (2.0±0.64) compared to other two species. Incubation period of cocoon for E. eugeniae was 34 days followed by E. fetida 28 days and P. excavatus 16 days. E. eugeniae produced highest number of hatchlings (3.25) per cocoon whereas E. fetida and P. excavatus produced 2.16 and 1.05 hatchlings, respectively. Different diet mixtures were prepared using animal waste (cow dung) as base material with plant wastes (fallen leaves). Among the diet mixtures teak leaves and cow dung mixture were preferred by E. fetida and E. eugeniae and the diet was converted completely into vermicast. The growth rates of E. eugeniae and E. fetida were as high as 48.8 and 25.9 mg day-1 worm-1, respectively. These results lay a platform to use both E. fetida and E. eugeniae worms in an efficient manner by mass rearing them in teak+cattle manure diet and can be used for composting the solid wastes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the microbial degradation of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) to vermicompost as a bioconversion strategy. Water hyacinth was vermicomposted using Eisenia Fetida earthworms loaded at a rate of 150 earthworms/L over a period of 35 days. The changes in water hyacinth total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TP), and total phosphorous (TP) and total potassium (TP) were measured using standard methods. Linear models were generated using MATLab 13.0 to describe the changes in physicochemical properties with change in vermicomposting time using the regression coefficients (R2) values. The TOC and COD decreased significantly by 60% and 53% as the water hyacinth was converted to vermicompost. The TKN, TP and TK increased by 93%, 127% and 98% respectively. Linear models developed indicated R2 values of 0.9 for all the parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthworms of species Eisenia fetida (Savigny 1826) (red wiggler worm), are known as eaters of a large range of organic matter, being considered from this point of view real solvers of several issues regarding the wastes management. This study intended to show that paper wastes (copy paper) can be eaten by earthworms Eisenia fetida and thus this type of waste can be managed by introducing it into the diet of this earthworm species. The objectives of the study were two: 1) to determine the relationship existing between this food type and several biological parameters of this earthworm species (survival, weight, and prolificacy); 2) to establish the relation existing between this earthworm's mortality, weight and prolificacy and several soil properties (the concentration of the total nitrogen, available potassium, and available phosphorus). The experiment lasted three months and has been carried out as a laboratory (microcosmos) experiment. The results showed that copy paper represents an adequate food for earthworms Eisenia fetida (no mortality was recorded in the experimental pots as compared to controls, and the earthworm's prolificacy increased, on average with 65.16% versus control (p < 0.05). Feeding the earthworms Eisenia fetida with shredded paper is appropriate to increase the prolificacy of this species, parameter which positively is correlated with the values of pH, mobile phosphorus and mobile potassium of the soil, and to increase the concentrations of phosphorus and potassium in the soil, but this last aspect requires further investigations, because probably this is an effect on short time. The content of mobile phosphorus of soil increased with 98.56% in the soil containing earthworms fed with shredded paper versus control (soil without earthworms) (p < 0.01, p < 0.05). The parameter mobile potassium of the soil increased with 15.57% as compared with the soil with unfed earthworms (p < 0.05). In this study, feeding earthworms Eisenia fetida with shredded paper was not a way to obtain significant increases of the value of total nitrogen in soil. The body weight of the earthworms fed with shredded paper was found to be positively correlated to the content of total nitrogen of the soil, and negatively correlated to the parameters pH, mobile phosphorus, and mobile potassium. The characteristic prolificacy was found to be positively correlated to the parameters pH, mobile phosphorus, mobile potassium, and no significant negative correlations were found for this biological parameter and the soil factors. There was performed statistical processing of data using Spearman and Kendall Correlations, One Way ANOVA, and Pearson Correlation (p<0.01, p<0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following text summarizes research results of phytohormone activity in vermicomposts formed from various types of biowaste; the research was carried out by ČERVENÁ et al. of the Faculty of Mining and Geology, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava in cooperation with the Laboratory of Growth Regulators at Palacky University in Olomouc. The experiments focused on the research in the phytohormone occurrences in various types of biowaste and final products of vermicomposting processes. The laboratory analyses prove that in the course of vermicomposting there was a rise in almost all phytohormones as compared with the feedstock (paper waste fibre, horse manure, fresh and pre-fermented substrate from mushroom farms). There was a high increase in the concentration of such low-molecular substances particularly in water extracts from substrates gained by means of vermicomposting, not only in the form of biologically inactive precursors, but also in the biologically active form. The results reveal that biologically inactive GA51 manifested the highest value in the water extract, while also the concentrations of other 13-non-hydroxy GAs were much higher in the water extracts than in solid samples, including the bioactive GA4. In the group 13-hydroxy gibberellins, the taken values were also significantly higher, namely in precursors such as GA44, as well as in biologically active GA6. At the same time, the value of indole-3-acetic acid, i.e. the most important auxin, manifested a multifold increase in the water extract as opposed to its concentration in the feedstock. When analysing the samples focused on the presence of CKs, the highest values of such phytohormones were found directly in the earthworm body tissues. For example, cytokinin iP (N6-isopentenyladenin) was observed in the earthworm body in concentrations more than 40 times higher than those in the stabilised final vermicompost. Thus, it is highly probable that earthworms are able to produce the substances themselves. Substrates formed via vermicomposting, in which the abundance of increased concentrations of plant growth hormones was proved, are very promising as natural fertilisers in agriculture and gardening, while their production is very environmentally and ecologically advantageous with regard to the feedstock (waste). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Congreso Internacional de Investigacion Academia Journals is the property of PDHTech, LLC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article deals with testing vermicomposting as an option in processing a material that is difficult to biodegrade, i.e. digestate from biogas stations. Vermicomposting is grounded in the exploitation of the potential of certain earthworm species to convert fresh organic matter into high-quality compost. Vermicompost is a high quality fertilizer containing a high amount of humic acids and growth controllers. The research predominantly focuses on the observation of hazardous elements contained in the feed materials in relation to the quality of the formed vermicompost. The results point at the applicability of the material as a fertilizer as it complies with the valid legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]