Chemical and Microbial Reactions Occurring during Vermicomposting

Vermicomposting is a unique process that occurs in earthworms gut to convert organic wastes into organic fertilizer or vermicompost by using joint action of earthworms and microorganisms. Organic wastes used were the mixture of spent mushrooms waste, coconut husks, cow dung, vegetables residue, and leaf litter. Locally available earthworms are also used for vermicomposting but their mode of feeding is very slow and the earthworm which lives below the soil is also not suitable for vermicompost production. The Red worms Eisenia foetida and African earthworm Eudrillus engenae are promising worms used for vermicompost production. All the two worms can be mixed together for vermicompost production. In the composting process, egg shells flour and fish meal are added into the vermicompost as additives materials. The results indicate that the combined vermicomposting and composting process with addition the additives materials improves the chemical composition of vermicompost compared to using vermicomposting process alone. The percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium and magnesium in vermicompost was found to increase while C N ratio, pH and total organic carbon declined as a function of the vermicomposting. Dr. Atul Kumar Sharma | Dr. Kamlesh Rawat "Chemical and Microbial Reactions Occurring during Vermicomposting" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-5 , August 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd45029.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/chemistry/other/45029/chemical-and-microbial-reactions-occurring-during-vermicomposting/dr-atul-kumar-sharma