Abstract
Enormous quantities of waste such as lawn waste (LW) and kitchen waste (KW) are generated in urban institutes, proper management of which is crucial. The present work was designed to bio-convert LW and KW amended with buffalo dung (BD) into humus-rich manures through composting and vermicomposting technology over a period of 3 months. At the termination of vermicomposting process, there was significant decline from initial value in certain parameters like pH (8.17–6.74), total organic carbon (36.12–28.04) and C:N (39–16), whereas increase was observed in parameters like electrical conductivity (1.19–3.22), N (1.35–1.89%), P (0.18–0.44%), K (0.78–1.06%). Concentration of toxic heavy metals (Co, Cd, Cu, As, Cr, and Pb) declined significantly in the end product. Fecundity of earthworms was favored more by higher proportion of BD, moderate KW, and 10% LW in the feedstock, and was maximum in the combination (BD60% + LW10% + KW30%) followed by (BD50% + LW0% + 50%), (BD40% + LW20% + KW40%) and (BD30% + LW20% + KW40%). Enzymatic activities such as urease, phosphatase, and dehydrogenase were found to be high initially, but declined towards maturity of the vermicompost. The study shows that buffalo dung, kitchen waste, lawn waste (6:1:3 ratio) give best quality vermicompost.
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