Abstract
The objective of the study was to investigate the survival of earthworm Eisenia fetida during vermicomposting of Sugar Industry wastes. These wastes are called Decanter sludge (DS) and Press filter waste soil (PKF). To achieve the objective a laboratory-based experiment was performed 12 weeks under controlled conditions. Eleven different mixtures were prepared by mixing DS, PKF and farmyard manure (FYM) in different ratios. During the incubation time, earthworms survived in treatments which included less than 50% DS or 50% PKF. The number of earthworms increased significantly in all treatments from 6 to 90 (P<0.05) during the experiment period. Chemical properties (pH, EC, OM, Total Nitrogen, Lime) and heavy metal contents of sugar industry vermicomposts were in accordance with the standard compost limits. Results of the present study indicated that the worms did not live in the medium containing more than 50% of the PKF and 50% of the DS. Vermicompost can be obtained from production wastes of sugar factory by applying vermicompost process on Decanter Sludge at the maximum ratio of 50% or its mix with PKF along with FYM. Use of DS and PKF as feed materials for vermicomposting can assist to turn the wastes into precious materials.
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