Vermicomposting of agro-industrial waste by-product of the sugar industry

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