Avinash Kumar
Zoology
June 2021
The study examines the impact of three epigenic earthworms, Periyonix excavatus, Eudrilus eugenia, and Eisenia foetida, on vermocomposting as well as the impact of the endogenic earthworm Pontoscolex corathrurus on soil fertility and plant growth. Year-round abundance of P. corathrurus varied from 4.95 to 19.6 for adults, 2 to 13.25 for juveniles, and 2.2 to 7.3 for cocoons at the organic farm site, and from 2.21 to 15.6 for adults, 1.5 to 11 for juveniles, and 0.8 to 4.6 for cocoons at the integrated farm site. Worm casts are much higher in N (9.7-6.5%) and C (5.7-3.5%) content than surrounding soil, which is a result of P. corathurus activity, than the surrounding soil. In all locations, the pH of the casts was neutral compared to the varying pH of the nearby soils. P. corathurus considerably accelerated Zea maiz growth when it was injected with seven earthworms per pot in pot experiments. The three epigenic earthworms that were chosen were cultured in seven composting media that contained varying amounts of rice straw, vegetable waste, and cow dung. The results revealed that the inclusion of cow dung greatly boosted the multiplication rate. In comparison to the controls, vermicomposting produced compost with higher amounts of N, P, Fe, and Mn as well as better particle size. The study's findings show that Sri Lankan earthworms can be easily employed to increase soil fertility and create vermicompost without the need to bring in exotic species.
0- 0
© Airo Journals 2021
