I. Meharaj and S. Manivannan
Disposal of poultry waste (PW) is becoming one of the major areas of concern for a developing country like India. Currently, a very meager quantity of the PW is usually used as fertilizer source and soil conditioner. However, this approach is not pleasing practice in view of the odor from biological degradation. In the present study, potential of vermicomposting technology in the management of PW amended with cow dung (CD) and press mud (PM) using local earthworm species Lampito mauritii and Perionyx excavates under laboratory conditions. A total of six vermicomposters were maintained for this study and the growth and reproduction of L. mauritii and P.excavates were monitored for 60 days after pre-composting (14 days). Result revealed that maximum growth (maximum biomass achieved at end, biomass gain and growth rate) and reproduction (total number of cocoon, total hatchling number and mean reproduction rate) were recorded in 100% cow dung (control) and 1:1:1 ratio of CD+PM+PW feed mixture containing vermicomposters. However, higher percentages of PW in the feed and/or PW alone in different vermicomposters significantly affected the growth and reproduction of both species worms.
