CAN VERMICOMPOST OBTAINED FROM EISENIA FOETIDA FED BY NUTSHELL AND COW MANURE MIX BE AN ORGANIC FERTILIZER?

Abstract

In this study vermicompost was produced by Eisenia foetida using mix of certain ratios of nut shell (NS) and cow manure in lab conditions. The experiments were conducted according to randomized complete block design with three replicates in a lab in Sakarya, Turkey for 4 months. Five different treatments (NS90M10; NS75M25; NS50M50; NS25M75; NS10M90) were tried in special containers with lids together with 250 Eisenia foetida for each trial. Distilled water was used for humidification. pH, EC, organic matter, total humic+fulvic acid, total nitrogen, total organic carbon, total P, K, Mg and Ca were analysed for each 5 trials at the end of the experiment. The highest average N, P, K, Ca and Mg percentages were obtained as 1.75, 0.38, 1.12, 1.7 and 0.38%, respectively in the trial with the highest ratio of cow manure (NS10M90), and the lowest of these measurements were obtained in the trial with the highest ratio shell (NS90M10). The average pH, EC, and humidity were found to be 7.64; 964.51 mu S/cm and 67.73%, respectively. The highest organic matter content (41.11%) was obtained from NS90M10, and the highest humic+fulvic acid content (25.89%) was obtained from the trial NS10M90. The C:N ratio which is desired to be low for vermicompost was obtained as highest from NS90M10 trial, and lowest from NS10M90 as 101.67 and 19.43, respectively. As the cow manure added to the mixture increased, all of the analysis results increased except total organic C, C: N ratio and organic matter. The differences between each parameter were found to be statistically significant (p<0.01). The results revealed that the shells of hazelnuts intensively cultivated in Black sea Region of Turkey should better be evaluated as vermicompost rather than fuel, and be returned to the nature, which would be environmentally and economically advantageous. The earthworms used in this research were observed to consume the feed of nut shell and cow manure mix easily, therefore the feed problem of small and medium-sized enterprises in Turkey can partially be solved this way. The forthcoming increase in the world population demands for more efficient ways to achieve sustainable development and use of renewable sources. By feeding soil earthworms with various organic waste materials is economically important in addition to gaining important organic source of materials in the form of vermicompost. Vermicompost technology is very important in recycling of organic wastes and their valorisation as an agricultural input. Vermicomposting is a biotechnological process, in which organic wastes are converted into valuable products by earthworms which are the main technology transfer for converting bio-waste into valuable materials. The earthworms are involved in recycling of organic waste and they also enhance plant growth. For this reason, they are very important for eco-friendly organic fertilizer production. This study suggested that the vermicomposting served as a potential method of waste management.