Nature Environment and Pollution Technology

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Influence of Substrate Particle Size on Vermicomposting of Pre-Processed Vegetable Waste


Affiliations
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Annamalai University, 608 002, Chidambaram, India
 

Past studies report that pre-composting of waste is highly required and 10-15 cm of substrate depth is optimum for conventional vermicomposting, which leads to encroachment of large land area and long time in the process. Keeping this as a core problem, an attempt was made to accelerate and digest the high volume of waste by modifying the conventional vermicomposting to engineered vermicomposting. In the engineered process, the substrate depth was raised to a maximum of 30 cm and elimination of pre-composting by pre-processing (chopping, pulverizing, stocking and drying) the waste. The study also aims in determining the ideal substrate particle size distribution for vermicomposting by experimenting with five different substrate particle mix. Pre-processed waste was sieved through IS sieves for extracting the substrate particles of different sizes (less than 1.7 mm, between 2.36 mm and 1.7 mm, between 4.75 and 2.36 mm, and between 6.30 mm and 4.75 mm). Then the sieved particles were mixed at six different combinations (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6) and then vermicomposted by Eisenia fetida. Results revealed that vermi bin loaded with T3 and T4 combinations produced good volume reduction and biomass growth.

Keywords

Vermicomposting, Substrate Particle Size, Eisenia fetida, Vegetable Waste.
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Atiyeh, R.M., Arancon, N.Q., Edwards, C.A. and Metzger, J.D. 2002. The influence of earthworm in processed pig manure on the growth and productivity of marigolds. Bioresource Technology, 81: 103-108.

  • Barrington, S., Choiniere, D. and Trigui, M. et al. 2003. Compost convective airflow under passive aeration. Bioresource Technology, 86(3): 259-266.

  • Bansal, Sudha and Kapoor, K.K. 2000. Vermicomposting of crop residues and cattle dung with Eisenia Fetida. Bioresource Technology, 73: 95-98.

  • Barrington, S., Choinière, D., Trigui, M. and Knight, W., 2002. Effect of carbon source on compost nitrogen and carbon losses. Bioresource Technology, 83(3), pp.189-194.

  • Crawford, J.H. 1985. Composting of Agriculture Waste. Cheremisinoff, P.N. & Onellette, R.P. Applications and Research, Technomic Publishing company.

  • Cristina, L., Maria, G.B. and Jorge, D. 2008. Comparison of the effectiveness of composting and vermicomposting for the biological stabilization of cattle manure. Chemosphere, 72: 1013-1019.

  • Dan, Xie, Weibing, Wu, Xiaoxia, Hao, Dongmei, Jiang, Xuewei, Li and Lin, Bai 2016. Vermicomposting of sludge from animal wastewater treatment plant mixed with cow dung or swine manure using Eisenia fetida. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 23(8): 7767-7775.

  • Edwards, C.A. and Bohlem, P.J. 1996. Biology and Ecology of Earthworms (3rdedition). Chapman and Hall, London, pp. 246.

  • Elvira, C., Sampedro, L., Benitez, E. and Nogales, R. 1998. Vermicomposting of sledges from paper mill and dairy industries with Eisenia andrei: a pilot-scale study. Bioresource Technology, 63: 205-211.

  • Felix, G.O. and Emilio, G. 2009. Bio bin scale-up and oxygen transfer rate in microbial processes: An overview. Biotechnology Advances, 27: 153-176.

  • Foo, E.L. 1999. An integrated bio-system for a feedlot-AbattoirMeat procession and research complex in Bali: A feasibility study.

  • Ganesh, P.S., Gajalakshmi, S. and Abbasi, S.A. 2009. Vermicomposting of the leaf litter of acacia (Acacia auriculiformis): possible roles of reactor geometry, polyphenols and lignin. Bioresour. Technology, 100(5): 1819-1827.

  • Grant, W.C. 1995. Status in moisture relationship in earthworm. Ecology, 30(3): 400-407.

  • Hala, C. and Harold, M. 2008. Separating earthworms from organic media using an electric field. Bio Systems Engineering, 100: 409-421.

  • Hartenstein, R. and Hartenstein, F. 1981. Physico-chemical changes affected in activated sludge by the earthworm (Eisenia foetida). Journal of Environmental Quality, 10(3): 377-382.

  • Kale, R.D. 1998. Earthworm Cinderella of Organic Farming. Prism Book Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, India.

  • Loren, N. and Janet, H.T. 1998. The Worm Book. Ten-Speed Press, Canada.

  • Manual on Municipal Solid Waste Management, (Ist Edition), Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) India, May 2000.

  • Methods Manual of Soil Testing in India, (Ist Edition), Department of Agriculture and cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, India, Jan. 2011.

  • Neuhauser, E.F., Loehr, L.C. and Malecki, M.R. 1988. The potential of earthworms for managing sewage sludge. In: C. A. Edwards, E. F. Neuhauser (eds). Earthworms in Waste and Environment Management. SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague, pp. 9-20.

  • Ramamoorthy, P. 2004. Standardization and nutrient analysis of vermicomposting sugarcane wastes, press-mud trash, bagasse by Eudrilus eugeniae (Kinberg) and Eisenia foetida (Savigny) and the effect of vermicompost on soil fertility and crop productivity. Ph.D. Thesis, Anna. University, India.

  • Ranganathan, L.S. 2006. Vermibiotechnology: From Soil Health to Human Health. Agrobios, India.

  • Senthilkumar, P.L. and Kavimani, T. 2012. Investigation on application of synthetic nutrients for augmenting worm growth rate in vermicomposting. Journal of Urban and Environmental Engineering, 6(1): 30-35.

  • Senthilkumar, P.L. and Murugappan, A. 2016. An experimental study on accelerating the vermicomposting process by stocking vegetable market waste. European Journal of Advances in Engineering and Technology, 3(10): 55-60.

  • Senthilkumar, P.L., Murugappan, A., Balaji, K. and Kavimani, T. 2016. An experimental study to assess the effect of aeration in substrate depth of vermicomposting process. International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, 11(3): 124-137.

  • Sing, N.B., Khare, A.K., Bhargava, D.S. and Bhattacharya, S. 2004. Effect of substrate depth on vermicomposting. Institutions of Engineers IE(I) Journal, 85: 16-21.

  • Suthar, S. 2007. Nutrient changes and biodynamic of epigeic earthworm Perionyxe excavatus (Perrier) during recycling of some agriculture wastes. Bioresource Technology, 98(8): 1608-1614.

  • Suthar, S. 2010. Potential of domestic biogas digester slurry in vermi technology. Bioresource Technology, 101: 5419-5425.

  • Suthar, S. 2012. Earthworm production in cattle dung vermicomposting system under different stocking density loads. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 19: 748-755.


Abstract Views: 155

PDF Views: 0




  • Influence of Substrate Particle Size on Vermicomposting of Pre-Processed Vegetable Waste

Abstract Views: 155  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Senthilkumar Palaniappan
Department of Civil Engineering, Annamalai University, 608 002, Chidambaram, India
Murugappan Alagappan
Department of Civil Engineering, Annamalai University, 608 002, Chidambaram, India
Senthilkumar Rayar
Department of Civil Engineering, Annamalai University, 608 002, Chidambaram, India

Abstract


Past studies report that pre-composting of waste is highly required and 10-15 cm of substrate depth is optimum for conventional vermicomposting, which leads to encroachment of large land area and long time in the process. Keeping this as a core problem, an attempt was made to accelerate and digest the high volume of waste by modifying the conventional vermicomposting to engineered vermicomposting. In the engineered process, the substrate depth was raised to a maximum of 30 cm and elimination of pre-composting by pre-processing (chopping, pulverizing, stocking and drying) the waste. The study also aims in determining the ideal substrate particle size distribution for vermicomposting by experimenting with five different substrate particle mix. Pre-processed waste was sieved through IS sieves for extracting the substrate particles of different sizes (less than 1.7 mm, between 2.36 mm and 1.7 mm, between 4.75 and 2.36 mm, and between 6.30 mm and 4.75 mm). Then the sieved particles were mixed at six different combinations (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6) and then vermicomposted by Eisenia fetida. Results revealed that vermi bin loaded with T3 and T4 combinations produced good volume reduction and biomass growth.

Keywords


Vermicomposting, Substrate Particle Size, Eisenia fetida, Vegetable Waste.

References