VERMICOMPOSTING OF SAGO-INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE USING AN EPIGEIC EARTHWORM EUDRILLIS ELIGENME AND MACRONUTRIENTS ANALYSIS OF VERMICOMPOSTA. MARY VIOLET CHRISTY AND R. RAMALINGAMAbstract India ranks fifth in world Tapioca production and it is cultivated in 3.6 lakhs hectare. There are about 1000 sago factories in Tamilnadu. About 3 million tones of pressmud is produced annually in India from the sugar factories. Using sago solid waste (SSW) and pressmud (PM) four feed mix combinations were prepared on the weight basis (E1 - PM alone; E2-SSW+PM 1:4; E3-SSW+PM2:3 and E4 - SSW + PM 3:2 ratio). In each treatment 5 kg of feed substrate were prepared in rectangular cement cisterns and by introducing 50 young Eudrilus mgeniae, vermicomposted for 75 days under laboratory conditions at room temperature with 60-70% moisture. Chemical analsysis of SSW and PM indicated that PM containing N, P. K, Ca, Mg, S in higher quantities with narrow C:N (13:1) ratio whereas SSW containing OM, OC, Na in higher quantities with wider C: N (66:1) ratio. In the vermicomposted SSW + PM mixture the pH reduced towards neutrality (pH 7). The level of macronutrients increased (N 15-44%, P 14% K 9-17%, Ca 39-42%, Mg 30-38%) significantly (131<0.05 over control compost along with reduction in C:N (9:1) and C:P (5:1) ratio due to combined action of earthworms and microbes leading to accelerated rate of decomposition and mineralization of organic wastes. The reduced level of S and Na in the vermicompost may be due to their higher utilization by earthworms. It is concluded that the unutilized SSW and PM, using earthworms can be utilized for vermiculture and production of nutrient rich good quality vermicornpost.
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