Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

MANURIAL VALUE OF VERMICOMPOSTS PREPARED FROM DIFFERENT AGRICULTURAL WASTES

Sachin R. Adhav and Ritu Thakare

Abstract

The experiment was laid out with eight treatments replicated thrice in Completely Randomized Design. Treatments comprises of different agricultural wastes viz., bajra straw, cotton stalks, pegionpea stalks, groundnut shells, sugarcane trash, mixed vegetable waste, garden waste and Parthenium weed. The process of vermicomposting was carried out for a period of 60 days. Periodical analyses of vermicomposts were carried out at 0, 30, and 60 days for pH, EC, Organic C, N, P, K, C:N ratio, Ca, Mg, Zn, Mn, Cu and Fe. The experimental findings indicated that the pH and EC were gradually declined from 0 to 60 days, i.e upto the end of vermicomposting in all agricultural wastes. Vermicompost prepared from garden waste recorded the lowest organic C (19.82%) followed by sugarcane trash (19.95%) and mixed vegetable waste (20.12%) and the highest was recorded for cotton stalks (26.35%). However, reduction in organic C content was noticed throughout the experiment. The higher N, P and K contents were noted in mixed vegetable waste (1.52, 1.12 and 1.72 %, respectively) followed by parthenium weed (13.2, 0.94 and 1.51%, respectively) vermicompost. While, the higher content of Ca and Mg was recorded in sugarcane trash (6.05 and 0.87, respectively) and groundnut shells (5.75 and 0.90%, respectively) vermicomposts. The highest micronutrient content (Zn, Mn, Cu and Fe) during this experiment was recorded in the vermicompost prepared from mixed vegetable waste (63.80, 58.64, 34.26 and 87.20 mg kg-1, respectively) and followed by parthenium weed (61.23, 55.83, 31.44 and 84.05 mg kg-1, respectively) and the lowest were recorded in garden waste (31.45, 31.12, 15.20 and 52.16 mg kg-1, respectively) at all periodical stages. However, the nutrients content in all treatments were significantly increased throughout the vermicomposting. The significant lowest C: N ratio was observed in vermicompost prepared from mixed vegetable waste followed by parthenium weed.