Top Research Papers on Vermicomposting

This book explains the lifecycle of earthworms, biological features, multiplication of worms, species of earthworms

The need for environmental sustainability while increasing the quantity, quality, and the rate of waste treatment to generate high-value environmental friendly fertilizer products is highly in demand. Vermicomposting is a good technology for the valorisation of industrial, domestic, municipal and agricultural wastes. Various vermicomposting technologies have been in use from time past to present. These technologies range from windrow, small - scale batch vermicomposting to large - scale continuous flow systems. Each of these processes has its own merits and demerits, necessitating advancement ...

The intensive use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides in the agricultural field has globally destroyed soil fertility, killed beneficial microorganisms, and also decreased natural resistance in crops, thereby making them more vulnerable to diseases besides affecting human health and the environment. To overcome these problems, it is very important to shift our attention towards eco-friendly alternatives like vermicompost and vermicompost tea which not only can increase crop growth and yield, suppress diseases and pests sustainably but can also protect human health and the environment. Verm...

This chapter focuses on the scientific discoveries pertaining to the characteristics and plant growth biostimulating properties of vermicomposts. Vermicomposting is an efficient process of converting organic wastes into valuable humus-like soil amending substances with good mineral nutrient content. Wastes suitable for vermicomposting can be of various origins, ranging from agricultural and horticultural wastes to farmyard manures, food waste and sewage sludge. Although different vermicomposts vary in their mineral nutrient content, the process of vermicomposting consistently results in a prod...

Recycling organic waste is most important for preserving natural resources. The research objective was to quantify the effect of the application of vermicompost and vermicompost leachate on the yield and quality of strawberries and compare it with a standard fertilization program with mineral fertilizers during a 3-year production cycle. Five fertilization treatments were studied: control—without fertilizer (Ø); vermicompost (V); vermicompost + foliar application of vermicompost leachate (VL); vermicompost leachate through fertigation and foliar application (L); and mineral NPK fertilizers (NP...

Vermicomposting is a simple environment-friendly technology that supportssustainable agriculture and waste management programs. Itinvolves physical and biochemical action of earthworms in converting organic materials (usually wastes) into two useful products- the earthworm biomass and high quality organic fertilizer, the vermicompost. The efficiency of vermicomposting may be measured by the worm number and/or biomass and the vermicompost produced. To achieve high efficiency one of the keys is selection of proper substrate which is composed of bedding material and food source for the worms. A 3...

It is concluded that vermicomposting can be considered a bioprocess to stabilize rice husk after being used as sheep bedding and the effect of the treatment on earthworm count was analyzed.

The results showed that the KMnO4-modification resulted in a successful loading of the vermicompost biochar with MnO2, which greatly improved its adsorption capacity for Cd2+.

Generation of the huge amount of solid waste around the globe is a major ecological and technical problem. Vermicomposting may be the viable option to handle solid waste in an environmentally friendly way. This review provides a general overview of viability of vermicomposting processes as an ecofriendly approach. The integrated approach of composting and vermicomposting processes provides better results. Further, to optimize the process of vermicomposting, codigestion of organic wastes provides better opportunity for both microorganisms and earthworms to convert the organic fraction of solid ...

In the modern age of development, the increasing quantity of solid waste is one of the growing problems in both developed and developing countries. India produces 1,20,000 tonnes of solid wastes everyday. The rapid increase in the volume of waste is one aspect of the environmental crisis, accompanying global development. Wastages such as grated coconut meat, spent tea and used sugarcane had contributed negative impacts to the environment. Vermicomposting is a very effective, eco-friendly, cheap and easy method of recycling biodegradable waste using selected species of earthworms. Vermicompost ...

This article focuses on the analysis of the properties of sewage sludge before and after vermicomposting. The aim of the study is to give detailed characteristics of changes in the properties of sewage sludge after vermicomposting. This will help to obtain a more detailed picture of the processes that take place during vermicomposting of sewage sludge, and a more comprehensive assessment of the possibility of using vermicomposts from sewage sludge as fertilizers. In this article, a large number of parameters for vermicomposts derived from this type of waste have been outlined for the first tim...

Higher temperature significantly enhanced microbial activity in the first 30 days of vermicomposting, also exhibiting the fastest stabilization at 25 °C, and high throughput sequencing results revealed that the alpha diversity of the bacterial community was enhanced with increasing temperature resulting in distinct bacterial genera in each verMicompost.

The article presents the results of the research from several years of exploitation of the vermiculture plots located in the municipal wastewater treatment plant in Zambrw. It is the only facility in Poland where the vermicompost from municipal sewage sludge has been produced continuously since 2004 (for 16 years). The results of tests of ready-made vermicomposts conducted regularly twice a year (32 tests) were subjected to a simple statistical analysis. The vermicompost analyses of heavy metals, biogenic compounds, organic matter and selected macroelements were compared with the requirements ...

Increases in taxonomic diversity were accompanied by increases in functional diversity of the bacterial community, including metabolic capacity, streptomycin and salicylic acid synthesis, and nitrification, which highlight the role of bacterial succession during the vermicomposting process and provide evidence of microbial functions that may explain the beneficial effects of vermicumpost on soil and plants.

The initial phase was characterized by high microbial activity and the final by high physical-chemical transformation of the vermicompost and an increase in earthworm density, while the organic matter aromaticity increased until the 45th day, subsequently decreasing.

Overall, VCT from UVC and PVC suppressed root penetration and hatching, but not the reproduction of M. incognita over time.

Improper waste management and increasing environmental pollution from contaminated water and gaseous emissions are important challenges associated with rapid industrialization and the growing population. These issues pose threats to climatic change, agricultural ecosystems, human health, and the environment. Vermicomposting offers a sustainable solution for recycling organic waste, with nitrous oxide (N2O) being a crucial greenhouse gas emitted during the preparation and application of vermicompost, contributing to nitrogen (N) loss. However, the extent of N2O emissions under different environ...

Nurse raising with vermicompost could be a good agronomy practice in machine-transplanted fragrant rice production through nursery raising and enhanced the net photosynthetic rate.

Sewage sludge application in agricultural soils represents a salient route for microplastics (MPs) to enter the environment. The aim of this study was to assess the bioremediation of dewatered anaerobically digested sewage sludge (D-AD-SS) contaminated with MPs through vermicomposting using Eudrilus eugeniae earthworm. The specific objectives were to determine the effects of polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) MPs of sizes 1650–2000 µm and 146–500 µm on the physical activities of the earthworms and the chemical properties of the vermicomposting process. Results showed that ...

Considering that worldwide the amount of sludge from sewage treatment plants has increased, which through storage pollutes the environment, solutions must be found for its management. In this paper, through an analysis of studies from the literature, we present an ecological method of recovery of sewage sludge (SS) in agriculture through vermicomposting with Eisenia etida, Eisenia andrei, Eudrilus eugeniae and Perionyx excavatus earthworms, thus we analyzed the possibility that sewage sludge can be transformed from waste into quality fertilizer that benefits the soil, plants, and people, thus ...