National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
Properties of fresh vermicompost vary with variation in raw material, composting techniques, species of earthworm used and time of harvest. Feedstock comprises of organic biodegradable waste products like plant biomass and cattle-poultry manure. Therefore, the study was undertaken to characterize the fresh vermicompost generated from three different vermicompost production units (VCPUs) with crop residue biomass and raw cow dung as feeding materials. The bulk density of vermicompost from the different VCPUs ranged between 0.45 to 0.53 g cm-3 whereas the particle density varied from 1.04 to 1.06 g cm-3 and was a porous organic product. The Moisture content of vermicompost samples were estimated between 37.3 and 40.2%. The maximum water holding capacity had an average value of 387.24%. The pH and EC had mean values of 6.88 and 1.81 dSm-1 respectively. The average total N, P, K and S content of the vermicompost samples were found to be 1.41%, 0.42%, 1.02% and 0.61% respectively. The vermicompost samples contain higher numbers of beneficial microorganisms including bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, rhizobium, PSB, azotobacter etc. along with important enzymes. Microbial biomass carbon content was in the range of 479.76 and 512.84 mg kg-1. Considering all the physico-chemical, biological and biochemical properties the vermicomposts prepared may thus be considered as natural biofertilizers which can be effectively included in integrated nutrient management practices.
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