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VOL. 3, ISSUE 1 (2018)
Growth and reproduction dynamics of exotic and indigenous earthworm species during biotransformation of coffee pulp amended with sugar mill wastes
Authors
A Mary Helitha, S Manivannan
Abstract
Biotransformation of agro-industrial waste into stabilized product is of double interest: on the one hand, a waste is transformed into value added product and on the other it minimizes a pollutant that is a result of increasing industrialization. Coffee pulp (CP) is an abundant agro-industry solid waste as a result of coffee processing. The present study investigated the growth and reproduction of earthworms E. fetida and P. excavatus during biotransformation (vermicomposting) of CP amended with sugar industry by products (press mud and bagasse). CP was mixed with press mud (SPM) and bagasse (SBG) in different ratio to produce six different treatments for E. fetida and P. excavatus, respectively. Results revealed that CP which was amended with SPM and SBG, especially SPM, encouraged the growth and reproduction of both worm as compared to the treatment with CP alone (TE6 and TP12). Significantly, both worms showed the better growth and reproduction performances in first three treatments (TE1 – TE3 for E. fetida and TP7 – TP9 for P. excavatus) possibly due to higher content of nutrients in the amendment material. The earthworm mortality during experimentation was higher in the treatments those contained more CP ratios. Overall, TE3 and TP9 treatments (1:1:1: ratio of CP, SPM and SBG) appeared to be an ideal combination for enhancing maximum bio-potential of E. fetida and P. excavatus to managing coffee pulp with sugar industrial waste.
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Pages:175-179
How to cite this article:
A Mary Helitha, S Manivannan "Growth and reproduction dynamics of exotic and indigenous earthworm species during biotransformation of coffee pulp amended with sugar mill wastes". International Journal of Biology Research, Vol 3, Issue 1, 2018, Pages 175-179
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