Vermicomposting Of Municipal Solid Organic Waste And Organic Agriculturial Waste Using Eisenia Foetida

It is well known that earthworm could accelerate the decomposing rate of substance in the natural ecosystem by swallowing and decomposing great quantities of organic material during its metabolism process. Thereby earthworm is widely used to treat organic wastes, and vermicomposting is considered a feasible method for enhancing the value and detoxification of organic wastes, before they were used as soil conditioners. There are many researches on the vermicomposting of domestic excretion and forest litters, but little is known about municipal solid organic waste vermicomposting process, and the knowledge of the chemical and biochemical properties of such produce is very scanty too. Therefore the vermicomposting of municipal solid organic waste and organic agricultural waste utilizable feasibility were investigated based on our past study concerned about the optimal moisture condition and inoculation density of Eisenia foetida for vermicomposting. Main results were summarized as below:1. Saw dusts were added to mixed waste of pericarp and vegetable offal sampled from a food market in Weigang of Nanjing. Eisenia foetida was inoculated with a proper density into the mixture, which was placed under optimal moisture and temperature in the laboratory. Daily growth and reproduction of Eisenia foetida were monitored during 60 days of vermicomposting, and so were dry weight, chemical characteristics and biological properties of vermicomposts. Results showed that mineralization rate and total N of the organic waste were significantly improved by Eisenia foetida, while organic C and C/N ratio of the vermicomposts were decreased. Eisenia foetida also significantly increased respiration intensity, DOC contents, dehydrogenase activity, microbial biomass C, N, and the number of bacteria, while decreased the numbers of fungi and actinomyces of the vermicomposts. Furthermore, addition of saw dusts had improved the activities and number of microorganisms. Although addition of saw dusts had some adverse influences on growth and reproduction of earthworms, earthworm still developed and reproduced well in 25% and 40% saw dusts treatments during the incubation, which indicated that the addition of saw dusts and inoculation of earthworms were effective and workable to...