A STUDY ON VERMICAST MICRO FLORA OF EUDRILUS EUGENIAE USINGDIFFERENT LEAF LITTERS

Natarajan Manivannan, Gunalan Udhayakumar, Rajagopal Ravishankar, Nooruddin Thajuddin and Thilagavathy Daniel, R.R.Thanighaiarassu, P. Sivamani*, D. Raghunathan

ABSTRACT

Vermicomposting technology is simple biotechnological processes of composting with certain species of earthworms are used to enhance the process of waste conversion and produce a better end product. Earthworms are essential members of the soil macroflora altering the biological activity and physical structure of soils and stimulating organic matter degradation. Vermicast is the excreta of earthworms and it is an extremely helpful tool in neutralizing soil pH. They effectively harness the beneficial microflora and contain vitamins, enzymes, minerals and growth hormones. Vermicast contains significant number of bacteria, fungi and actinobacteria that is present in the surrounding soil. In present study Eudrilus eugeniae composting earthworm was used to prepare vermicompost from leaf litters of Tephrosia purpurea + Cow dung (1:1), Cassia auriculata + Cow dung (1:1), Gliricidia sepium + Cow dung (1:1), Tephrosia purpurea + Cassia auriculata + Cow dung (1:1:2), Cassia auriculata + Gliricidia sepium +Cow dung (1:1:2), Tephrosia purpurea + Gliricidia sepium + Cow dung (1:1:2) were subjected to decomposition for 90 d. The colony forming units (CFU) of bacteria, fungi and actinobacteria of vermicast were analyzed on 90 d. The results showed more number of CFU of bacteria, fungi and actinobacteria on 90 d than in the initial and control.

Keywords: Eudrilus eugeniae, Tephrosia purpurea, Cassia auriculata, Gliricidia sepium, Cow dung.