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International Journal of Zoology and Applied Biosciences Research Article

Received on: 06/06/2019

Revised on: 11/19/2019

Accepted on: 11/21/2019

Published on: 03/06/2020

  • G. Valli and S. Manivannan( 2020).

    Effect of bacterial suspension on growth and reproduction potential of earthworms using sago waste amended with filter mud during bioconversion

    . International Journal of Zoology and Applied Biosciences, 5( 1), 22-26.

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Abstract

The research work was designed to assess the growth and reproduction potential of indigenous species of earthworm Perionyx ceylanensis and Lampito mauritii using locally available agro industry wastes, i.e., sago bagasse (SB) and sugarcane filter mud (SFM) with bacterial inoculation. The growth and reproduction of P. ceylanensis and L. mauritii was measured by studying parameters, such as, maximum biomass gain, net biomass gain worm-1, growth rate of worms and number of cocoons produced and number of hatchlings emerged. Totally six experimental piles were prepared using 1:1 ratio of SB and SFM for inoculation of both earthworms separately and four experimental piles were inoculated with bacterial strain before inoculation of earthworms (EBP3, EBP4, EBL5 and EBL6). Results of this study revealed that the biomass gain and growth rate of both worms were significantly higher (P<0.05) in Cellulomonas sp. inoculated piles compared to Pseudomonas sp. and without inoculation of bacterial strain piles. The cocoon and hatchlings production were also significantly greater (P<0.05) in Cellulomonas sp. inoculated piles. Further, higher rate of worm mortality was recorded in without inoculation of bacterial strain piles. Hence, it has been concluded that inoculation of Cellulomonas sp. in vermicomposting before inoculation of earthworms for initial stabilization is a better medium for growth and reproduction of earthworms as well as large scale vermicompost production.

Keywords

Earthworms, Vermicomposting, Bacterial inoculation, Reproduction, Agro waste.