Feasibility of using Problematic Aquatic Weeds in Productive Manner by Generating Vermicompost in Coconut Triangle Area of Sri Lanka
Keywords:
vermicompost, Salvinia molesta, Eichhornia crassipes, Lagenandra toxicaria, coconut palm
Abstract
Aquatic weeds cause severe productivity loss in agriculture. These plants invade lakes, ponds, rivers, canals and agricultural fields, becoming noxious weeds. The study was conducted at the vermicomposting unit of the Coconut Research Institute, Lunuwila, in the Low country Dry Zone of North Western province of Sri Lanka from August 2012 to May 2013 to find out the feasibility of producing vermicompost from three aquatic weeds; Salvinia molesta, Eichhornia crassipes and Lagenandra toxicaria. Vermicompost and compost were prepared separately from aquatic weeds and Gliricidia and Guinea grass combinations. During the vermicomposting process, growth parameters of earthworms; number of earthworms, was taken in every ten days interval further, physical, chemical and biological properties of compost and vermicompost were analyzed. Experiment was carried out in a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with eight treatment and five replicates in each treatment. Eichhornia and Salvinia recorded the highest adult earthworm number and juvenile number with the lowest mortality rate. Electrical conductivity (6.75 dSm-1), organic carbon (13.21%), phosphorous (3.61%), potassium (5.03%) and calcium (6.12%) were significantly high in Lagenandra toxicaria, Gliricidia and Guinea grass treatment was significantly high in nitrogen content (3.93%) and low in C: N ratio (2.51), compared to aquatic weeds. Salvinia showed comparatively higher nitrogen content and lower C: N ratio among aquatic weeds. Both Eichhornia and Lagenandra showed significantly higher microbial activity. Vermicompost was superior in all the properties compared to compost in the same substrate. The study revealed that aquatic weeds such as Salvinia molesta, Eichhornia crassipes and Lagenandra toxicaria which are readily available in the coconut triangle can be successfully used to produce Vermicompost. It can be concluded that the Vermicompost produced from aquatic weeds locally could be a suitable organic fertilizer for organic coconut farming in Sri Lanka.
References
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Atiyeh, R.M., Lee, S., Edwards, C.A., Arancon, N.Q., Metzger, J.D. 2002. “The influence of humic acid derived from earthworm-processed organic waste on plant growth”. Bioresource Technology. 84: 7-14.
Bansal, S. and Kapoor, K.K., 2000. Vermicomposting of crop residues and cattle dung with Eisenia foetida. Bioresource Technology. 73: 95-98.
Coleman, D. C. 1985. Through a red darkley: an ecological assessment of root soil microbial faunal interactions. In: Fitter, A. H., Atkinson, D., Read, D. J. and Usher, M. B. (Eds.). Ecological Interaction in Soil. London. UK, Blackwell Scientific Publications corporation, New Delhi. 9-21.
Delgado, M., Bigeriego, M., Walter, I., Calbo, R. 1995. Use of California red worm in sewage sludge composting. Biology and fertility of Soils. 16: 145- 150.
Edwards, C. A. and Burrows, I. 1988. The potential of earthworm compost as plant growth media. In: Edwards, C. A. and Neuhauser, E. F. (Eds.). Earthworms in Environment and Waste Management. SPB Academic Publ. B.V. Netherlands. Pp 88-90.
Edwards, C.A., 1998. The use of earthworms in the breakdown and management of organic waste. In: Edwards, C.A. (Ed.). Earthworm Ecology. Lewis, Boca Ratoon. Pp 327-354.
Edwards, C.A., Bohlen P.J., 1996. Biology and ecology of earthworms.3rd ed. Chapman and Hall, New York.
Elevitch, C. R. and Francis, J. K. 2006. Gliricidia sepium (gliricidia) Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry. Pp 68 – 74.
Gajalakshmi, S. and Abbasi, S. A. 2002. Effect of the application of water hyacinth compost/vermicompost on the growth and flowering of Crossandra undulaefolia and on several vegetables. Bioresource Technology. 85: 197-199.
Gajalakshmi, S., Ramasamy, E.V., Abbasi, S.A. 2001. Potential of two epigeic and two aneceic earthworm species in vermicomposting of water hyacinth. Bioresour. Technology. 76(3): 177-181.
Gandhi M, Sangwan V, Kapoor, K.K. and Dilbaghi, N. 1997. Composting of household wastes with and without earthworms. Environment and Ecology 15(2):432-434.
Gaur, A.C. 1994. Bulky organic manures and crop residue, Tandon, In: H.L.S. (Eds.). Fertilisers, organic manures, Recyclable waste and biofertilisers: components of integrate plant nutrition. Fertilizer Development and Consultation Organization, New Delhi, India. 148.
Girija, T., Sushama, P. K. and Abraham, C. T. 2005. Vermicomposting of aquatic weeds. Indian Journal of Weed Science. 37: 155-156.
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Haug, R. T. 1993. The practical Handbook of Compost Engineering, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla, USA.
Jackson, M.L. 1973. Soil Chemical Analysis (1st Ed), Prentice Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi, 111-204.
Kaushik, P. and Garg, V. K. 2003. Vermicomposting of mixed solid textile mill sludge and cow dung with the epigeic earthworm Eisenia feotida. Bioresource Technology. 90: 311-316.
Kaviraj and Sharma, S. 2003. Minuciple solid waste management through vermicomposting employing exotic and local species of earthworms. Bioresource Technology, 90: 169-173.
Lee, K.E. 1986. Earthworms: Their Ecology and Relationships with Soils and Land Use, Academic Press, London, UK. Pp 45-50.
Liang, C., Das, K. C. and Mcclendon 2003. The influence of temperature and moisture contents regimes on the aerobic microbial activity of a biosolid composting blend. Bioresource Technology, 86: 131-137.
Loh, T.C., Lee, Y.C., Liang, J. B., Tan, D. 2005. Vermicomposting of cattle and goat by Eisenia foetida and their growth and reproduction performance. Bioresource Technology. 96: 111-114.
Majid, F.Z. 1986. Aquatic weeds- Utility and development. Agro Botanical Publishers, Bikaner. Management and in their uses – a review. J. Am. Sci. 1 (1).management In: Kumara, A. (Ed). Verms and vermitechnology, A.P.H. Publishing.
Marinari, S., Masciandaro, G., Ceccanti, B., and Grego, S. 2000. Influence of organic and mineral fertilizer on soil biological and physical properties. Bioresource Technology 72(I): 9-17.
Mukhopadhyay, S.K., Hossain, A. 1990. Management and utilization of water hyacinthvegetation as natural resource in India for the benefit of agriculture. Indian Journal. 16: 23-28.
Nataraja, K. 2008. Feasibility of Using Salvinia molesta (D. S. Mitchell) For Composting, Vermicomposting and Biogas Generation. Agronomy. Dharwad - 580 005, University 0f Agricultural Sciences. Pp 112.
Ndegwa, P.M., Thompson, S.A. 2001. Integrating composting and vermicomposting in the treatment of bioconversion of biosolids. Bioresource Technology. 76: 107–112.
Padmavathiamma, P. K., Li, L. Y. and Kumari, U. R. 2008. An experimental study of vermi-biowaste composting for agricultural soil improvement. Bioresource Technology, 99: 1672-1681.
Parmelee, R. W., Bohlen, P. J. and Blair, J. M. 1998. Earthworms and nutrient cycling processes: integrating across the ecological hierarchy. In: Edwards, C. A. (Ed.). Earthworm Ecology. New York, St. Lucie Press. Pp 328.
Pattnaik S. and Reddy V. 2010. Nutrient Status of Vermi-compost of Urban Green Waste Processed by Three Earthworm Species Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae, and Perionyx excavates. Applied and Environmental Soli Science, Volume 2010, Pp: 1-13.Article ID 967526. doi: 1155/2010/96752.
Rajendran, P., Jayakumar, E., Kandula, S. and Gunasekaran, P. 2008. Vermiculture and Vermicomposting Biotechnology for Organic Farming and Rural Economic Development. Green pages-http://www.eco-web.com/editorial/ 080211.html
Reddy, M. V. and Okhura, K. 2004. Vermicomposting of rice-straw and its effects on sorghum growth Tropical Ecology. 45: 327-331.
Samaranayake, J. W.K. and Wijekoon, S. 2010. Effect of selected earthworms on soil fertility, plant growth and vermicomposting. Tropical Agricultural research and Extension 13(2).
Sannigrahi, A.K., Chakrabortty, S., Borah, B.C. 2002. Large scale utilization of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) as raw material for vermicomposting and surface mulching in vegetable cultivation. Ecology Environment conservation. 8(3): 269-271.
Shi-wei, Z. and Fu-Zhen, H. 1991. The nitrogen uptake efficiency from 15N labeled chemical fertilizer in the presence of earthworm manure (cast). In: Veeresh, G. K., Rajgopal, D., Viraktamath, C.A. (Eds.). Advance in Management and Conservation of Soil Fauna. Oxford and TBH publishing Co. New Delhi, Bombay.539-542.
Simard, R.R. 1993. Ammonium acetate extractable elements. In: Martin R, Carter S (Eds) Soil sampling and methods of analysis, Lewis Publisher, Florida, USA, 39-43
Singh, J 1997. Habitat preferences of selected Indian Earthworm Species and their efficiency in reduction of organic materials. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 29(3/4): 585-588.
Singh, N. B., Khare, A. K., Bhargava, D. S. and Bhattacharya, S. 2005. Optimum moisture requirement during vermicomposting using Perionyx escavatus Applied Ecology and Environmental Research. 2: 53-62.
Sluyters, J.A.F.M. 1979. A short note on various type of compost made of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). In: Proceedings - 2nd Sem. Aquat. Biol. Aquat. Manag., Rawa Pening Saltigajava. 326-334.
Suthar, S. 2007. Nutrient changes and biodynamics of epigeic earthworm Perionyx escavatus (Perrier) during recycling of some agricultural waste. Bioresource Technology, 98: 1608-1614.
Suthar, S. and Singh, H. 2008. Vermicomposting of domestic waste by using two epigeic earthworms (Peionyx escavatus and Perinyx sansibaricus). International journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 5: 99-106.
Tripathy, G. and Bharadwaj, P. 2004. Comparative studies on biomass production, life cycles and composting efficiency of Eisenia fetida (Savingy) and Lampito mauitii (Kinberg). Bioresource Technology. 92: 275-283.
Walkley, A. and Black, I.A. 1934. An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter and prepared modification of the chronic acid titration method. Soil Science, 34: 29-38.
Zucconi, F. and Bertoldi, M. D. 1991. Specifications for Solid Waste Compost, the Art and Science of Composting, J.G. Press, Inc. Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
Anderson, J.M. and Ingram, J.S.I. 1993. Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility. A Handbook of Methods 2nd ed. Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing, pp 221.
Anonymous 1976. Making aquatic weeds useful: Some perspective for developing countries. Washington, D.C., National Academy of Sciences.
Atiyeh, R.M., Lee, S., Edwards, C.A., Arancon, N.Q., Metzger, J.D. 2002. “The influence of humic acid derived from earthworm-processed organic waste on plant growth”. Bioresource Technology. 84: 7-14.
Bansal, S. and Kapoor, K.K., 2000. Vermicomposting of crop residues and cattle dung with Eisenia foetida. Bioresource Technology. 73: 95-98.
Coleman, D. C. 1985. Through a red darkley: an ecological assessment of root soil microbial faunal interactions. In: Fitter, A. H., Atkinson, D., Read, D. J. and Usher, M. B. (Eds.). Ecological Interaction in Soil. London. UK, Blackwell Scientific Publications corporation, New Delhi. 9-21.
Delgado, M., Bigeriego, M., Walter, I., Calbo, R. 1995. Use of California red worm in sewage sludge composting. Biology and fertility of Soils. 16: 145- 150.
Edwards, C. A. and Burrows, I. 1988. The potential of earthworm compost as plant growth media. In: Edwards, C. A. and Neuhauser, E. F. (Eds.). Earthworms in Environment and Waste Management. SPB Academic Publ. B.V. Netherlands. Pp 88-90.
Edwards, C.A., 1998. The use of earthworms in the breakdown and management of organic waste. In: Edwards, C.A. (Ed.). Earthworm Ecology. Lewis, Boca Ratoon. Pp 327-354.
Edwards, C.A., Bohlen P.J., 1996. Biology and ecology of earthworms.3rd ed. Chapman and Hall, New York.
Elevitch, C. R. and Francis, J. K. 2006. Gliricidia sepium (gliricidia) Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry. Pp 68 – 74.
Gajalakshmi, S. and Abbasi, S. A. 2002. Effect of the application of water hyacinth compost/vermicompost on the growth and flowering of Crossandra undulaefolia and on several vegetables. Bioresource Technology. 85: 197-199.
Gajalakshmi, S., Ramasamy, E.V., Abbasi, S.A. 2001. Potential of two epigeic and two aneceic earthworm species in vermicomposting of water hyacinth. Bioresour. Technology. 76(3): 177-181.
Gandhi M, Sangwan V, Kapoor, K.K. and Dilbaghi, N. 1997. Composting of household wastes with and without earthworms. Environment and Ecology 15(2):432-434.
Gaur, A.C. 1994. Bulky organic manures and crop residue, Tandon, In: H.L.S. (Eds.). Fertilisers, organic manures, Recyclable waste and biofertilisers: components of integrate plant nutrition. Fertilizer Development and Consultation Organization, New Delhi, India. 148.
Girija, T., Sushama, P. K. and Abraham, C. T. 2005. Vermicomposting of aquatic weeds. Indian Journal of Weed Science. 37: 155-156.
Gupta, O. P. 1987. Aquatic weed management- A text book and manual, New Delhi, Today and Tomorrow's Printers and Publishers.
Haug, R. T. 1993. The practical Handbook of Compost Engineering, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla, USA.
Jackson, M.L. 1973. Soil Chemical Analysis (1st Ed), Prentice Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi, 111-204.
Kaushik, P. and Garg, V. K. 2003. Vermicomposting of mixed solid textile mill sludge and cow dung with the epigeic earthworm Eisenia feotida. Bioresource Technology. 90: 311-316.
Kaviraj and Sharma, S. 2003. Minuciple solid waste management through vermicomposting employing exotic and local species of earthworms. Bioresource Technology, 90: 169-173.
Lee, K.E. 1986. Earthworms: Their Ecology and Relationships with Soils and Land Use, Academic Press, London, UK. Pp 45-50.
Liang, C., Das, K. C. and Mcclendon 2003. The influence of temperature and moisture contents regimes on the aerobic microbial activity of a biosolid composting blend. Bioresource Technology, 86: 131-137.
Loh, T.C., Lee, Y.C., Liang, J. B., Tan, D. 2005. Vermicomposting of cattle and goat by Eisenia foetida and their growth and reproduction performance. Bioresource Technology. 96: 111-114.
Majid, F.Z. 1986. Aquatic weeds- Utility and development. Agro Botanical Publishers, Bikaner. Management and in their uses – a review. J. Am. Sci. 1 (1).management In: Kumara, A. (Ed). Verms and vermitechnology, A.P.H. Publishing.
Marinari, S., Masciandaro, G., Ceccanti, B., and Grego, S. 2000. Influence of organic and mineral fertilizer on soil biological and physical properties. Bioresource Technology 72(I): 9-17.
Mukhopadhyay, S.K., Hossain, A. 1990. Management and utilization of water hyacinthvegetation as natural resource in India for the benefit of agriculture. Indian Journal. 16: 23-28.
Nataraja, K. 2008. Feasibility of Using Salvinia molesta (D. S. Mitchell) For Composting, Vermicomposting and Biogas Generation. Agronomy. Dharwad - 580 005, University 0f Agricultural Sciences. Pp 112.
Ndegwa, P.M., Thompson, S.A. 2001. Integrating composting and vermicomposting in the treatment of bioconversion of biosolids. Bioresource Technology. 76: 107–112.
Padmavathiamma, P. K., Li, L. Y. and Kumari, U. R. 2008. An experimental study of vermi-biowaste composting for agricultural soil improvement. Bioresource Technology, 99: 1672-1681.
Parmelee, R. W., Bohlen, P. J. and Blair, J. M. 1998. Earthworms and nutrient cycling processes: integrating across the ecological hierarchy. In: Edwards, C. A. (Ed.). Earthworm Ecology. New York, St. Lucie Press. Pp 328.
Pattnaik S. and Reddy V. 2010. Nutrient Status of Vermi-compost of Urban Green Waste Processed by Three Earthworm Species Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae, and Perionyx excavates. Applied and Environmental Soli Science, Volume 2010, Pp: 1-13.Article ID 967526. doi: 1155/2010/96752.
Rajendran, P., Jayakumar, E., Kandula, S. and Gunasekaran, P. 2008. Vermiculture and Vermicomposting Biotechnology for Organic Farming and Rural Economic Development. Green pages-http://www.eco-web.com/editorial/ 080211.html
Reddy, M. V. and Okhura, K. 2004. Vermicomposting of rice-straw and its effects on sorghum growth Tropical Ecology. 45: 327-331.
Samaranayake, J. W.K. and Wijekoon, S. 2010. Effect of selected earthworms on soil fertility, plant growth and vermicomposting. Tropical Agricultural research and Extension 13(2).
Sannigrahi, A.K., Chakrabortty, S., Borah, B.C. 2002. Large scale utilization of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) as raw material for vermicomposting and surface mulching in vegetable cultivation. Ecology Environment conservation. 8(3): 269-271.
Shi-wei, Z. and Fu-Zhen, H. 1991. The nitrogen uptake efficiency from 15N labeled chemical fertilizer in the presence of earthworm manure (cast). In: Veeresh, G. K., Rajgopal, D., Viraktamath, C.A. (Eds.). Advance in Management and Conservation of Soil Fauna. Oxford and TBH publishing Co. New Delhi, Bombay.539-542.
Simard, R.R. 1993. Ammonium acetate extractable elements. In: Martin R, Carter S (Eds) Soil sampling and methods of analysis, Lewis Publisher, Florida, USA, 39-43
Singh, J 1997. Habitat preferences of selected Indian Earthworm Species and their efficiency in reduction of organic materials. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 29(3/4): 585-588.
Singh, N. B., Khare, A. K., Bhargava, D. S. and Bhattacharya, S. 2005. Optimum moisture requirement during vermicomposting using Perionyx escavatus Applied Ecology and Environmental Research. 2: 53-62.
Sluyters, J.A.F.M. 1979. A short note on various type of compost made of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). In: Proceedings - 2nd Sem. Aquat. Biol. Aquat. Manag., Rawa Pening Saltigajava. 326-334.
Suthar, S. 2007. Nutrient changes and biodynamics of epigeic earthworm Perionyx escavatus (Perrier) during recycling of some agricultural waste. Bioresource Technology, 98: 1608-1614.
Suthar, S. and Singh, H. 2008. Vermicomposting of domestic waste by using two epigeic earthworms (Peionyx escavatus and Perinyx sansibaricus). International journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 5: 99-106.
Tripathy, G. and Bharadwaj, P. 2004. Comparative studies on biomass production, life cycles and composting efficiency of Eisenia fetida (Savingy) and Lampito mauitii (Kinberg). Bioresource Technology. 92: 275-283.
Walkley, A. and Black, I.A. 1934. An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter and prepared modification of the chronic acid titration method. Soil Science, 34: 29-38.
Zucconi, F. and Bertoldi, M. D. 1991. Specifications for Solid Waste Compost, the Art and Science of Composting, J.G. Press, Inc. Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
Published
2017-04-01
How to Cite
S.H.S. Senarathne. (2017). Feasibility of using Problematic Aquatic Weeds in Productive Manner by Generating Vermicompost in Coconut Triangle Area of Sri Lanka. CORD, 33(1), 15. https://doi.org/10.37833/cord.v33i1.52
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