title: Growth and reproductive potential of Eisenia foetida (Sav) on various zoo animal dungs after two methods of pre-composting followed by vermicomposting.
abstract: Disposal of animal manure without treatment can be harmful to the environment. In this study, samples of four zoo animal dungs and one horse dung were pre-composted in two ways: (a) traditional composting and (b) bokashi pre-composting for 1month, followed by vermicomposting for 3months. The permanence (PEf) and reproductive potential (RP) of Eisenia foetida as well as the quality of vermicompost were evaluated. The PEf values and RP index of E. foetida were higher for samples pre-composted using the traditional composting method (98.7-88% and 31.85-16.27%, respectively) followed by vermicomposting (92.7-72.7% and 22.96-13.51%, respectively), when compared with those for bokashi pre-composted samples followed by vermicomposting, except for the horse dung sample (100% for both the parameters). The values of electrical conductivity (EC), cation exchange capacity (CEC), organic C, total N, available P, C/N ratio, and pH showed that both treatments achieved the norms of vermicompost (<4mScm-1, 40cmolkg-1, 20-50%, 1-4%, ≤20, 5.5-8.5, respectively). However, the maturity indices of vermicompost, namely, organic matter loss, N loss, and CEC/organic carbon (OC) ratio indicated that bokashi pre-composting followed by vermicomposting produced the highest values (98.7-70.7%, 97.67-96.65%, and 2.7-1.97%, respectively), when compared with the other method adapted in this study. Nevertheless, further studies with plants for plant growth evaluation are needed to assess the benefits and limitations of these two pre-composting methods prior to vermicomposting.
authors.affiliation: Área de Biología, Departamento de Preparatoria Agrícola Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, km. 38.5 Carretera Mexico-Texcoco, Chapingo, Edo de México, C.P. 56230 México, D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Edmundo Arturo
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Pérez-Godínez
authors.affiliation: Área de Biología, Departamento de Preparatoria Agrícola Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, km. 38.5 Carretera Mexico-Texcoco, Chapingo, Edo de México, C.P. 56230 México, D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lagunes-Zarate
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, CINVESTAV-IPN, Av. IPN 2508, San Pedro Zacatenco, C.P. 07360 México, D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Corona-Hernández
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, CINVESTAV-IPN, Av. IPN 2508, San Pedro Zacatenco, C.P. 07360 México, D.F., Mexico. Electronic address: mvbarajas@cinvestav.mx.
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barajas-Aceves
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D002244:Carbon; D000076282:Composting; D006736:Horses; D008372:Manure; D009835:Oligochaeta; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D008372:Manure; D012987:Soil; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Bokashi; N loss; Organic C loss; Population dynamic; Vermicomposting; Zoo animal dung