Vermicomposting: An Effective Option for Recycling Organic Wastes

Abstract

Urbanization and industrialization resulted in rapid increase in volume of solid waste; its management has become one of the biggest problems today. Solid wastes can be disposed off by methods like land filling, incineration, conversion into biogas, recycling, and composting, but its overproduction has led to inappropriate disposal practices such as their indiscriminate and inappropriately timed application to agricultural fields that ultimately leads to water and soil pollution. However, if handled properly, these organic wastes can be used for vermicomposting; it is an effective recycling technology that improves the quality of the products which is disinfected, detoxified, and highly nutritive. It is a low cost, eco-biotechnological process of waste management in which earthworms are used to cooperate with microorganisms in order to convert biodegradable wastes into organic fertilizer. Earthworms excreta (vermicast) is a nutritive organic fertilizer rich in humus, NPK, micronutrients, beneficial soil microbes; nitrogen-fixing, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, actinomycets, and growth hormones auxins, gibberlins and cytokinins, is a suitable alternative to chemical fertilizers, being an excellent growth promoter and protector for crop plants. Thus, vermiculture not only results in management of soild waste but also produces excellent nutrient enriched vermicompost. Vermicompost is beneficial for sustainable organic agriculture and maintaining balanced ecosystem.