• S.G.Antony Godson
• Dr.S.Gajalakshmi

The work reported in this paper assesses the feasibility of vermicomposting castor bean plant leaves in two forms– fresh and soaked— by three-epigeic earthworm species of Eudrilus eugeniae Kinberg, Eisenia fetida Savigny, and Perionyx excavatus Perrier. The semi-continuous mode of operation was carried out throughout the experiment. The performance of the reactor was evaluated in terms of vermicast output, growth, and reproduction of earthworms over the period of 150 days. In all the reactors, vermiconversion rate was higher in reactors with the soaked form of feed than the fresh form of the feed as per One-way ANOVA. The highest vermicast output was recorded in E. fetida followed by reactors populated with E. eugeniae and P. excavatus. The zoomass of all three epigeic species increased over time. Of the three earthworm species, E. fetida gained more zoomass than the other two species.

Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae, castor bean plant, vermicast, fresh and soaked feed.

"Exploring the possibility of utilizing castor bean (Ricinus communis) plant leaves in vermicomposting with three epigeic earthworm species", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 12, page no.501-507, December-2018, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1812971.pdf

"Exploring the possibility of utilizing castor bean (Ricinus communis) plant leaves in vermicomposting with three epigeic earthworm species", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 12, page no. pp501-507, December-2018, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1812971.pdf