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Biomanagement of Parthenium hysterophorus (Asteraceae) using an earthworm, Eisenia fetida (Savigny) for recycling the nutrients

M. Anbalagan, S. Manivannan and B. Arul Prakasm

In India, the weed Parthenium hysterophorus is of alien origin and very difficult to control as it has occupied most of the area in both cropped and non cropped ecosystems. The available chemical or mechanical control measures are neither feasible nor economical. Therefore, weed management strategy needs to be shifted towards non chemical methods. Vermicomposting is a biological waste management technology by which organic fraction of the waste stream is decomposed by microorganisms and earthworms in controlled environmental conditions to a level in which it can be handled, stored, and applied in the agricultural fields without adverse impacts on the environment. In this experiment, Parthenium hysterophorus was blended with cow dung and press mud at various proportions, kept for pre-treatment for 21 days and subsequently vermicomposted for a period of 60 days under shade using earthworm Eisenia fetida. The substrate moisture content and temperature were monitored regularly. At the end of experiment, vermicompost showed decrease in pH and total organic carbon (TOC), but increase in EC, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and total potassium (TK) contents. The C: N ratio of final vermicompost also reduced in different treatments. The data revealed vermicomposting of cow dung alone (T1) and Parthenium hysterophorus, cow dung and press mud mixed at equal proportion (T6) produced a superior quality manure with desirable C: N ratio and higher nutritional status than other treatments. This study suggests that the Parthenium hysterophorus could be successfully converted into highly valuable manure using E. fetida