Treatment of Agricultural By-Products by Vermicomposting-Effects of Mixture Ratio of Apple Pomace and Nightsoil Sludge on the Growth of Earthworm(Eisenia Foetida) and the Chemical Composition of Worm Casts

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In order to investigate the possibility of treating the different mixture ratios of apple pomace and nightsoil sludge by vermicomposting was performed and the stability of worm casts, and availability of worm casts as plant growth media was evaluated by the analysis of chemical composition. The results were obtained as follows ; 1. The value of cast production at 100% apple pomace treatment was higher than those of other mixture ratios of apple pomace and nightsoil sludge. 2. The highest values of increasing rate and reproductive efficiency were obtained at mixture ratios of 60% apple pomace with 40% nightsoil sludge. 3. The value of increasing rate at 100% nightsoil sludge treatment was lower that those of other mixture ratios of apple pomace and nightsoil sludge. 4. Organic matter, available inorganic nutrients and stability of worm casts showed high values in all treatments. It means that worm casts are an excellent plant growth media source with a high chemical composition and their stability.