Influence of Vegetable and Fruit Wastes Vermicompost on the Growth and Yield of Black Gram (Vigna mungo L.)

Background: Composting is the process of breaking down of organic matter using living organisms which can be used as manure for soil conditioning. Vermicomposting is the rapid decomposition of biowastes using earthworm species which will enhance the growth and yield of plants. Methods: The vermicomposting of vegetable and fruit wastes was carried out during summer season (May-July) and by using the vermicompost a pot culture experiment was conducted in black gram for three months from August to October, 2019. The treatments consist of combinations of vermicomposted wastes and cowdung along with bioinoculants, Soil served as control. The biometric parameters such as root length, shoot length, fresh weight and dry weight on 15, 35, 55 DAS and yield characters like number of pods/plants, number of seeds/pods, pod length, weight of seed/pod, pod fresh weight and pod dry weight were recorded and statistically analysed. The present study has been attempted to convert the vegetables and fruit waste into compost as manure and analyse its effect on vegetative growth and yield parameters of Black gram (Vigna mungo L.). Result: The highest value of shoot length, root length, fresh weigh and dry weight were noted in fruit waste + cow dung + Pleurotus eous (APK1) + Trichoderma asperelloides + Eudrilus eugeniae on 15, 35 and 55 day after sowing (DAS) and the least was reported in control (only soil). The application of T8 treatment reported the highest yield characters which were followed by other treatments and control on 15, 35 and 55 DAS. The study concluded that T8 (F.W + cow dung + P. eous + T. asperelloides + Eudrilus eugeniae) is an effective biocompost for the growth and yield of black gram (Vigna mungo L.) which is eco-friendly.

Three Antimitotic Compounds Found in Banana Pseudo-Stem By Using Earthworms.

To identify antimitotic compounds from abundant and inexpensive plant resources, banana pseudo-stem was (BPS) chosen. Onion root tip assay and earthworm regeneration assay were carried out to test theantimitotic potential of aqueous extract of BPS.Earthworm (Eudrilus eugeniae) regeneration assay exploits the regeneration ability of amputated earthworms that retain the clitellum region. Aqueous extract of BPS decreased the mitotic index in Allium cepa root tips. Besides, thisaqueous extract of BPS inhibited the regeneration of blastema from amputated earthworms as well. Validation of this extract with MTT (3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazolyl-2-yl)- 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay using MCF-7 breast cancer cell linefurther supported the presence of antimitotic compounds. Aqueous BPS extract was further fractionated with ethyl acetateand it was found to inhibit the regeneration of new tissues from amputated earthworms. Liquid Chromatography and Mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis was performed with aqueousBPS extract to predict the lead compounds.Prediction analysis with mass values revealed the presence of three different compounds viz. α-tocotrienol, 1,2,4-nonadecanetriol and 3',4',7-trihydroxyisoflavone, which were already reported to inhibit the cell division. All our results strongly supported that banana pseudo-stem extract possesses antimitotic compounds. This is the first report of identification of putative antimitotic compounds from aqueous extract of Musa paradisiaca var. Robusta by using earthworms.

RESÍDUOS ORGÂNICOS AGROINDUSTRIAIS INFLUENCIAM A PRODUÇÃO DE HÚMUS E MULTIPLICAÇÃO DE MINHOCAS

Dentre as técnicas utilizadas no aproveitamento de resíduos agroindustriais, destaca-se a vermicompostagem, ou seja, o uso de minhocas na degradação desses resíduos pelo trato digestivo, transformando-os em húmus de minhoca. A minhoca Eudrilus eugeniae (gigante africana) é muito utilizada nesse processo de biotransformação e estabilização dessas materiais. Assim, objetivou-se com este trabalho conhecer a viabilidade do uso de resíduos agroindustriais na produção de húmus e multiplicação de minhocas. Os tratamentos foram constituídos por diferentes proporções de conteúdo ruminal (CR) e bagaço de cana (BC), sendo: (T 1 ) 100% CR; (T 2 ) 87,5% 12,5% CR + BC; ( T3 ) 75% CR + 25% BC; (T 4 ) 62,5% 37,5% CR + BC; (T5 ) 50% CR + 50% BC. Realizamos a inoculação das minhocas Eudrilus eugeniae , e decorridos 78 dias, quantificamos a massa de minhocas e de húmus. Uma combinação de 75% de conteúdo ruminal + 25% de bagaço de cana propicia melhores condições para multiplicação de minhocas Eudrilus eugineae. Quanto à produção de húmus, 100% do conteúdo ruminal possibilita maior produção do mesmo e essa decresce com a adição do bagaço de cana.

Study of Change in Physico-Chemical Parameters by Treatment of Sludge from Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) with Earthworms

One of the most vital problems of environmental protection concern is that of solid waste disposal. This problem continues to grow with the growth of population and the development of industries. The Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) already establishes itself as a service to society at large, contributing towards a cleaner environment. However, the inappropriate disposal of CETP’s hazardous sludge can cause serious environmental problems. The sludge if sent for landfilling may cause groundwater contamination, changing the soil fertility parameters as well. The research presented here is carried out to explore the ability of an epigeic earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae to transform the sludge produced from CETP into a value-added product i.e., vermicompost. In this study, six samples of feed mixture were used with different ratios of CETP sludge, cow dung, and sawdust. Physico-chemical parameters such as pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Volatile Solids (VS), Total Nitrogen (TN), Nitrate Nitrogen (NO3--N), Ammonium Nitrogen (NH4+-N) were characterized to analyze the quality of the compost formed. All these parameters are in the agreement with recommended standards of mature compost. The result shows that vermicomposting technique when used, epigeic earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae can work as a favorable alternative solution for the disposal of CETP sludge.

​Efficiency of Biocomposted Agroindustrial Wastes and Their Response in the Growth and Yield of Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp

Background: Agroindustrial by-products of cocoa shell and jack fruit peels generally considered as organic waste have almost no economic value and create a big problem in disposal time. A significant amount of biocomposted cocoa shell and jack fruit peel waste is used as organic manure that enhances growth in Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. Methods: This research work was conducted in the period of 2019 in the Department of Botany, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (India). A large amount of cocoa shell and jack fruit peel waste was used for the biocompost preparation using Pleurotus eous, Pleurotus florida spawns and Eudrilus eugeniae. After 90 days, biocompost were taken and sieved used as manure for plant study. Eight different treatments were carried out for the cultivation of Cowpea. Plant samples at various stages (25, 35 and 45 DAS) were analyzed for shoot and root length, number of leaves, flowers, nodules /plant, fresh weight and dry weight of plant. On 65th day yield parameters like number of pods/plant, length of the pod, number of seeds/pod, weight of seeds/pods, pod fresh weight and pod dry weight were analyzed. Result: The experimental results showed that the application T8 (Raw jackfruit peel + 10 g Pleurotus eous + 10 g Pleurotus florida + Eudrilus eugeniae 5 t/ha-1) recorded maximum root (20.63 cm, 32.73 cm and 39.23 cm), shoot length (70.73 cm, 167.50 cm and 175.83 cm), number of leaves/plant (26.46 cm, 33.53 cm and 37.50 cm), number of flowers/plant (12), number of nodules (14, 21.20 and 11.34), fresh weight (10.076 g, 12.146 g and 14.047 g) and dry weight (1.744 g, 1.854 g and 2.827 g) are closely followed by T4 (Raw cocoa shell+ 10 g Pleurotus eous + 10 g Pleurotus florida + Eudrilus eugeniae 5 t/ha-1). A significant increase in the yield parameters such as number of pods/plant (21), length of pod (16.50 cm), number of seeds/pod (20), weight of seed/pod (1.68 g), fresh weight (5.711 g) and dry weight of pod (2.398 g) was observed in treatment T8 as compared to the other treatments (T1, T2, T3, T5, T6 and T7) and control respectively.