Efficacy of the Vermicomposts of Different Organic Wastes as “Clean” Fertilizers: State-of-the-Art
Centre for Pollution Control & Environmental Engineering, Pondicherry University, Chinnakalapet, Puducherry 605014, India
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Sustainability 2018, 10(4), 1205; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041205
Received: 15 February 2018 / Revised: 11 April 2018 / Accepted: 11 April 2018 / Published: 16 April 2018
(This article belongs to the Collection Organic Waste Management)
Vermicomposting is a process in which earthworms are utilized to convert biodegradable organic waste into humus-like vermicast. Past work, mainly on vermicomposting of animal droppings, has shown that vermicompost is an excellent organic fertilizer and is also imbibed with pest-repellent properties. However, there is no clarity whether vermicomposts of organic wastes other than animal droppings are as plant-friendly as the manure-based vermicomposts are believed to be. It is also not clear as to whether the action of a vermicompost as a fertilizer depends on the species of plants being fertilized by it. This raises questions whether vermicomposts are beneficial (or harmful) at all levels of application or if there is a duality in their action which is a function of their rate of application. The present work is an attempt to seek answers to these questions. To that end, all hitherto published reports on the action of vermicomposts of different substrates on different species of plants have been assessed. The study reveals that, in general, vermicomposts of all animal/plant based organic wastes are highly potent fertilizers. They also possess some ability to repel plant pests. The factors that shape these properties have been assessed and the knowledge gaps that need to be bridged have been identified.
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Keywords:
vermicompost; organic waste; organic fertilizer; germination; seed dormancy; plant pests
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MDPI and ACS Style
Hussain, N.; Abbasi, S.A. Efficacy of the Vermicomposts of Different Organic Wastes as “Clean” Fertilizers: State-of-the-Art. Sustainability 2018, 10, 1205. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041205
AMA Style
Hussain N, Abbasi SA. Efficacy of the Vermicomposts of Different Organic Wastes as “Clean” Fertilizers: State-of-the-Art. Sustainability. 2018; 10(4):1205. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041205
Chicago/Turabian StyleHussain, Naseer, and Shahid A. Abbasi 2018. "Efficacy of the Vermicomposts of Different Organic Wastes as “Clean” Fertilizers: State-of-the-Art" Sustainability 10, no. 4: 1205. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041205
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