ANALYSIS OF MILLICOMPOST AND ITS EFFECTS ON PLANT GROWTH
B. RAMANATHAN *
Department of Zoology, Yadava College, Madurai – 625 014, Tamil Nadu, India.
R. GNANAMANI
Department of Zoology, Yadava College, Madurai – 625 014, Tamil Nadu, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Millicomposting is a novel green technique used to produce organic compost from organic waste with the aid of specific millipede species. It is one of the economically and environmentally friendly methods of organic waste processing. Millicomposting is a newly becoming organic solid waste management strategies. The present research work was carried with the objective exploring the millicomposting processing. In this experiment, the kitchen vegetable waste of Yadava college hostel was processed by two millipede species, Aulacobolus newtoni and Arthrosphaera dalyi. The macronutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium were evaluated in millicompost and conventional compost and assessed the growth efficiency of plant, Solanum lycopersicum. Results: The nutrient status and growth efficiency of millicompost processed by millipede species produced from kitchen waste were more than conventional compost. Moreover, the millicompost produced by Arthrosphaera dalyi processed higher nutrients and growth efficiency than that of Aulacobolus newtoni. This study promising that millicomposting is an ecofriendly method to solve the acute problem of solid waste.
Keywords: Millicomposting, millipedes, Aulacobolus newtoni, Arthrosphaera dalyi, Solanum lycopersicum