Transformation of phosphorus during vermicomposting

In view of the growing awareness about vermicomposting technology in recycl ing a wide range of organic wastes, the behaviour of phosphorus during mine ralization of different organic wastes in the absence and presence of epige ic earthworms was studied. The magnitude of the transformation of phosphoru s from the organic to inorganic state, and thereby into available forms was found to be considerably higher in the case of earthworm-inoculated organi c wastes, showing that vermicomposting may prove to be an efficient technol ogy for providing better P nutrition from different organic wastes. The tra nsformation of P into three major inorganically bound forms; Al-P, Fe-P and Ca-P also tended to change substantially during the process of vermicompos ting . (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.