Screening of four species of detritivorous (humus former) earthworms for sustainable vermicomposting of paper waste

Four species of detritivorous (humus - former) earthworms were tested for t heir ability to velmicompost paper waste blended with cowdung in 6:1 (w/w) ratio. The anecic Lampito mauritii, Kinberg and the epigeic Eudrilus eugeni ae. Kinberg were the most effective of the four species employed; 20 animal s of each of these species generated castings amounting to about 52% of the feed mass (75 g) per fortnight. The performance of these two species was f ollowed by the anecic Drawida willsi Michaelsen and the epigeic Perionyx ex cavatus, Perrier;they achieved approximately 46% vermiconversion in compara ble settings. The vermireactors were sustainable as the animals have remain ed consistently healthy and reproductive over a period of six months, and a re continuing to remain so, turning in a steadily rising vermicast output D uring this period E. eugeniae have grown to 2.3 times their original weight while the other three species have more than trebled their weights. The st udies establish the feasibility of vermicomposting as a viable process for the gainful utilization of paper waste in an environmentally dean manner. T hey also indicate that all the four species of the worms screened by us are suitable for the process, with L. mauritii and E. eugeniae a shade more ef ficient than the other two species.