Effects of Owinema Bio-Preparation on Vermicomposting in Earthworm Ecological Boxes

Garczynska, Mariola, Paczka, Grzegorz, Podolak, Agnieszka, Mazur-Paczk, Anna, Szura, Renata, Butt, Kevin Richard orcid iconORCID: 0000-0003-0886-7795 and Kostecka, Joanna (2020) Effects of Owinema Bio-Preparation on Vermicomposting in Earthworm Ecological Boxes. Applied Sciences, 10 (2). p. 456. ISSN 2076-3417

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/app10020456

Abstract

This paper describes vermicomposting of kitchen organic waste with the use of Eisenia fetida earthworms in an ecological box. To control excessively proliferated Sciaridae in the box medium, an Owinema bio-preparation, which contains larvae of the nematode Steinernema feltiae, was used. The effect of this bioinsecticide on the earthworm population during vermicomposting of organic waste was assessed. It was found that the applied bio-preparation effectively limited the populationofsciaridsandalsohadapositiveeffectonthedevelopmentoftheearthwormpopulation (it caused a significant increase in the number and biomass of mature and immature forms and cocoons produced (p < 0.05)). The Owinema preparation also had a positive effect on the rate of organic waste vermicomposting.


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