VERMICOMPOSTING OF FOOD WASTE MIXED WITH BAGASSE

Abstract

Bagasse as an organic residue, which is a by-product of sugar industry activities having high C/N ratio. Although it can be utilized by the sugar industry itself and some allied industries, however the utilization of bagasse is much lower than its production. Therefore the feasibility of vermicomposting process of food waste mixed with bagasse in different proportion by using Eisenia foetida was studied. Different proportion of food waste and bagasse was fed to the worms. It was found that using bagasse and food waste in the proportion 20:80 gives the optimum result (31.515% decrease in C percentage, C/N:21.760, 0.939%N) at day-45 of vermicomposting period. It was also found that the bedding is essential for the growth of worms when only food waste is used, while it can be avoided when food waste with bagasse is used. A variety of factors will affect the quality and characteristic of compost. Some of them are temperature, type of feedstock, and proper bedding. These factors also influence the activity, metabolisms, growth, and reproduction of worms.