Abstract

AGUILA JUAREZ, Pedro Del; LUGO DE LA FUENTE, Jorge  and  VACA PAULIN, Rocío. Vermicomposting as a process to stabilize organic waste and sewage sludge as an apllication for soil. Trop. subtrop. agroecosyt [online]. 2011, vol.14, n.3, pp.949-963. ISSN 1870-0462.

The issue of organic waste generation is a constant nowadays; recycling and reduction are expensive physical and chemical processes, so the use of vermicomposting techniques reduces production costs and decontaminates the environment. Earthworms decompose organic matter and generate a product called vermicompost. Vermicompost is obtained from a wide variety of organic waste including residual sludge; when sewage sludge is managed with vermicomposting techniques, the resulting product supplies nutriments, more stable organic matter and works as a soil conditioner. The present bibliographic review underscores its importance via the use of diverse sorts of organic waste to reincorpórate them into the environment. The parameters considered to produce vermicompost are: pH, temperature, moisture, total solid contents, nitrogen, carbon, C/N ratio and humic acids. The importance of this text is to be found in the need to use vermicompost amendments from the use of sewage sludge to be transformed into fertilizer and be utilized in the growth of plants, thus turning it into an alternative in agricultural soils and a solution for its final end. Separately, earthworms take part as agents that bio-accumulate heavy metals and reduce the levels of toxicity in the environments; thereby these organisms, in addition to produce vermicompost, are considered an agent that bio-accumulates heavy metals from the environment.

Keywords : vermicompost; earthworm; sewage sludge.

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