Title: Compost production from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) employing bioinoculants

Authors: Siddhartha Saha, Kaviraj Pradhan, Satyawati Sharma, B.J. Alappat

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India. ' Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India. ' Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India. ' Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India

Abstract: The effect of antibiotic producer fungi (Penicillium chrysogenum, P. funiculosum) and free living nitrogen fixing bacteria (Azotobacter chroococcum) on the quality of vermicompost prepared from MSW was observed in the present study. Prior to vermicomposting of MSW the interaction studies among bioinoculants and E. fetida, in Farm Yard Manure (FYM), was also carried out to see the effect of bioinoculants on the growth and fecundity of earthworms. This combination of bioinoculants (A. chroococcum, P. chrysogenum and P. funiculosum) proved to be better, in terms of quality of vermicompost, than all other combinations tried.

Keywords: bioinoculants; vermicomposting; MSW; municipal solid waste; Penicillium sp; Azotobacter sp; compost production; solid waste management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2008.021861

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2008 Vol.2 No.6, pp.572 - 583

Published online: 06 Dec 2008 *

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