Academic literature on the topic 'Vermicast recovery'

<strong>Abstract</strong><strong>&mdash;</strong> One of the most significant threats to the environment is posed by the ever-increasing generation of waste. This has resulted in an urgent need for global waste management techniques that integrate the ideas of recycling and reusing of the essential components of waste. The current technologies of waste management including incineration, landfills, and material recovery have not proven as useful as intended. These mostly outdated methods have resulted in generation of toxic fumes, health hazards, and high energy and operation costs. Thus, a unique, safe, hygienic, and sustainable method of waste management is essential. Vermicomposting is a low-cost, eco-biotechnological process of waste treatment in which earthworms are used to biodegrade the organic waste into useful nutrient-rich vermicast. The products of this waste treatment process are disinfected, detoxified and nutrient-rich bio-organic fertilizers. The process not only recycles organic wastes, but also helps improve soil structure and contents. This review provides an insight into the design, operation, commercialization, and factors affecting the vermicompost reactors.

Vermitea is a liquid mixture produced by aerated or non-aerated mixing of vermicast to water. The introduction of vortex brewers had made progress in producing vermitea in terms of faster brewing time. Commercial vortex brewer is expensive and is not locally available in the Philippines. This study aimed to develop and test a locally made vortex brewer. The effects of varying amounts of air flow rate (at T1-7.2 L min-1, T2-14.4 L min-1, T3-21.6 L min-1, T4-control/non-aerated) during the brewing process to the operating time, machine performance, and properties of produced vermitea were determined. The establishment of brewing time was conducted for 24 hours and the fastest time was identified for T3 and T4 at 12 hours while longer brewing time of 20 hours was identified for T1 and T2. It was observed that the brewing time was shorter for the brewer using highest air flow rate during brewing. The largest recovery was recorded by the brewer with the lowest flow rate (T1) which was 93.39%. The brewing efficiency of the fabricated brewers was above the critical value. Also, the produced vermitea by all brewers has no foul odor which was an indication of proper aeration. The pH levels of the produced vermitea are all acidic, at a range of 6.19 to 6.86, but are still within the acceptable range. An economic analysis indicates that the most economically feasible was brewer T2 with 7.2 L min-1 air flow rate.

This study aimed to investigate the potential of container gardening to increase the yield of selected high-value crops and address food security amidst climate change. Specifically, the research focused on the production of grafted tomatoes onto eggplant, potatoes, and carrots using various soil media combinations and fertilizer applications. An experimental research methodology employing a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was used. The study was conducted in Purok 3 Malinawon, Mawab, Davao de Oro, Philippines, spanning 165 days from September 29, 2023, to April 10, 2024. Five treatments with two replicates each were applied, involving different combinations of garden soil, vermicast, organic, and inorganic fertilizers. Data on the number and weight of harvested fruits and tubers were analyzed using ANOVA to compare production outputs across treatments. The findings indicated that the combination of 50% garden soil and 50% vermicast with inorganic fertilizers (Treatment 4) yielded the highest production for both grafted tomatoes and carrots. Specifically, Treatment 4 resulted in the highest number and weight of fruits for grafted tomatoes and the highest number and weight of tubers for carrots. However, no tuber development was observed for potatoes under any treatment, highlighting the need for optimized growing conditions for this crop in container gardening. However, while container gardening showed significant potential for improving the yield of grafted tomatoes and carrots, the economic viability requires scaling up the number of containers used per cycle. Based on sample cost and income calculation, to recover production costs and ensure profitability, planting bags should be more than 5 for eggplant, 6 for tomato, and 3 for carrots per planting cycle in 4-5 months. Therefore, the more bags planted using treatment 4, the greater the potential to enhance productivity and generate more income. Overall, this study offers significant perspectives on using container gardening as an alternate farming method.