IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2013) 4-1

Research article
erdUsing Chicken Manure Iin Vermicompost to Manage
7 Wastes
Different Agro-Industrial
NATTAKIT PETMUENWAIdent

Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University,Thailand
4Email: Nattakit@kkumail.com, chulee_b@kku.ac.th.
72
CHULEEMAS BOONTHAI IWAI*

Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
wo
THAMMARED CHUASAVATHIr
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University,Thailand
ds

MONGKON TA-OUN

Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Thailand
Received 16 December 2012Accepted 30 January 2013(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract The agro-industrial waste has been increasing every year. Without proper
management, it would cause problems to soil as well as water and air pollution to theenvironment. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the use of chicken
manure in vermicompost of agro-industrial waste. The vermicompost experiment wasconducted by using different agro-industrial wastes (cassava pulp, cassava peel, eucalyptus
peel and oil palm) and different rates of chicken manure (2.5%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and25%). The qualities of each mixture and vermicompost in different treatments before andafter 30 days were analyzed. Earthworms (Eudrilus eugeniae) could survive 100% in thevermicompost of chicken manure at the rate of 2.5 - 25% in cassava pulp, cassava peel andeucalyptus peel treatments, but could not survive in the oil palm treatment. After 30 days,
the growth of earthworms in the vermicompost treatments with cassava pulp, eucalyptus
peel, cassava peel with chicken manure were increased at 134%, 188% and 167%,
respectively. Therefore, chicken manure can be used to increase the growth of earthworms
in vermicompost using industrial wastes (cassava peel, cassava pulp, and eucalyptus peel)
to produce biofertiliser and reduce environmental pollution problem.
Keywords chicken manure, earthworm, vermicompost
INTRODUCTION
The economy of Thailand is greatly expanding nowadays at the expense of natural resources. An
Agro industry, in particular, has consumed raw materials from those resources for production. With
industrial processes, there are byproducts of colossal wastes that pollute soil, water, and air.
Moreover, the large amounts of agro-industrial wastes produced bring about impact on ourenvironment and nature. Without proper management or the wastes are too great a quantity tohandle, the environment problems will be increasing. Furthermore, chicken manure is a cause ofenvironmental impact that highly pollutes the soil, water and air (Tacon, 1991). The problem
doubles during the rainy season when floodwater leaches the wastes to soil down into canals orrivers. This affects every life that lives in soil and water. One way to manage organic wastes isusing earthworms to handle industrial wastes (Iwai et al., 2011; TonsCho,  2010).
Using earthworms does not cost a lot of money for waste treatment and does not disturb
nearby communities because manure from sludge waste can produce good vermicompost andearthworms transform the sludge to a good fertilizer (Suthar, 2007). Vermitechnology is a type ofcompost production from earthworm activities and the product is vermicompost, a solid thatⒸ ISERD69

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2013) 4-1

includes vermicast and worm casting, decomposed organic fossil, and vermin-juice which is liquidfrom the earthworm and the fermentation process. Liquid is used in the production and liquid fromthe fermentation process is used to make manure (Iwai et al., 2011).
Chicken manure is an agro-waste that is filled with essential minerals which are important forplant growth (Garner, 1966; Edwards, 1988).   When chicken manure is mixed with organic
materials from many agro-industrial factories, vermicompost is the outcome. Vermicompost speeds
up the growth rate of earthworms. Hence, we were interested to study the use of chicken manure invermicompost production to manage agro-industrial wastes.
OBJECTIVE
This study was aimed at investigating the use of chicken manure in vermicompost to manage
different agro-industrial wastes.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Chicken manure makes good nutrient for earthworms that in turn increase the rate of compost
production. Our study comprised 4 trials of chicken manure blending: 1) with cassava pulp, 2) withcassava peel, 3) with eucalyptus peel, and 4) with oil palm.
Each agro-industrial waste was mixed with sandy soil (Yasotorn soil) by using 70:30 ratio andthe mixture blended with chicken manure at the rates of 0,  2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20 and  25% by weight.
The earthworm used in this trail was Eudrillus eugeniae species; its common name is African
Night Crawler.
The experimental materials, namely, chicken manure, cassava peel, cassava pulp, eucalyptus
peel and sandy soil were dried indoor for specific ratios of weight. Earthworms were selectedbased on similar size and explicit maturity based on Clitellum  (System of propagation species). The
moisture content of materials for feeding earthworms was maintained at 50% throughout the study.
Data was collected by recording the rates of survival of earthworms and their weights before
and after the experiments.
Table 1  Chemical characteristics of agro-industrial degradation (chicken manure, cassava
pulp, cassava peel, eucalyptus peel and oil palm)
Chemical characteristics

cassava pulp  Hydrogen ions (pH)Electric conductivity (EC)
Organic matter  (OM %)Total nitrogen  (%  N)
Available phosphorus (%  P)
Extractable potassium (%  K)
C/N ratio

4.95
0.67
89.57
0.24
0.020.36
220.87Natural Organic Adsorbents
eucalyptus
cassava peel  oil palmpeel  5.45
7.47
5.32
1.25
0.34
5.92
58.00
38.96
78.11
0.49
0.25
0.92
0.05
0.08
0.41
0.51
0.18
1.23
69.05
89.64
45.03

chickenmanure  8.80
6.20
24.50
1.50
5.10
2.40
9:1

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The survival rates of earthworms when using chicken manure blended with agro-industrial
wastesThe usage of cassava pulp blended with chicken manure: Earthworms could survive 100% in
various ratios of blending cassava pulp with chicken manure (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% byweight). However, the usage of chicken manure at the highest rate of 25% blended with cassava
pulp did not affect the rate of the survival of earthworms after 30 days. This suggests thatapplication of chicken manure at an optimum rate could increase reproductivity of earthworms.
Nevertheless, over-dose rate use of chicken manure could decrease earthworm growth. ThisⒸ ISERD70

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2013) 4-1

resulted from high EC or salinity which was not suitable for earthworm living. Our result wasconsistent to the report of the Department of Public Work, Los Angeles County (2002) whichstated that in environment with high organic matter content, growth rate of juvenile L. rubellus was
better than E. eugeniae.
The usage of eucalyptus peel blended with chicken manure: Earthworms could survive 100% in
various ratios of blending eucalyptus peel with chicken manure (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% byweight). Similarly, the usage of chicken manure at the highest rate of 25% blended with eucalyptus
peel did not affect the rate of the survival of earthworms after 30 days (Mertus, 1993). Earthworms
are very sensitive to pH or H+ changes. Normally, earthworms can exist in environment that has pH
ranging from 4.2 - 8. However, pH 7 is the most suitable for earthworms (Edwards and Bohlen,1996).
The usage of cassava peel blended with chicken manure: Earthworms could survive 100% in
various ratios of blending cassava peel with chicken manure (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% byweight). It was shown that the usage of chicken manure at the highest rate of 25% blended withcassava peel did not affect the rate of the survival of earthworms after 30 days. This can beexplained by higher electrical conductivity (EC) or salinity of the compost (Edwards and Bohlen,1996). In addition, raw materials used in this study mainly contained organic nitrogenous
compounds that can be easily decomposed, which resulted in releasing large amount of NH4+
contributing to rapid pH increase that influenced earthworm existence.
The usage of oil palm blended with chicken manure: Earthworms could not survive in various
ratios of blending oil palm with chicken manure (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% by weight).
Although it did not have chicken manure (0%), the result showed that the oil palm blended withearthworm feed and chicken manure could not make the earthworms survive even for a short timeof just 1 week. This can be explained by higher electrical conductivity (EC) or salinity of thecompost (Edwards and Bohlen, 1996). In addition, raw materials used in this study contained
mainly organic nitrogenous compounds that can be easily decomposed, which resulted in releasinglarge amount of NH4+ that contributes to rapid pH increase influencing earthworm existence.
(Mertus, 1993).
The growth of earthworm when using chicken manure blended with agro-industrial wastes
The usage of cassava pulp blended with chicken manure: The blending of cassava pulp withchicken manure at 5% rate resulted in increased weight of earthworms (2.32 g). The highest weightof earthworms at 134% was changed from when earthworms were fed 1 month ago. They becameheavier than at the blending rates of 0, 2.5, 10, 15, 20, and 25%, or an increase of 22, 85, 105, 50,
35.4 and 11.8%, respectively (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). Edwards and Lofty (1972) found that organic
matter content was a crucial factor affecting earthworm weight. In this study, cattle manure vs.
other materials added with P, K, Na, and Mg were compared for vermiculturing. It was found thatweight of earthworms cultured in cattle manure increased more than 75%.

Fig. 1 The weight of earthworms (g) while using of the cassava pulp blended with chicken
manure by ratios after 30 daysⒸ ISERD71

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2013) 4-1Fig. 2 Change of the weight of earthworm (%) before and after experiment by using thecassava pulp blended with chicken manure by ratios after 30 days

Fig. 3  The  increasing  of  the  earthworm‘s  weight  (g) while using cassava pulp blended withchicken manure by ratios after 30 days

Fig. 4 Change of the weight of earthworms (%) before and after experiment while using
cassava pulp blended with chicken manure by ratios after 30 days
The usage of eucalyptus peel blended with chicken manure: The blending of eucalyptus peelwith chicken manure at 10% rate showed an increase in the weight of earthworms (2.88 g). The
highest weight of earthworms at 188% was changed from when earthworms were fed 1 month ago.
They were heavier than when the rates were 0, 2.5, 5, 15, 20, and 25%, an increase of 85, 142.9,134.8, 162.5, 88 and 25.3 %, respectively, as shown in Fig.3 and Fig.4. This might be caused byhigh EC, salinity (Edwards and Bohlen, 1996), and pH values resulting from release of NH4+ fromlabile organic nitrogenous compounds were not suitable for earthworm existence (Mertus, 1993).
The usage of cassava peel blended with chicken manure: The blending of cassava peel withchicken manure at 2.5% rate increased in the weight of earthworms (2.94 g). The highest weight ofearthworms at 167% was changed from 1 month ago; the weight was higher than at the blending
rates of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25%, or an increase of 124, 91.5, 88.2, 35.8, 34, and 27.7 %,respectively (Fig. 5 and Fig. 6). This is consistent with Kwansod (2003) who reported that using
low ration of chicken manure led to high potential transformation of nutrients in raw materials inearthworm biomass.

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2013) 4-1Fig.  5  The  increasing  of  the  earthworm‘s  weight  (g) while using cassava pulp blended withchicken manure by ratios after 30 days

Fig. 6 Change of the weight of earthworm (%) before and after experiment while using
cassava pulp blended with chicken manure by ratios after 30 days
CONCLUSION
The survival of earthworm when using chicken manure blended with agro-industrial wastes
The usage of chicken manure in all ratios (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% rates) blended withcassava pulp, cassava peel, and eucalyptus peel can increase % survival of the earthworms at 100%after 30 days. The chicken manure of the highest rate at 25% by weight with oil palm blended did
not make the earthworms survive; not even without chicken manure (0% rate). With timeproceeded, EC and salinity of vermicompost influenced earthworm survival. Edwards (1988)
reported that high salinity of the compost could reduce earthworm growth. Generally, the optimum
EC or salinity for earthworm survival ranges from 1.58 to 3.35 dSm-1 (Owojorl et al., 2008).
The growth of earthworm when using chicken manure blended with agro-industrial wastes
The usage of chicken manure at 5, 10 and 2.5% with cassava pulp, eucalyptus and cassava peel,peel, respectively, better increased the weight per body than other chicken manure ratios. Thisshows that use of optimum rate of chicken manure could increase earthworm biomass. However,employing over-dose rate (> 10%) of this material contributes to decrease in earthworm weight.
Our results suggest that poultry manures such as chicken manure are not suitable for vermiculture.
This is likely because these manures contain enriched ammonia and inorganic salts in which
earthworms cannot survive. However, if ammonia and inorganic salt contents can be reduced,
chicken manure is very appropriate for vermiculture. This is because chicken manure has a numberof nutrients, which can increase the compost value. (Edwards, 1988)Ⓒ ISERD73

IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2013) 4-1

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research project was funded by The National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) andNational Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 2012, Integrated Water
Resource Management Research and Development Center in Northeast Thailand and GWRC,
Khon Kaen University. Thanks are extended to the Division of Land Resource and Environment,
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University for the support of equipment for laboratory testing.
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