TY - JOUR ID - 140953 TI - Evaluating the Changes in Quantities and Types of Substrates Containing Organic Wastes on the Growth and Reproduction of the Earthworm (Eisenia fetida) JO - Journal of Advances in Environmental Health Research JA - JAEHR LA - en SN - 2676-3478 AU - Mohammad Alipour, Saeed AU - Fataei, Ebrahim AU - Nasehi, Fatemeh AU - Imani, Aliakbar AD - Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran. Y1 - 2022 PY - 2022 VL - 10 IS - 1 SP - 39 EP - 46 KW - Eisenia fetida KW - Reproduction KW - Vermicompost KW - carrot KW - Sawdust KW - Vegetables DO - 10.32598/JAEHR.10.1.1230 N2 - Background: The feasibility of converting organic wastes into vermicompost and the effect of adding such wastes into the substrate on the growth and reproduction of the earthworm (Eisenia fetida) were investigated in the present study through a two-factor factorial experiment with a completely randomized design in triplicate.Methods: The first factor with nine different treatment combinations included control; potato (P); carrot pulp (C); vegetables (V); sawdust (S); potato, vegetables, and carrot pulp (PVC); sawdust, potato, and carrot pulp (SPC); vegetables, sawdust, and potato (VSP); and carrot pulp, vegetables, potato, sawdust (CVPS). The second factor was related to two different amounts of 100 and 150 g. This research was carried out using the analysis of basket trials in Tonekabon County, Mazandaran Province, Iran, in 2021. The base substrate of earthworms was animal manure positioned in boxes and washed with urban tap water to reach a pH value between 6.5 to 7. After ripening the vermicompost, the boxes were emptied, and the worms were counted.Results: The analysis of variance showed a significant difference in the number of cocoons between the studied treatments (P<0.1), but there was no significant difference in the number of worms between groups. The maximum number of cocoons (mean=605) corresponded to the sawdust treatment combination (S), and the minimum number of cocoons (mean=185) was found in the vegetable treatment combination (V).Conclusion: The treatment of manure bed with sawdust wastes provided the optimal conditions for the growth and reproduction of E. fetida.  UR - https://jaehr.muk.ac.ir/article_140953.html L1 - https://jaehr.muk.ac.ir/article_140953_bbadb7cb6790303d00a4609cd9c0929a.pdf ER -