Objective: The purpose of the experiment was to examine the effect of different food sources on the growth and reproduction performances of an epigeic earthworm Perionyx excavatus.
Materials and Methods: The experiment was carried out in 18 cylindrical plastic containers for 10 weeks. The study was designed with six treatments, each having three replicates. In control treat¬ment (T1), cow dung was used as the only food source for the earthworm. In another five treat¬ments, water hyacinth (T2), chopped banana plant trunk (T3), vegetable scrap (T4), paddy straw (T5), and sugarcane bagasse (T6) were used as food sources with cow dung as bedding material.
Results: The maximum weight gain of earthworm P. excavatus was 3,294.7 ± 4.5 mg for the food staff of vegetable scrap (T4). Earthworm P. excavatus fed with chopped banana plant trunk (T3) showed a very similar weight gain of 3,243.7 ± 3.8 mg. On the contrary, the minimum weight gain was 1,799.7 ± 3.5 mg for the food staff of paddy straw (T5). The maximum cocoon number of 137.33 ± 6.46 mg was observed in T3, whereas a minimum number of 36.67 ± 4.16 mg in T1. The highest number of hatchlings (12.33 ± 0.88 mg) was recorded in treatment T3, whereas the least number of hatchling (5.00 ± 0.58 mg) was observed in T1.
Conclusion: It was concluded that, among the six different food sources, chopped banana plant trunk was preferable food source to the earthworm for growth and reproduction.
Key words: Perionyx excavatus; organic food sources; weight gain; cocoon; hatching success.
|
