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Top 100 Species Ranked On Basis Of Longevity, Impact On Earth And Evolutionary Success

London: The humble earthworms have pipped mankind and dinosaurs to emerge as the most successful 100 species on Earth in a new league table.

Composting of leaf litter using the epigeic, exotic earthworm Eisenia fetida and the microbial kinetize (Quikompost) was carried out in order to compare their efficacies in waste management. The quantity of leaf litter composted and the biomass (earthworm/microbial) recovered after composting were increased with increasing the quantity of earthworm/microbial kinetizer.

Fly ash is an amorphous ferroalumino silicate, an important solid waste around thermal power plants. It creates problems leading to environmental degradation due to improper utilization or disposal.

Cindy Hale, an ecologist at the University of Minnesota, answers e-mails from a lot of distraught citizens of the Great Lakes region. The residents, it seems, have introduced certain earthworms into their gardens, she says,

Four alternatives to disposal facilities 1) burn it with cement Cement manufacturers like Lafarge and Holcim have undertaken trial of co-processing hazardous waste in cement kilns that operate at 1,400

Use of earthworm species to biodegrade various substrates (industrial wastes, agricultural residues, etc.) for composting has proven to be successful after initial stabilization of vermi beds. This study presents optimization of vermi beds (soil + cowdung) for culturing of earthworms (Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae, and Megascolex megascolex.).

An innovative discipline of vermiculture biotechnology, the breeding and propagation of earthworms and the use of its castings has become an important tool of waste recycling the world over. Epigeics like Eisenia foetida and Eudrilus euginiae have been used in converting organic wastes (agro waste and domestic refuse) into vermicompost.

Courtesy earthworms, hair, weed easily converted to manure in 2003, the government ordered the closure of several hair processing units, which made wigs, in Karnataka because of pollution. Burning of hair resulted in toxic elements, which caused allergies. The problem with human hair is it takes hundreds of years to decompose (see

The age-old practice of turning the soil before planting a new crop is a leading cause of farmland degradation. Many farmers are thus looking to make plowing a thing of the past.

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