Effects of pot types and loamy soil enriched with different proportions of cow dung on the breeding performance of a wetland earthworm

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Date
2017
Authors
Dada, E. O.
Njoku, K. L.
Osuntoki, A. A.
Akinola, M. O.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ecological Society of Nigeria
Abstract
In most vermiculture studies, the comparative effects of different culture containers on earthworm breeding performance have received less attention. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of container types and loamy soil enriched with different proportions of cow dung on the breeding performance of Libyodrilus violaceus. L. violaceus was cultured in sandy loamy soil enriched with 10 %, 25 % and 50 % cow dung, inside different pots (earthenware, plastic and wooden) for a period of twelve weeks. The data generated were subjected to multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to determine the relative effects of each container type and soil type on the culture of L. violaceus. Results indicated that pot type produced more significant effect on the population size of L. violaceus (F = 68.74, p <0.001), while the effect of soil type on the population size of L. violaceus was also significant (F = 12.24, p < 0.001). L. violaceus cultured in wooden and earthenware pots recorded the highest mean population sizes of 76.50 ± 20.27 and 61.75 ± 16.43 respectively relative to those cultured in plastic pot, while L. violaceus cultured in soil enriched with 25% cow dung had the highest and significant (P < 0.05) mean population sizes of 94.00 ± 11.53 and 82.67 ± 11.93, inside wooden and earthenware pots respectively. These findings imply that L. violaceus is better cultured in sandy loamy soil amended with 25% cow dung, inside wooden pot.
Description
Staff publication
Keywords
Libyodrilus violaceus, cow dung, vermiculture, population size. , Population size , Libyodrilus violaceus , Cow dung , Vermiculture , Research Subject Categories::NATURAL SCIENCES::Biology::Cell and molecular biology
Citation
Dada, E. O. Njoku, K. L. Osuntoki, A. A. & Akinola, M. O. (2017). Effects of pot types and loamy soil enriched with different proportions of cow dung on the breeding performance of a wetland earthworm. Nigerian Journal of Ecology, Vol.16(1), 14-21pp.