Lifecycle of eisenia fetida in cow dung and vermicompost

This study evaluated the growth rate and reproductive parameters of cow dung and vermicomposting reared earthworms Eiseniafetida. The experiment was done at the Department of Zoology, CT University Ludhiana. A sample of ten earthworms each were exposed to cow dung and vermicompost treatments with three replications over a period of eleven weeks. The results revealed that the worms attained sexual maturity after 48.70± 1.07 daysand 50.43± 1.19 days in vermicompost and cow dung, respectively.The worms started to release cocoon on the 4^th week in vermicompost and on 5^th week in cowdung. For each worm, maximum weight achieved was 1122.36± 8.51 mg, net weight gain was 945.45± 12.07mg/ worm), growth rate was 94.55± 1.21 mg/ worm, and growth rate/ worm/ day was 12.28± 0.16 mg/ worm, thus being more with vermicompost The results confirm the superiority of vermicompost over cow dung.