Biogeneration and physico-chemical properties of panchagavya fortified chicken feather vermicompost

An enormous amount of chicken feather waste materials released by the poultry industry creates severe environmental pollution. Vermicomposting is an eco-friendly way to degrade chicken feather waste along with microbial mixture (Panchagavya). Chicken feather waste was pre-decomposed by mixing it with fresh cow dung (T1), dry cow dung (T2), and Panchagavya (T3). Among these, T3 exhibits rapid deterioration of chicken feather waste and seven combination T3 substrates (E0-E6), taken for the vermicomposting process by Eudrilus eugeniae in 60 days. Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and Fourier Transforms Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy are used to assess compost maturity. The result shows that E1 (0.050:1 ratio) shows various functional groups, rich nutrients, and necessary acids than other combinations. For large-scale commercial vermi-stabilization of chicken feather waste, the E1 combination is suitable for manure production and thereby enhances soil fertility, agricultural production.