Toxic effects of fertilizers onmortality of earthworms, Eiseniafoetida

Abstract Various researches carried out on effect of inorganic chemical fertilizers on earthworm Eiseniafoetida and findings revealed that there was significant variation between the treatments in terms of adult and juvenile earthworm mortality, ranging from 0.00 to 98%, when the food material was combined with different inorganic fertilizers. The urea at 10g/kg vermifeed had the noticeably highest mortality rate of 98%. MOP @ 10g/kg vermifeed (85.00%) comes next. The combination with single super phosphate (SSP) at 5g/kg vermifeed had the lowest mortality rate (30%). The adults of the Eiseniafoetida earthworm are comparatively moderately toxic to the complex fertilizers. When zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe), two of the micronutrients examined for toxicity at both tested dosages, were found comparatively more harmful to earthworm adults than other micro nutrients. In the control treatment, there was no earthworm mortality (0.00%). Inorganic fertilizers were proven more harmful when added to earthworm food. Keywords:,Eiseniafoetida earthworms, inorganic fertilizers, food materials, toxicity, mortality,dosage.