Some biological parameters of Eisenia foetida grown in pesticide treated vermicomposts

This study was carried out to determine some biological parameters such as the number of worms hatching from the cocoons of the red California worm (Eisenia foetida) found in vermicompost, on which pesticides have been applied to, weights of worms and number of cocoons laid. The study was implemented as five repeats in Coincidence Parcels Trial Layout under in-vitro conditions. The recommended dosage and 4 other lower dosages of some pesticides used in the Muş province were made use of in the study, and only tap water was administered to the control group. Ten cocoons were placed into each of the 300-cc plastic dishes containing 100g vermicompost, and the ambient temperature was maintained between 20 and 29oC and the humidity was maintained between 70 and 90%. The study was continued till the laying of new cocoons by the hatching offspring from the original cocoons. One-way ANOVA Variance Analysis was used to investigate effects of pesticides on the determined characteristics, and the TUKEY Multiple Comparison Technique was used to determine different groups. It was found in the variance analyses that there were no statistically significant differences in fungicide doses as regards the weights of worms (p=0.113), while it was found that the said differences were significant for the insecticide and herbicide doses (p=0.000). It was seen that there were significant differences between the pesticide doses as regards the numbers of cocoons and worms (P=0.000).