Prospects of implementing biotechnology for organic waste conversion by vermiculture

The aim of the study is to investigate the agrochemical composition of agricultural waste and sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants, as well as vermicompost obtained on their basis. The studies were conducted in 2023 at VNIIOK – a branch of the North Caucasus Federal Scientific Center. In the pro-duction of vermicompost for 2 months at a substrate moisture content of 60–80 % and an ambient tempe-rature of 18–25 °C, worms of the Lumbricidae family were used: Dendrobaena Veneta and Eisenia fetida, which have proven themselves well as vermicompost producers and are adapted to the weather and cli-matic conditions in most of the European territory of Russia. The following agricultural wastes were used as a substrate for vermicomposting: litterless manure of cattle (I) and small cattle (sheep) (II), chicken ma-nure (III), littered manure of cattle (a mixture of cattle manure – 60 wt.% and winter wheat straw – 40 wt.%) (IV), and sludge sediments of wastewater from municipal treatment facilities of the MUP Vodokanal of Stavropol, aged in open areas for about 1.5–3 years (V). Agrochemical studies were carried out in certified laboratories using standard methods. It was found that all studied types of waste with a high content of organic matter are suitable for vermicomposting. The content of basic nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, po-tassium) and minerals in vermicompost exceeds that in the original substrate and can vary significantly depending on the original raw material. The results of the study showed that the obtained types of vermicompost comply with the GOST requirements for organic and mineral fertilizers, which makes it pos-sible to recommend vermicomposting technology not only for the purpose of processing production and life waste, but also to obtain complex organomineral fertilizers suitable for use in plant growing.