EChook News/Worms turn waste into a winner

From Poultry Hub

Worms turn waste into a winner

Tuesday, 18 July 2006

Environmental Engineering PhD student, James Turnell of the University of New England, Armidale, is researching the potential of earthworms to provide a unique waste management solution for the poultry industry.

Funded by the Australian Poultry CRC and Wayne Fauser, James’ research is suggesting that through the right use of earthworms, common agricultural waste can be turned into organic fertiliser, or the worms themselves into a high protein meat meal that can be used for further animal production.

“Pollution is just a resource in the wrong place,” says James.

“A significant proportion of the nutrients in chicken feed end up in the chicken manure. My aim is to turn potentially costly poultry industry wastes into value-added commodities.”

Armed with nothing more than worms, a laboratory and the expertise of Wayne Fauser, James expects to have quantified the science behind a large proportion of these waste management systems in the coming months.

James’ PhD is examining poultry wastes that include manure, dead birds and processing plant sludge from the poultry industry.

“Wayne is operating in parts of South-East Asia, and this bio-integrated process I am working on not only helps producers deal with large amounts of raw waste in a more cost-effective way, it could also reduce the potential for diseases to spread into the wider environment.

“Worm farming, or vermiculture, has traditionally been a backyard affair, and until now has not been quantified for large-scale poultry waste utilisation. This is my task.

“There is even potential for worm products to be supplemented into rice flour, thereby improving human nutrition in developing countries. So the benefits of this technology are really worth investigating,” says James.