JOURNAL of Soil Biology and Ecology 

Mass multiplication of soil mesofauna of natural grass land 

Authors: N.G. KUMAR, T.G. AVINASH AND P. NIRMALA 

Abstract:

The present study was carried out in the greenhouse conditions at the GKVK campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, to mass-produce the soil mesofauna collected from the natural grassland. The results indicated that the mesofauna could be mass multiplied in the soil by providing household vegetable wastes as food and water. The abundance of mesofauna varied from 16.00 to 93.00/400 g of soil in the soil samples collected from the grassland ecosystem. The mean abundance of mesofauna varied from 23.00 to 919.00/ 400 g of soil in the greenhouse samples and survived throughout the year. The mesofaunal diversity indices varied from 0.64 to 0.81 in the samples of the natural grassland ecosystem. It was from 0.45 to 0.88 in the samples maintained in the greenhouse conditions throughout the year. 

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