Abstract: To explore the effective use of industrial tea residue in tea garden, the engineering earthworms were used to treat tea residue mixed with cattle waste and rice straw in this experiment. The growth and reproduction of earthworms as well as changes of fertility properties in tea residue compounds were also studied. The results showed that earthworms could grow and breed normally in the compound materials with 20% tea residue and the vermicomposting of tea residue compound materials can be successfully completed. Compound materials with 20% tea residue and 80% cattle waste were optimal for breeding of earthworms. While materials with 20% tea residue and 80% rice straw were optimal for growth of earthworms. Some organic carbons were consumed during the vermicomposting process. While the efficiency of nitrogen, availability of phosphorus and efficiency of potassium were increased by 23.24%-46.96%, 16.26%-25.63% and 14.08%-33.84% respectively. In summary, the earthworm biological treatment could be applied for the utilization of tea residue as fertilizer. However, a mixture of tea residue with cow dung, rice straw and other materials was needed, with an optimal tea residue content of 20%.

Key words: earthworm, tea residue, cattle waste, rice straw