TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ENVIRONMENT - Preferred Method: The distillation of the aromatic/medicinal herbs is carried out at 10-40 lbs of steam pressure for 2-5 hours. The distillate waste material is maintained as layers of 20-30 cm. The earthworms are Perionyx excavatus, Eisenia fetida, and E. andrie, or others. The distilled waste are chopped into small pieces, if desired. The characteristics of the vermicompost obtained from distillation wastes of aromatic/medicinal crops are pH 6.5-7.4, organic carbon (14.7-19.5 %), nitrogen (1.15-1.50 %), phosphorus (0.30-0.40 %), potassium (0.73-0.89), iron (874-2429 ppm), sodium (10-31 %), zinc (113-378 ppm), and calcium (10-14 ppm). EXAMPLE - A worm bed of 4.5 m long, 1.2 m wide and 0.5 m deep was prepared in a pit. The bottom of the pit was covered with coarse sand followed by another layer of field soil and a layer of partially decomposed cowdung. The worms Perionyx excavatus 1200/pit were released into the beds. The beds were watered daily and were kept moist. After 4 months, the well-grown worms (8-10 cm long) were used for composting. The distillation waste of various aromatic crops like Cymbopogon winterianus, C. flexuosus, Mentha arvensis, Pelargonium graveolens were sun-dried for 48 hours. The material was chopped into small pieces, and were placed into the compost pits/beds. About 1200 worms were added to the each bed. The beds were sprinkled with water daily and covered with the wet gunny bags to keep the material moist. Simultaneously beds containing the conventional wastes like rice straw, wheat straw and vegetable wastes were also maintained. After one month, the material was thoroughly turned over and an additional load of 30 cm layer was placed. The beds were again kept moist, till the material appeared to be fully composted. The beds were not watered hereafter and after 5-7 days, the material was harvested from the pits. The dried bed material was heaped onto a floor and allowed to further dry. The earthworms rapidly crawled down away from light to a relatively moist areas were separated. The top castings which were almost free from worms, were then sieved with gentle agitation so as to remove the uncomposted material and worms. The compost from distillation waste, was ready for harvest earlier than the compost from conventional sources especially compost from C. flexuosus, Pelargonium graveolens, Mentha arvensis and C. winterianus. The distillation waste does not require any pre-decomposition. The compost was air-dried and estimation concerning pH, total organic carbon, content of available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and micronutrients was carried out. The content of organic carbon was higher in the compost produced from aromatic crops (14.7-19.5 %) compared to 12-18 % in composts from conventional sources. The content of organic carbon in composts from distillation waste of P. graveolens and M. arvensis was 19.5 %. The distillation wastes of M. arvensis and P. graveolens were found to be richer in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and some essential micronutrients. Therefore, the compost from the distillation waste of these two crops was of superior quality.