Start a Vermicompost Organic Fertilizer Making Business

(113). Start a Vermicompost Organic Fertilizer Making Business

Vermicompost is the product or process of composting utilizing various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and earthworms to create a heterogeneous mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vermicast. Vermicast, similarly known as worm castings, worm humus or worm manure, is the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by a species of earthworm.

Containing water-soluble nutrients, vermicompost is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner.The process of producing vermicompost is called vermicomposting.

Methods

There are two main methods of large-scale vermiculture. Some systems use a windrow, which consists of bedding materials for the earthworms to live in and acts as a large bin; organic material is added to it. Although the windrow has no physical barriers to prevent worms from escaping, in theory they should not due to an abundance of organic matter for them to feed on. Often windrows are used on a concrete surface to prevent predators from gaining access to the worm population

The second type of large-scale vermicomposting system is the raised bed or flow-through system. Here the worms are fed an inch of "worm chow" across the top of the bed, and an inch of castings are harvested from below by pulling a breaker bar across the large mesh screen which forms the base of the bed.

Harvesting     

                                                        

Vermicompost is ready for harvest when it contains few-to-no scraps of uneaten food or bedding. There are several methods of harvesting from small-scale systems: "dump and hand sort", "let the worms do the sorting", "alternate containers" and "divide and dump." These differ on the amount of time and labor involved and whether the vermicomposter wants to save as many worms as possible from being trapped in the harvested compost.

While harvesting, it's also a good idea to try to pick out as many eggs/cocoons as possible and return them to the bin. Eggs are small, lemon-shaped yellowish objects that can usually be seen pretty easily with the naked eye and picked out.

Benefits

Soil

•  Improves its physical structure Enriches soil with micro-organisms (adding enzymes such as phosphate and cellulose.)
• Microbial activity in worm castings is 10 to 20 times higher than in the soil and organic matter that the worm ingests
• Attracts deep-burrowing earthworms already present in the soil
•  Improves water holding capacity

Plant growth

§        Enhances germination, plant growth, and crop yield

§         Improves root growth and structure

§         Enriches soil with micro-organisms (adding plant hormones such as auxins and  gibberellic acid

Economic

§          Biowastes conversion reduces waste flow to landfills

§       Elimination of biowastes from the waste stream reduces contamination of other recyclables collected in a single bin (a common problem in communities practicing single-stream recycling

§          Creates low-skill jobs at local level

§          Low capital investment and relatively simple technologies make vermicomposting practical for less-developed agricultural regions

Environmental

§         Helps to close the "metabolic gap" through recycling waste on-site

§         Large systems often use temperature control and mechanized harvesting, however other equipment is relatively simple and does not wear out quickly^.Production reduces greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and nitric oxide (produced in landfills or incinerators when not composted or throughmethane harvest)

If you want to start a Vermicompost Making Business, you can take a training from either 

Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur - tfri.icfre.gov.in/

JNKVV  Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya 

www.jnkvv.nic.in, both located in Jabalpur.