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Vermicompost:
An effective substitute for
chemical fertilisers |
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The advent of organic farming has made farmers innovative and nature friendly. Vermicomposting, an effective replacement for chemical fertilisers is the most sought after due to its cost-effectiveness and quality of enriching the soil. Shwetha E. George, a freelancer based in Kerala writes about the advantages of vermicomposting and feels that more needs to be done to create proper awareness among farmers about vermiculture. The High Ranges of Central Kerala is known for its highly fertile soil. The planters here now have another reason to cheer. They have come across new natural manure, Vermicompost, which makes the soil healthy. Vermicompost is the compost prepared from the ‘faecal castings released by earthworms.’ This is an excellent form of natural manure, which is cost-effective, easy to make and effective in promoting waste-management. Vermicompost and its preparation is fast becoming a household activity in most municipalities of Kerala. Preparation Inside a bricklayer setting of 25 metres length and five feet breadth, these worms (Eisenia foetida varieties) are randomly placed on the soil bed. Over these worms, waste is laid. This waste can be decayed vegetable remains, palm leaves, dung and rice bran. Around 2,000 worms would require at least 40 baskets of garbage. The bed is watered and then completely covered with sacks. For the next 38 days, the bed must continue to be watered without removing the sack on top. During this time, the worms eat the garbage, working their way from bottom to top. Then the vermibed is allowed to dry for seven days. By then, the worms would have completely eaten through the waste and settled at the bottom. The sacks are removed and the compost, the fine black powder, which is the excreta of the worms, is scooped up manually from the surface of the bed. “Since the final scooping of the compost powder must be done by standing outside the pit and using only hands, the five feet width is just apt,” says Mathew P John, Director of the Sahyadri Research Institute of Eco-Farming, Peermade, which has around 60 cultural units set up throughout the High Ranges. “The sack cloth covering is necessary so that the worms can contain their own drought,” And the compost is sieved only if you “are intending to sell.” With 4,000 worms, one can prepare one tonne of compost in 60 days (in the High Ranges preparation period is more due to low humidity level). The current price for vermicompost is Rs 5 a kg. And the costs of making it are also minimal. Around 4,000 worms will cost Rs 2,000, each worm costing 50 paisa. Expenses of infrastructure (these worms can be bred in a brick-setting or tank or a pit) and the labour (seven people for 60 days) can be worked out to another Rs 2000. ``One tonne of compost fetches a price of Rs 5000’’, says Mathew. In this case the farmer gets a profit of Rs 1000. The second time, his expenses are reduced by 60 per cent because he saves on infrastructure. At the end of the 60-day cycle, the worms would have multiplied. He can prepare the next round of compost on the same bed or create a new bed by transferring some of the worms there. Vermicompost is becoming the principal manure for crops in the region. The market crisis for agricultural produces has also contributed to the popularity of vermicomposting. The manure comes in handy especially for small-holders who do not have the money to buy expensive, chemical fertilizers. The manure is used rampantly for crops like pepper, cardamom and coffee. The only crop for which the vermicompost is not usable is tea. Because it requires large quantities of manure than can be washed away after application during the rainy season. The biggest beneficiaries are women who have formed themselves into NGO-trained Self-Help Groups (SHGs). These women can easily prepare the compost in their backyard and sell the excess kilos left after their own use to neighbouring estates or farmers as far as from North Kerala and the coastal belt. Demands from these areas are reported to be as high as 20 tonnes. The Sahyadri Institute, run by the Peermade Development Society, now intends to set up cultural units in the municipalities of rural Kerala including Perumbavoor, Piravom, Alwaye and Thodupuzha. The NGO-run institutes like these are assisted by the Spices Board and local bodies like grama panchayats, zilla panchayats , which organise seminars and teach farmers the method of vermicomposting. Government agricultural departments also buy these worms in bulk to conduct their own projects on vermiculture. “In fact, with the Supreme Court ruling that one of the criteria to decide on metro status would be the particular district’s level of participation in organic farming, I am hoping for more involvement in this field,” says Mathew. But the low sense of awareness still remains a problem even within the municipalities that have undergone seminars on vermicomposting. “Neither the Boards nor the local bodies have a procedure to select the farmers who undergo the training,’’ says Mathew, “Not all 100 farmers will be resourceful. The most important factor for any type of organic farming is individual involvement. So if farmers in the group are disinterested, the scheme will not be successful.” Technical expertise alone does not make organic farming. Unless there is a uniformity of procedure, the advantages of organic farming – low cost, more soil fertility and eco-friendliness - will not come through. Secondly, the farmer community expects government subsidy even though it is a completely low-cost method. “Times are harsh,” says Mathew. Kerala has never faced an agricultural crisis like this before. Most farmers are dependent on money-lenders and reports of isolated cases of suicides are beginning to pour in. The initial start-up amount of Rs 4000 is not affordable by all. “In fact only a few can cough up that amount on their own.” After all, by preparing vermicompost, the farmer is making the soil healthy. In turn, he’s supplying healthy crops into the market. The content of organic carbon, the index for the presence of humus in the soil, is around two per cent in the High Ranges, below five per cent in the coastal areas and one per cent in the middle areas. “So the farmers in the High Ranges contribute considerably more towards ecology and food production. He deserves all the support he can get.” With the right financial support from the Government and a more organized network of cultural units, vermicompost as a form of manure can generate a steady source of income for the impoverished folk of agricultural Kerala. Shwetha E George is a freelancer who writes on women's issues in Kerala; especially the more impoverished High Ranges where even non-tribal population is largely illiterate and poor. She can be contacted at: shwethavarghese@rediffmail.com |
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