VERMICULTURE Why essential All the plant produces which

VERMICULTURE

Why essential: • All the plant produces which fall down naturally or obtained as a result of garden maintenance need to be recycled in an environment friendly manner. • As per the rules of the civic bodies, all organizations have to find a way to dispose of such produces preferably within their premises. • Piling of waste in a haphazard manner will emanate the landfill gas which is mixture of gases. In landfill gas 40 -60% is methane (CH 4)and the remaining is mainly carbon dioxide (CO 2).

Principle: • Garden waste is subjected to get through some special species of worms under controlled conditions of moisture and temperature to get worm’s excreta as vermicast or vermicompost.

Design: • A thatched roof shed preferably open from all sides on unpaved (kachcha) floor is erected in east-west direction to protect from direct sunlight. • Pits of suitable sizes matching the garden waste yield be made. • Pits may be of pucca / kachcha base. • One kg worms process half kg shredded waste per day. • The bottom of the pit should have a 20 cm thick bedding as home to worms.

PITS HAVING THATCHED ROOF

Continued: • The bedding may be of shredded corrugated cardboard, shredded paper or peat moss etc. • The temperature of the bed should be in the range of 20 -30°C. • The moisture content in the bedding should be in the range of 4050%. • Normally 5 Cm thick layer should be laid each day.

SHREDDED CARD BOARD AND NEWSPAPER LAYER TO MAKE WORM BEDDING

Type of Worms to be used: • Red worms (Eisenia fetida), red wiggler, manure worm, red hybrid and tiger worms are the species which survive the conditions of the process. • Earth worms are hermaphrodite and they grow easily. • Since they are the cutaneous creature, suitable moisture level is necessary for their survival. • They should be protected from creatures like centipedes, predatory mites, fruit flies, rove beetles and ants. • Earth worms should be introduced in the pits after preparing the bed.

WORMS

Procedure: • All the plant produces should be brought to vericulture plant and stacked to dry. • The dried produces should be segregated thoroughly for plastics, metals, stones and un-shreddable items. • The segregated material is shredded in a shredding machine. • The obtained shredded material is spread evenly in the pits in layers. • On loading to full the pit should be covered with hay / straw etc. for a thickness of 5 cm and left for next 30 days. • Watering should be done during the period of stacking in layers and afterwards also to keep the moisture level maintained.

SHREDDING MACHINE

Continued: • Bed should neither be dry nor soggy. • All the organic waste should be turned over or mixed periodically leaving the bedding. • In 60 -90 days depending on the size of the pit compost will be ready. • Compost is ready when the material is moderately loose or crumbly and the colour of the compost is dark brown. • It will be light weight, black, granular and humus rich.

VERMICOMPOST

Continued: • To facilitate separating the worms from compost, stop watering for two to three days before emptying as this will force 80% worms to go down the bed. • The remaining worms can be removed from hand.

Properties: • Vermicompost is richer in nutrients than compost prepared by other composting methods. • Improves soil aeration. • Enriches soil with micro-organisms. • Attracts deep burrowing earthworms which remain already present in the soil. • Improves water holding capacity. • Enhances germination, plant growth and crop yield. • Helps to close the metabolic gap through recycling waste on site. • Production reduces greenhouse gas emission.