Vermicompost

What is Vermicompost?

Vermicompost refers to organic manure produced by earthworms. It is a mixture of worm castings (faecal excretions), organic material including humus, live earthworms, their cocoons and other organisms. Vermicomposting is an appropriate cost effective and efficient recycling technique for the disposal of non-toxic solid and liquid organic wastes.

What is Vermiculture?

Vermiculture can be defined as culture of earthworms. Earthworms are divided into two groups: humus formers and humus feeders. The first group dwell on the surface and feed on nearly 90% organic materials. They are generally darker in colour, and are also called epigeic or detritivorous earthworms. It is these worms that are generally harnessed for vermicomposting. The second group, the humus feeders, are burrowing worms some of which are useful in both compost preparation as well as making the soil porous. Generally the burrowers help in mixing and distributing humus through the soil.

It has been proved that earthworms can degrade organic wastes speedily and efficiently. However, to increase the efficiency of vermicomposting, care should be taken to see that worms thrive well on organic matter, breed faster adapting to moisture and climatic fluctuations. The most beneficial feature of vermicomposting is that it eliminates foul smell of decaying organic wastes, as it is a fully aerobic system. The concept of vermiculture became well known in the 50s of this century when facilities were set up in industrialised countries of Western Europe for the mass breeding of earthworms. Subsequently, USA, England and France conducted several experiments related to vermiculture technology for efficient disposal of organic wastes.

How does Vermiculture work?

Earthworms feed on organic waste, consuming two to five times their body weight. They use a relatively small amount of their intake for their growth and excrete the mucus coated undigested matter as vermicasts. Vermicasts consist of organic matter that has undergone physical and chemical breakdown through the activity of the muscular gizzard that grinds the material. The nutrients present in the vermicasts are readily soluble in water for uptake by plants. Vermicast is a rich source of macro and micronutrients, vitamins, enzymes, antibiotics, growth hormones and microflora.

Can compost be made without earthworms?

Yes! But vermicompost is considered superior to other types of compost because of its quality. Moreover earthworms ingest litter, dung and other organic matter and grind it into fine particles, thereby increasing the surface area and promoting faster decomposition. The material passes through the body of the earthworm to produce vermicast. Soils with vermicasts have roughly 100 times more bacteria than soil without worms. Moreover plant growth promoting substances have been reported to be present in vermicasts.

My vermicompost manufacturing unit is plagued by a number of red ants. Are there any bio-friendly measures to tackle the menace as I do not want to use any chemicals?

You may sprinkle red chilli powder on all the sides of your unit to keep the ants from entering into your unit.

Where can I get information on vermicompost and vermiwash?

You may contact
Professor and Head
Department of Environmental Sciences
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
Coimbatore – 641 003

Where can I obtain earthworms for my vermicompost unit and is there any way I can sell my produce?

You may contact Mr. R. Ranganathan, President, Association or Organic Farmers No16-Vanigar street, Thirupporur, Tamil Nadu-603 110, email: tedetrust@rediffmail.com, phone :044-27446369, mobile: 94433-46369 for earthworms and for selling your produce.

The earthworms in my vermicompost unit die frequently. What is the reason for the mortality of the worms?

Excess moisture and lack of proper aeration can cause mortality of the worms. Provide proper drainage holes to drain the excess water. The water thus drained can be used as a vermin wash for plants.

My vermicompost manufacturing unit is attacked by a number of pests. How can I control them?

You may erect a fence around the vermicompost manufacturing unit and sprinkle or spray pest repellent around the base of the unit to prevent the pests from attacking it.

My worms haven't eaten the waste even though I started my worm farm weeks ago. 

When first starting a new worm farm the worms need time to get used to their new surroundings and usually start eating the original bedding material first but then soon move up to the new food source. Add just enough waste first until you can see worms moving around in it, then you can add more from then onwards.

My worms are trying to escape, what am I doing wrong. Worms are very specific about what conditions they live in and if they don't like them they will try to leave enmasse. If this is happening you must go back and check on the things that may be forcing them to want to leave. These include what you are feeding them, is the bedding material too moist, the pH level of the bedding material, etc. These problems are usually fixed quickly and easily and without losing too many worms. 

Whilst I am away on holidays will my worms starve to death? 

No, they should be OK but try and avoid adding any fresh food material and cover the bedding surface with moist newspaper or Hessian (gunny bags) so as to keep the bedding material from drying out. You may also leave mud pots containing water covered with lids, half buried into the pits/tanks. Even if the surrounding material dries up, the earthworms may move and stay beneath these moist pots. If you are planning to go away for an extended time (month or more) you may want to get a friend or neighbour to take over looking after your worms for the time you are away. 

If I cut a worm in half will I have two worms? 

No, so be careful when you are turning your bedding over so as not to cut any worms in half. 

How to collect native earthworms?

Identify worm-inhabited soils marked by visible earthworm castings on the soil surface is. Dissolve about 500gm jaggery (native sugar) and 500gm fresh cattle dung in 20 litres of water. Sprinkle on an area1m x 1m. Cover with straw, leave cattle dung lumps and cover with an old gunny bag. Keep watering for about 20 to 30 days. A combination of epigeic and anecic native worms will aggregate here that could be collected and used.

What environmental conditions do the worms like?

Paradise for a compost worm would be an environment which was pH neutral, 25ºC air temperature, above 70% air humidity, and between 70 & 90% soil moisture. The soil would contain coarse materials to ensure the soil is aerated, as well as fine food particles of pre-composted organic material.

How do worms reproduce?

Composting worms are hermaphrodites, with each mature worm having a full set of both male and female sex organs, reaching sexual maturity after 55 days. After mating, a cocoon develops which may contain as few as three to as many as twenty wormlings, depending on the conditions and food provided to the worms. 

What food do worms eat?

Worms prefer food that is wet, high in nutrients and relatively low in carbon.  Ideal foods may include rotting fruit or vegetables, kitchen waste, some animal manures, garden waste and compost, and corrugated cardboard. Worms do not like onion, garlic, shallots or materials with high ammonia or nitrogen levels, or large quantities of fats and oils. 

How much can a worm eat?

In theory, a worm can eat about its own body weight in food per day, depending on the type and quality of worm food and the conditions in which the worms are living. Worms rely on billions of microorganisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and nematodes, to soften and break down organic material before the worm digests both the microorganisms and the organic material. It takes around 90 days for the organic material to be processed by the worms and be ready for harvesting.

What is the importance of vermiculture products?

The products of vermiculture act as environmentally friendly long-term soil conditioners containing nutrients readily available to plants, which greatly improve soil performance and crop yields. Scientific research conducted into the effects of vermicast has found 30-50% increases in nitrogen uptake, 100% increases in potassium and phosphate uptake, increases in root length, root numbers, and shoot length, and 40-60% increases in cucumber and tomato yields. There are also reported increases in flavour and shelf-life, though these findings are not as easily quantified.

Source
http://www.icrisat.org/vasat/learning_resources/OrganicFAQs/organic_farming.htm    
www.mycorrhizae.com
www.hortsorb.com
http://kendujhar.nic.in/
http://www.greenpeace.org