Miscellaneous
All hail the humble earthworm
It feeds on waste to produce precious waste that works as a super fertiliser. And because of that, the humblePragati Shahi
The science of making worm waste, also known as vermicomposting, was actually introduced in Nepal in the late 80s, by two professors, Hari Devi Ranjitakar and Ananda Shoba Tamrakar, after they had attended a conference in India. But it was only when the organic movement started picking up pace around 10 years ago that compost producers in the Valley began focusing on vermicomposting.
The process of producing worm waste is so simple that even households can do it on their own: all you need are earthworms, biodegradable garbage and compost bins (or wooden boxes). You feed the waste to your worms and they produce worm castings, which is the end product you are after. The whole process of having your compost factory up and running and producing enough for your kitchen garden takes only two to three months and the quality of the vermicompost thus produced is right up there with the best fertilisers, if not better: vermicompost is three to four times richer in nutrients, particularly in the NPKs (Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium), than other compost manures. The most popular species of earthworms employed today are the Eisenia fetida, Peryonix excavatus, Peryonix fovatus, Lumbricus rubellus, Lampito mauritii and Eudrilus euginea.
There are currently around 300 to 500 individual households in the Kathmandu Valley who depend on vermicompost for fertilising their kitchen gardens. And there are already five large-scale operations in the Valley for producing the manure on a commercial scale. Plus, there are people who are involved in disseminating the know-how of producing this super fertiliser to farmers beyond the Valley too. Experts like Sreeram Ghimire and Kishore Maharjan routinely hold vermicomposting workshops and training programmes in various parts of the country to farmers interested in producing the compost.
“Last year alone, I trained around 550 people in Kathmandu, of which around 125 people have already started raising worms for compost,” says Ghimire, a researcher. “That number is going up, which is very encouraging,” he says.
Maharjan, who is a lecturer at Tri Chandra, is also involved in producing and selling vermicompost. A local resident of Kalimati, he was introduced to the science in 2004, when he started working with red worms (Eisenia foetida) to treat his kitchen waste. He used wooden boxes and brick-and-mortar tanks to raise around a thousand worms to transform the garbage into compost. His business has grown manifold since then. “Now, I’ve over 100,000 worms kept in bins and they generate around 300 kilograms of compost monthly,” says Maharjan.
“I collect biodegrdable waste from the Kalimati Market and feed them to my worms”. Maharjan sells his compost at Rs 30 per kg to individual customers and Rs 28 per kg to government entities. “I am even planning to buy vermicompost from other farmers to meet the growing needs of my clients,” he says.
According to Ghimire, who is also the managing director of Mustang Bio-Tech Pvt Ltd, a private firm in Tokha that works to promote worm culture, one kg of earthworms spread over an area of one sq m need to ingest half a kg to one kg of waste daily to produce around 0.6 kg of fertiliser.
When he’s not busy producing the stuff, Ghimire spends his time imparting his knowledge to people in 15 different municipalities throughout the country. “My priority is to rope in as many farmers as possible,” says Ghimire.
Ghimire, who’s been involved in this business for years, sees nothing but growth in this sector. He contend s that rising awareness about the ills of chemical fertilisers is further adding to the demand for healthy, organic food and vegetables, which in turn is fueling the demand for vermicompost.
And even the government, say experts, can think about becoming a compost supplier for the organic market. Municipalities—throughout the country—are already in charge of waste management and they own many garbage dumps. In 2008, the government had set up a vermicomposting facility at the waste-transfer station in Teku. “But owing to poor management and lack of resources, the project is in the doldrums,” says Sumitra Amatya, chief of the Solid Waste Management and Technical Centre, Kathmandu. But, she thinks, it’s not too late for them to get into the game.