Worm Farming: Composting but with a difference!
Worm farming (otherwise known as Vermiculture) is becoming popular in many countries, and can provide the opportunity for a good small business. It is not a new idea, it has just taken modern society a long time to appreciate a process which has been going on perfectly naturally, and literally under their feet, for millennia.
A typical worm farm is based on a small farm-holding of which may be no larger than 4 acres. In the past such a small farm would support cattle rearing, grow market produce, and also crops such as hay, for use on the farm. The cattle would provide the main income, much of the produce being used to feed the family, and to provide for winter or dry season shortages. Nowadays, those that carry out vermiculture using green wastes often find that they can earn additional income through selling the premium quality worm-cast compost which the worms produce, and also provide a service to their neighbours in providing a disposal point for all sorts of green waste materials which might otherwise be thrown into ever growing landfills.
Sanjay, who has been running his own vermiculture business for the past 4 years, told us that when he first looked at the possibility of starting up in Vermiculture, he visited a worm farm in Chennai. He was given a lot of information from a company already operating successfully, which then offered to become his start-up worm supplier. It seemed a good venture, especially – as he has since found possible - there seemed to be a good market both for the compost, and for he sale of worms, when these bred beyond his requirements, to provide a surplus for sale. So he started his own “wormery”.
There are specific worms used for these operations, Sanjay informed us. Tiger worms and “Dendrobaenas" are his favourites, he commented, while sifting through the soil bed to extract examples of both types to show me the difference.
At first he constructed just 5 worm beds in one of his fields, covering half an acre. These beds are best described as low “frames” that run the length of the field, filled with soil inside them to house the worms, and when the weather is cold they are covered with heavy duty plastic sheeting to keep the worms warm and fairly dry – at least to protect them from wet season inundation! They had installed their first batch of worms, bag by worm filled bag.
The worms they used to start their beds were delivered to them from their original supplier in bags weighing 5kg each. Sanjay estimates that there are between 750 and 1000 worms per kilo in weight. He says that into each worm bed they emptied six bags to fill them - which adds up to a whole lot of worms.
Worms have an surprisingly big appetite. What is more surprising is that they will eat, and can digest, almost anything - even paper and cardboard. In fact the worms have digestive systems which are so efficient that what remains in their excretions provides one of the purest forms of fertiliser available anywhere. The digestion also ensures that no pathogens or toxins will remain in good quality such vermicompost.
"The worms lay eggs and rapidly multiply in number," explained Sanjay, as he carefully removed the covering and gently turned over the top soil to reveal a seething mass of tiny worms just under the surface. "The worm life cycle takes a roughly 25 week period from laying the eggs to the time when the worms become adult, and are ready to sell on," he added.
Worms can feed on anything that is biodegradable and Sanjay takes a lot of waste foods from a number sources locally. He has devised a weekly round to collect waste for the worms, and this is still growing as more people hear of his waste service. The waste material he collects include vegetable peelings; chopped or shredded vegetables; green leaves and weeds; cheese; cereals; bread; pasta; rice; fruit; egg shells and shredded paper - even cow and horse manure and rabbit droppings!" Sanjay said that he could list more, and that the full list was almost endless.
There are a few rules for things not to accept. For example, fresh grass cuttings should be not be used because the high ammonia concentration produced can inhibit the composting process, and apparently can lead it to give off ammonia.
"It is the top 4-6 inch of the soil in each frame which is removed and bagged once the worms have processed it into a rich fertiliser of worm casts.
We have also developed retail sales to anglers for bait. Nowadays we sell a quarter of the worms we produce for fishing purposes."
At the start Sanjay was worried where he would find buyers for both worms and compost. He says that his weekly collection round was the answer to obtaining suitable feed materials. He finds it better than waiting for the materials to arrive because he is able to be selective about which materials he will collect, and it also gives him the opportunity of rejecting loads which are poor, and contain may other types of rubbish.
When the wormery was set up advertisements were placed in farming magazines and a large company soon established themselves as a regular customer. Other regular customers were also found board and a new web site has now been set up. Orders are increasing gradually over the Internet.
Sanjay says that his “wormy venture” has been a success so far, and he does not see any reason why things will not continue to go well, and his worm farm business continue to grow.
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