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Vermiculture
One major disaster that our world faces today is the fastly deteriorating environment of ours.This includes many causative factors the major one being the loss of plantation cover.Another problem that is fast incrementing is the deficient foodsupply .One of the major reason for the same is the loss of land under crops to ever increasing population and deteriorating quality of land already under cultivation due to the overuse of artifiscial fertilizers.Sighting these two problems AADM undertook the project of vermiculture under its wings.
The vermiculture project took shape in the year 2003. In a meeting of Committee members of AADM conducted by Param Pujya Bapu on 23rd July 2003,P.P.Aniruddha Bapu talking about the disasters said that any calamity on the social, environmental and personal front is a disaster. In order to overcome these disasters, Param Pujya Bapu advocated few projects of which vermiculture was one of the projects.
Aims and Objectives :
1,Working towards better environment
2.Production of vermicompost thru’ Vermiculture technology which can be put to effective use for-
i) Tree plantation project
ii)To supply the produce to the drought prone areas and to the needy farmers.
Mission of this project is to spread this technology to everyone willing to adopt this system and provide Consultancy and Supervision for the same along with hands-on training for the project on Free of Cost basis.
Spiritual Base of the project:The spiritual importance behind this project is that ‘Trees’ are considered as living immovable souls. By supplying them with good fertilizers and water, we are not only nurturing them but also trying to repay the obligation of Mother Earth in a small and righteous way.
Definition : Vermiculture means cultivation of earthworms.
Vermicompost : excreta of earthworms.
Vermicompost is one of the most effective and environment friendly fertilizers without any harmful side effects.
Mumbai at present faces a huge problem of garbage. Mumbai produces daily 6000-7000 tonnes of garbage of which household garbage forms a major chunck. Also due to limited land resource of Mumbai, Mumbai’s dumping ground are unable to take care of the whole of Mumbai’s garbage. Thus Mumbai’s garbage burden is now been put on Navi Mumbai and Thane. Also the dumping grounds themselves are big hazzard to the health of the citizens residing in the vicinity and also to the environment. And therefore looking for new dumping grounds will not only temporarily relieve us of our problem, there is a need for a proper and healthy way to efficiently dispose the garbage. That’s where vermiculture comes to pur help.
Earthworms eat cowdung and other solid wastes like household garbage and give out vermicompost. Muncipal waste and nontoxic solid and liquid waste can also be similarly converted to vermicompost. And the vermicompost so formed is niether hazaedous nor a waste but is one of excellent manure. Thus earthworms not only rid us of our major chunck of garbage but also provide us the manure. Therefore our beloved P.P.AniruddhaBapu had once said that there is no other organism as helpful to mankind as the earthworm. The project was first started at residence of volunteers who created vermiculture bins from household items and with initial seed of earthworms provided by the Academy.
Vermiculture project encompases two components.
a) Vermiculture undertaken on large scale basis such as in Cooperative Housing Societies.
b) Vermiculture on household basis.
The Basics for any vermiculture projects are
l 1. A living environment usually called “ bedding”
l 2. A food source
l 3. Adequate moisture
l 4.Adequate aeration
l 5. Protection from extreme temperature
1. Bedding : - Selection of proper bedding material is key element of success of project. Worms can be enormously productive (and reproductive) if conditions are good; however their efficiency drops if the basics are not meet.
2. Food source: - Compost worms are big eaters. Under the ideal conditions, they are able to consume in excess of their body weight each day, although the general thumb rule is ½ of their body weight per day.
3. Adequate Moisture : -The bedding used should be able to hold sufficient moisture if the worms are to have a livable environment. They breathe through their skin and so moisture content is very crucial for their existence.
4. Adequate aeration:- Worms are oxygen breathers and cannot survive anaerobic conditions. They operate best when ventilation is good and the material they are living is porous and well aerated.
5. Protection from extreme temperature: - The temperature control is essential for both vermicomposting and vermiculturing process.
The other important parameters are ph, salt content and proper shadow.
AADM conducted a large scale project of vermiculture at the Central Railway workshop (Mumbai) using there canteen and garden waste.This project was hugely appreciated by the local civil bodies as well as by the Corporate sector. The team which implemented this project now acts as a training team for setting up such projects on large scale as well as small scale (household) and upon request also offers consultation to various housing societies, public institutions, Corporate sectors, schools, colleges, etc. Consultancy is given till the period of first production cycle and the people concerned handling the project are trained by the Academy’s team.
Following is the list where AADM has conducted Vermiculture projects.
1.Bhavan’s college- Andheri- 26th Jan.’06
2.FDC-Jogeshwari 21st April ‘08
3.dil Ltd. Thane 22nd Feb ’06
4.Naval Dockyard – Colaba June’06
5.Central Railway Matunga workshop Nov.’06
6. SEBI 13th Oct.’07
6. Pearl Society- Vile parle July.’ 07
7.Cypress Society-Mulund 13th April’2008
Vermicompost : excreta of earthworms.
Vermicompost is one of the most effective and environment friendly fertilizers without any harmful side effects.
Mumbai at present faces a huge problem of garbage. Mumbai produces daily 6000-7000 tonnes of garbage of which household garbage forms a major chunck. Also due to limited land resource of Mumbai, Mumbai’s dumping ground are unable to take care of the whole of Mumbai’s garbage. Thus Mumbai’s garbage burden is now been put on Navi Mumbai and Thane. Also the dumping grounds themselves are big hazzard to the health of the citizens residing in the vicinity and also to the environment. And therefore looking for new dumping grounds will not only temporarily relieve us of our problem, there is a need for a proper and healthy way to efficiently dispose the garbage. That’s where vermiculture comes to pur help.
Earthworms eat cowdung and other solid wastes like household garbage and give out vermicompost. Muncipal waste and nontoxic solid and liquid waste can also be similarly converted to vermicompost. And the vermicompost so formed is niether hazaedous nor a waste but is one of excellent manure. Thus earthworms not only rid us of our major chunck of garbage but also provide us the manure. Therefore our beloved P.P.AniruddhaBapu had once said that there is no other organism as helpful to mankind as the earthworm. The project was first started at residence of volunteers who created vermiculture bins from household items and with initial seed of earthworms provided by the Academy.
Vermiculture project encompases two components.
a) Vermiculture undertaken on large scale basis such as in Cooperative Housing Societies.
b) Vermiculture on household basis.
The Basics for any vermiculture projects are
l 1. A living environment usually called “ bedding”
l 2. A food source
l 3. Adequate moisture
l 4.Adequate aeration
l 5. Protection from extreme temperature
1. Bedding : - Selection of proper bedding material is key element of success of project. Worms can be enormously productive (and reproductive) if conditions are good; however their efficiency drops if the basics are not meet.
2. Food source: - Compost worms are big eaters. Under the ideal conditions, they are able to consume in excess of their body weight each day, although the general thumb rule is ½ of their body weight per day.
3. Adequate Moisture : -The bedding used should be able to hold sufficient moisture if the worms are to have a livable environment. They breathe through their skin and so moisture content is very crucial for their existence.
4. Adequate aeration:- Worms are oxygen breathers and cannot survive anaerobic conditions. They operate best when ventilation is good and the material they are living is porous and well aerated.
5. Protection from extreme temperature: - The temperature control is essential for both vermicomposting and vermiculturing process.
The other important parameters are ph, salt content and proper shadow.
AADM conducted a large scale project of vermiculture at the Central Railway workshop (Mumbai) using there canteen and garden waste.This project was hugely appreciated by the local civil bodies as well as by the Corporate sector. The team which implemented this project now acts as a training team for setting up such projects on large scale as well as small scale (household) and upon request also offers consultation to various housing societies, public institutions, Corporate sectors, schools, colleges, etc. Consultancy is given till the period of first production cycle and the people concerned handling the project are trained by the Academy’s team.
Following is the list where AADM has conducted Vermiculture projects.
1.Bhavan’s college- Andheri- 26th Jan.’06
2.FDC-Jogeshwari 21st April ‘08
3.dil Ltd. Thane 22nd Feb ’06
4.Naval Dockyard – Colaba June’06
5.Central Railway Matunga workshop Nov.’06
6. SEBI 13th Oct.’07
6. Pearl Society- Vile parle July.’ 07
7.Cypress Society-Mulund 13th April’2008
At following places AADM conducted trainning sessions:
SEBI
Naval Dock – Colaba
Central Railway Workshop – Matunga
FDC Ltd. – Jogeshwari
Maharashtra Stete Bank
DIL Ltd. – Thane
Bhavans College – Andheri
IES School – Marol
Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan Vidyalaya
Thane Mahanagar Palika School
Naval Dock – Colaba
Central Railway Workshop – Matunga
FDC Ltd. – Jogeshwari
Maharashtra Stete Bank
DIL Ltd. – Thane
Bhavans College – Andheri
IES School – Marol
Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan Vidyalaya
Thane Mahanagar Palika School
Vermiculture can also be very useful in reducing our daily household garbage and providing us with a high quality manure which can be used for terrace gardening or can be given to the AADM which can then be distributed among the needy farmers or used for tree plantation projects undertaken all over Maharahtra by AADM.
Vermiculture project on a household basis requires a bucket, a nylon mesh, dried cowdung, hay and most importantly earthworm seed.Once the earthworm seed is released in the vermiculture bed ,the vermi bucket is ready to devour our household waste.After a period of two months we have to stop putting the wastes in the bucket for fifteen days. Within this fifteen days all the waste that we had put gets converted to manure. After this period the entire content is removed and put on a sheet of newspaper making a heap. The earthworms have a tendency to move away from light and they go deeper into the heap away from the surface. So we can slowly start collecting the upper layers of manure which are without the earthworms. By continuing this process we are left with little manure alongwith the earthworms. This are then put back into the buckets with a ready bed. Thus a new cycle can be started and the Vermiculture bucket is ready for use.
The Vermiculture bucket should be preferably kept in a dark cool area. The Vermiculture bucket does not give foul odour. In fact if one tries to smell the manure, it gives the smell of soil which has been wetted by first monsoon rains. At first one feels reluctant to touch the earthworms, but once familiar with their touch it is so fantastic to feel them move on slowly on our fingers shying away from light and finding a place to hide within our fingers. There is definitely a sense of attachment that develops within them. Thus rather than having a single pet we can have hundreds of such pets in the form of this Vermiculture bucket which neither demands a evening walk nor does it d
irt your floor, but just ten minutes from your routine.
Vermiculture project on a household basis requires a bucket, a nylon mesh, dried cowdung, hay and most importantly earthworm seed.Once the earthworm seed is released in the vermiculture bed ,the vermi bucket is ready to devour our household waste.After a period of two months we have to stop putting the wastes in the bucket for fifteen days. Within this fifteen days all the waste that we had put gets converted to manure. After this period the entire content is removed and put on a sheet of newspaper making a heap. The earthworms have a tendency to move away from light and they go deeper into the heap away from the surface. So we can slowly start collecting the upper layers of manure which are without the earthworms. By continuing this process we are left with little manure alongwith the earthworms. This are then put back into the buckets with a ready bed. Thus a new cycle can be started and the Vermiculture bucket is ready for use.
The Vermiculture bucket should be preferably kept in a dark cool area. The Vermiculture bucket does not give foul odour. In fact if one tries to smell the manure, it gives the smell of soil which has been wetted by first monsoon rains. At first one feels reluctant to touch the earthworms, but once familiar with their touch it is so fantastic to feel them move on slowly on our fingers shying away from light and finding a place to hide within our fingers. There is definitely a sense of attachment that develops within them. Thus rather than having a single pet we can have hundreds of such pets in the form of this Vermiculture bucket which neither demands a evening walk nor does it d
irt your floor, but just ten minutes from your routine.
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