Environmental degradation is a major threat confronting the world, and the rampant use of chemical fertilizers contributes largely to the deterioration of the environment through depletion of fossil fuels, generation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and contamination of water resources. It leads to loss of soil fertility due to imbalanced use of fertilizers that has adversely impacted agricultural productivity and causes soil degradation. Now there is a growing realization that the adoption of ecological and sustainable farming practices can only reverse the declining trend in the global productivity and environment protection. On one hand tropical soils are deficient in all necessary plant nutrients and on the other hand large quantities of such nutrients contained in domestic wastes and agricultural by products are wasted. It is estimated that in cities and rural areas of India nearly 700 million ton organic wastes is generated annually which is either burned or land filled. Such large quantities of organic wastes generate also pose a problem for safe disposal. Most of these organic residues are burned currently or used as land fillings. In nature’s laboratory there are a number of organisms (micro and macro) that have the ability to convert organic waste into valuable resources containing plant nutrients and organic matter, which are critical for maintaining soil productivity. Microorganisms and earthworms are important biological organisms helping nature to maintain nutrient flows from one system to another and also minimize environmental degradation. The earthworm population is about 8–10 times higher in uncultivated area. This clearly indicates that earthworm population decreases with soil degradation and thus can be used as a sensitive indicator of soil degradation. In this report a simple biotechnological process, which could provide a ‘win-win’ solution to tackle the problem of safe disposal of waste as well as the most needed plant nutrients for sustainable productivity is described.

 

Background of Sabarkantha District 

Nearly 80% of the population of Sabarkantha District, Gujarat, resides in rural areas and earns their living through agriculture based activities, animal husbandry and dairying. These livelihood options result in the accumulation of large amount of recyclable organic wastes in the form of cow dung, agricultural crop residues etc. However the lack of waste segregation practices among villagers results in discarding of such organic and recyclable waste along with non-organic toxic waste. As a result, essential raw materials that can be used for preparing nutrient-rich natural manure for farming are lost and farmers are compelled to use chemical fertilizers that result in environmental degradation, are more expensive and increase artificial chemical levels in plants. Furthermore, the absence of a dedicated waste segregation and collection effort also results in the piling up of such waste near rural houses inviting growth of harmful insects and bacteria that affect human health.

Integrated Watershed Management Programme at Sabarkantha District 

Recognizing these opportunity in rural waste management practices of Sabarkantha, the District Watershed Development Unit (DWDU) has taken as a livelihood activity in various project of Batch I,II & III as (Individual or group SHG) for recycling agriculture and animal husbandry waste into nutritional organic manure through the method of vermi-composting.

Fig. 1 : Vermicompost Unit

Fig. 2 : Vermi compost unit with side net

 

Vermi-compost: 

Vermi-composting is a simple biotechnological process of composting, in which certain species of earthworms are used to enhance the process of waste conversion and produce a better end product. Vermi-composting differs from composting in several ways. It is a mesophilic process, utilizing microorganisms and earthworms that are active at 10–32°C (not ambient temperature but temperature within the pile of moist organic material). The process is faster than composting; because the material passes through the earthworm gut, a significant but not yet fully understood transformation takes place, whereby the resulting earthworm castings (worm manure) are rich in microbial activity and plant growth regulators, and fortified with pest repellence attributes as well! In short, earthworms, through a type of biological alchemy, are capable of transforming “animal wastes” into ‘gold’. 

Improved soil physical, chemical and biological properties 

Studies on vermin-compost indicate that it increases macrospore space ranging from 50 to 500µm, resulting in improved air-water relationship in the soil which favourably affect plant growth. The application of organic matter including vermin-compost favourably affects soil pH, microbial population and soil enzyme activities. It also reduces the proportion of water-soluble chemical species, which cause possible environmental contamination.

Process: 

Individuals/SHG beneficiaries has given HDPE bed for vermi-composting, organic waste is collected at a place and treated with adequate moisture. After this treatment, earthworms are mixed with the waste in order to allow them to feed on the matter. Over a short period of time (45 days) the worms break down the organic matter in the vermi-compost unit, and leave behind nutrient rich substance which provides many benefits, for the soil condition of sabarkantha districts which varies from Hilly area hard stony soil to black cotton soil, silty loam to morrhum soil from Khedbrahma to Prantij and Himmatnagar to Bayad.

Fig. 3 : Collection of vermicompost

Fig. 4 : Screening of compost

 

Intervention: 

There are 9 talukas and 23 IWMP projects are being implemented in Sabarkantha district. The vermi-compost units have been taken in all 23 IWMP projects. In Batch I & II projects production of vermicompost has started and utilised by the beneficiaries in their own field. Various trainings were conducted in coordination with KVK Khedbrahma and Maize Research centre Bhiloda to generate awareness among farmers.

 

Table No. 1 Details of Vermi-compost production in all Batches 

Sr.No	Name of Batch	Unit Installed (Individual or SHG groups)	Production of Vermi-Compost Unit from  Installed (Individual or SHG groups)	Total Production of Vermi- Compost (in Kg) for 1 cycles	Selling of Vermi-Compost in local market and village	Remark
1	Batch I	286	209	109934	0	All framers has used in own agricultural land
2	Batch II	180	118	69502	0	All are use the in own field
3	Batch III	57	0	0	0	Production not received
	Total	523	327	179436	0

Total production from vermi-compost bed is 179436 kg from batch I & II batch and from batch III production is not yet received. Considering Rs 2 per kg market price of vermicompost, the total implicit income is Rs 3.5 lakh approximately.

 

Table No. 2 Details Crop Production 

Sr.No	Batch	Name of Crop	Nos. of beneficiaries	Total Area cropping (ha)	Approx. Production  (kg/ha)
1	Batch- I & II	Maize	50	22	1180
2		Vegetables	34	14	845
		Total/average	84	36	1012

The use of vermicompost has increased soil fertility and reduces the cost of cultivation by substituting chemical fertilisers. With this intervention 84 farmers cultivated 36 ha of land using vermicompost.

Challenges: 

• The production cycle increased from estimated 45 days to 60 days and in some cases it increased to 90 days. 
• Less awareness among the community for small activities like sprinkling of water timely, turning of compost upside down to speed up the process of production. 
• The package of practices given to the members required closer monitoring and identification of training needs. 
• Less sensitivity towards practicing the package of practices in production during the first cycle resulting into to breakage of cycle, increased cycle period. 
• Proper use of the vermi-compost and still used the chemical fertilizer along with it. 

 

Conclusion: 

Earthworm serves as “nature’s ploughman” and form nature’s gift to produce good humus, which is the most precious material to fulfil the nutritional needs of crops. The utilization of vermicompost results in several benefits to farmers, industries, environment and overall national economy.

To farmers:

• Less reliance on purchased inputs of nutrients leading to lower cost of production. 
• Increased soil productivity through improved soil quality. 
• Better quantity and quality of crops There is huge scope of promotion of vermicompost in this District. 

DWDU is actively participating for promotion of this green technology and farmers are also gradually interested to convert their farming processes.

Contributors: Sidharth Sing Bisen (Technical Expert); Sunil Patel (MDT Agri)