OUR FRIEND THE EARTHWORM

DAHLIA GROWN USING VERMICOMPOST

Last year I became interested in vermicomposting, which simply means the technique of using earthworms to convert various wastes to useful compost (called vermicompost when worms are used) which can be used as a fertilizer. Since I was quite new to this field, I thought I should first talk to some 'experts' in the field. I found, however, that there were as many opinions as there were experts. So my colleagues and I decided to strike out on our own. We started out by using various solid wastes of the paper industry (that is where I work). The worms seemed to like whatever we gave them and they produced what turned out to be very good fertilizer. The picture of the Dahlia above speaks for itself. Other flowers grown with good results were Marigold, Aster and Flox. We have found that this vermicompost seems to accelerate budding and flowering in these plants whereas conventional fertilizers like urea produce more vegetative growth but the flowering is comparatively late.

We are now making plans to expand our working to produce more vermicompost from waste. The lowly earthworm has turned out to be nature's fertilizer factory. The compost produced can be sold should we wish to go commercial. We are happy to have produced a value added product from waste materials.