
Before and after: kitchen waste and vermicompost
Shuddham produces vermicompost from the garden and kitchen waste that it collects from households that segregate their garbage. Vermicompost is a much richer nutrient than ordinary compost (without worms), and is sold through word-of-mouth to gardeners in Pondicherry.

The worms
Vermicompost is basically worm castings (or worm shit). When fully established, worms will eat their body weight in decomposing vegetable matter (and produce a lot of manure).

Castings
The worms are bred in a moist bed covered with bricks and balls of cow dung. (The worms congregate under the bricks and dung balls.)

Breeding worms
Once the worms are established, they are moved to compost beds that are kept covered to keep out rodents and other insects.

Open compost bed Closed compost bed
Garden and kitchen waste is first shredded (to make things easier for the worms), then added to the compost beds.

Shredder
Vermiwash is collected, diluted, and sold separately as a plant nutrient.

Concentrated vermiwash Diluted and packaged vermiwash

A beneficiary of vermicompost and vermiwash
Waste is turned into a nutrient-rich natural fertilizer.
1 response so far ↓
designology // January 22, 2008 at 5:40 am
Hi… good initiative!
Though I do think it will take a lot of effort to gather garbage and then compost it, rather than making each household do it themselves.
And a lot of households wont participate because of the worms.
In Pune, we have households that use the same procedure but have different ways of composting the same.
I could provide you with the names and numbers of people promoting the same in Pune. Contact me if you are interested.
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