In Burma nowadays, most farmers rely on chemical
fertilizers (NPK), and chemical pesticides to increase their crop
yield. This dependence on outside synthetic inputs has developed only
in the last 15 years and it does not bode well for sustainable
agriculture in this country. I have studied and experimented with
vermiculture in an attempt to replace these chemicals with a natural
fertilizer and soil amendment made by composting worms.
I
started vermicomposting back in Berkeley about 25 years ago, mainly to
get rid of kitchen scraps, and I only started to get serious about it
two years ago here in Burma.
Vermicomposting
is a method that uses worms to decompose organic material. Normal hot
or thermophilic composting relies on heat and microorganisms to
breakdown the rotting organic material, but vermicomposting employees
the worms to do the physical breakdown and the microorganisms in their
intestines to finish the job. The castings (manure), made by the worms
is the richest and most useful natural soil amendment available.
Containing the macro-nutrients, nitrogen potassium and phosphorus it is a
good organic fertilizer and it also has other soil enhancing qualities
such as water retention, soil structure improvement and cation exchange
capacity (CEC). One of the wonderful aspects of vermiculture is that it
is highly scalable. You can have a 5 gallon bucket system for kitchen
scraps up to a mechanized system producing several tons of castings per
year.
I
have two projects aimed at providing the Burmese farmer with access to
vermicastings.The first is to give trainings in how to setup and operate
your own vermicomposting system. The simplest system is a hoop of mesh
or bamboo, about one meter in diameter, that is simply placed on the
ground and food, (cow manure, banana stems or agricultural waste etc),
is added and covered with leaves. In most places in Southeast Asia, the
native local composting worm (Malaysian Blues) will arrive by
themselves and populate the worm bin. After adding food regularly, the
castings can be harvested every 6 months.
My
second project is to explore larger Vermicomposting systems, with the
goal of producing castings on a large scale to be sold on the open
market. (Burmese Farmers show a preference towards buying fertilizer
rather than making it themselves). Such a project may also provide
employment and opportunities for local entrepreneurs.
Please
stay tuned for Vermiculture Part 2 in the next report. If you feel
that's our work is worthwhile, please consider donating again.
Thank
you very much.
