Vermiculture

Vermiculture means artificial cultivation of earthworms. Vermicompost is the excreta of earthworms which is considered as one of the most effective and environment friendly fertilizers, without any harmful side effects. Earthworms eat cow dung and other solid wastes like household garbage and give out vermicompost. Municipal waste and non-toxic solid and liquid waste generated by industries can also similarly be converted into vermicompost. Earthworms not only convert garbage into valuable manure but also keep the environment healthy.

The conversion of garbage by earthworms into compost and the multiplication of earthworms are simple processes and can be easily carried out even at one’s residence.

With P.P. Aniruddha Bapu’s blessings and inspiration, the vermiculture project is currently being run successfully by the AADM.

The project was first started at the residence of volunteers, who created vermiculture bins from household items and with an initial ‘seed’ provided by the Academy. The efforts yielded large amounts of vermicompost by feeding the earthworms with the day to day household garbage/waste.

After a specified duration, the entire vermicompost and vermiwash so generated is handed over by the volunteers to the Academy. The vermicompost is also used for the tree plantation activity carried out by the Upasana Centers throughout the state of Maharashtra.

Till date, approx. 15 tonnes of vermicompost have been distributed amongst needy farmers, absolutely free of cost. That amounts to conversion of a total of 60 tonnes of waste into vermicompost.

AADM conducted a large scale project of vermiculture at the Central Railway Workshop (Mumbai) using their canteen and garden waste. This project was hugely appreciated by the local civic 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 a large scale, as well as on a small scale (i.e. at the household level) and upon request, also offers consultancy to various housing societies, public institutions, the corporate sector, school, colleges, etc..

Following is the list of places where the AADM has conducted Vermiculture Training sessions:SEBI, Naval Dockyard (Colaba), Central Railway Workshop (Matunga), FDC Ltd. (Jogeshwari), Maharashtra State Bank, DIL Ltd. (Thane), Bhavans College (Andheri), IES School (Marol), Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan Vidyalaya, Thane Mahanagar Palika School etc.

The basic aims and objectives of this project are:

1) Working towards a better environment by disposing off garbage and waste in a productive manner.

2) Production of vermicompost through Vermiculture technology which can be put to effective use for:

· Tree plantation project

· The supply of the produce to the drought prone areas and to needy farmers.