An Overview of Vermicompost Production in India

Abstract

Vermiculture is a growing industry not only for managing waste and land very economically but also for promoting ‘sustainable agriculture' by enhancing crop productivity both in quantity & quality at significantly low economic cost than the costly agrochemicals. Earthworms not only converts ‘waste' into ‘wealth' it itself becomes a valuable asset as worm biomass. Large-scale production of nutrient rich ‘vermicompost' (especially from the municipal solid wastes) withpotential to replace chemical fertilizers and protein rich ‘earthworms' can be a good business opportunity today with awareness growing about use of these products in agriculture and other allied industries. Municipal solid wastes (MSW) is growing in huge quantities in every country with growing population and there will be no dearth of raw materials for production of vermicompost. Vermiculture have also enhanced the lives of poor in India and have generated self-employment opportunities for the unemployed. It has become good source of livelihood for many. Vermicompost among the various organic manures, the compost produced by using earthworms is the significant one from the point of total nutrition it provides to the plant. Vermicompost not only helps to improve and protect fertility of top soil, but also helps to boost productivity by 40 percent at 20 – 60 percent lower nutrient inputs. It also enhances the quality of end products and keeping quality on storage. Thus with various benefits of vermicompost and its wide use as an organic input, it becomes essential to study the production of vermicompost across the country. Hence, against this background, the current study is made to highlight the production of vermicompost  in India.