Dr Elizabeth Yhome
Project Director, NSDCF Ltd, Lerie, Kohima
Dairy Farm manure consists of cow dung, urine and crop residue like straw, hay and fodder grass. The cow dung and crop residue play a relatively important role for enriching soil fertility and thereby enhances crop production, the cow urine can be used as liquid manure to cultivate cereals and vegetables. Water for washing of cattle shed can be channeled into a pit which serves as manure and can be used for manuring fodder crop. With the changing scenario from traditional to scientific livestock farming recycling of farm waste like cow dung, urine and waste crop residue can be converted into organic manure, biogas, and organic spray, it prevent soil erosion and soil pollution.
The recycling of farm waste products help to maintain the soil fertility and over the years it has gain immerse important where farm waste product are converted to vermicompost manure. Vermi-composting is a method of composting where earthworm eat the decomposed farm waste products and excrete it out as casting which is known as vermicast or vermicompost. During feeding earthworm use only 5-10% of the food intake for their growth and the rest is excreted out as casting.
Huge quantities of organic waste can be converted into valuable products through vermicomposting.
Vermicomposting has many beneficial application to our livestock farmers such as:
1. Help multiplication of microbes and control soil acidity
2. Easily absorb by field crop and vegetables due to small particles size
3. Contain almost all essential nutrient and hormones for plant and vegetable growth
4. Improves water holding capacity of soil
5. Due to healthy growth of field crop and vegetables it can resist many msicrobial and insect attacks
6. Crop vegetables grown on vermicompose manure has better taste, colour and high nutritive value, so the market demand is more and does fetch higher prices
Advantages of vermicomposting:
1. Huge quantities of organic waste can be converted into a valuable product
2. Use of vermicompost can be reduce the use of chemical fertilizer
3. Production technology is very simple and easy
4. Vermicompost can be produced nearest to the site of use
5. It can be produced throughout the year
6. Extra income can be generated by selling vermicompost
Requirement for vermicomposting:
1. Animal Dung – Cattle goat/pig/poultry manure etc
2. Forestry waste – fallen leaves/saw dust/wood etc
3. Construction of a compose pit
4. Earthworm – we can use either of them ie Red worm, night crawler, tiger worm etc
