Family of Giving
This worm fertilizer project was requested do to the low productivity of coffee and of crops intended for family consumption (maize, wheat, peas, beans, broad beans, fruit trees, vegetables, etc.). Low productivity is primarily due to a loss of soil fertility.
With the aim of improving yields for both coffee and food crops, they wanted to promote the production of vermicompost (worm castings). This project enabled the producers to make effective use of available local resources, including crop residues, food scraps, coffee pulp, fruit peels, and manure from guinea pigs, cattle, and sheep.
Vermicompost is one of the finest organic fertilizers available; currently, they produce it in small quantities and use it solely to enrich the substrate for their plant nurseries. It provides a vast quantity and diversity of nutrients; if applied in larger quantities to fruit-bearing plants, we will be able to achieve the desired increase in production.
Currently, producers incorporate organic matter—such as coffee pulp, crop residues, and kitchen scraps—into their soil. They do this either by digging small trenches in the aisles between coffee rows or by composting small batches. However, due to a lack of proper management, this material takes a long time to decompose and is assimilated by the plants over a very extended period.
The Californian red worm feeds on plant and animal residues, as well as kitchen scraps, and subsequently excretes them. These excretions result in a dark, soil-like substance with a fresh, earthy scent. Within a period of 6 to 8 weeks, the vermicompost—an organic fertilizer that supplies nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, and other nutrients to plants—can be harvested.
Vermicompost leachate—a dark liquid byproduct—is currently being applied to vegetable crops; producing it in larger quantities will allow us to extend its use to other crops as well.
As a result, we had plants that were more resilient to pests, diseases, and sudden environmental fluctuations. Furthermore, the soil structure was improved, as moisture retention was enhanced and soil aeration increased.
Activities Undertaken During the Project:
– A construction blueprint was designed for the module intended for the production of vermicompost and leachate.
– Construction of the module, including the pits and the roofing structure.
– In one of the pits, kitchen scraps, dry straw, fruit peels, and manure from cattle, sheep, goats, guinea pigs, chickens, etc., are deposited to undergo decomposition.
– In the adjacent pit, a bedding of dry straw has been established, housing the earthworms; these worms are fed the organic material that has already undergone decomposition in the first pit.
– Moisture levels are maintained between 70% and 80%, and temperatures between 15°C and 25°C—conditions considered optimal for this process.
– The facility features three pits equipped with drainage channels designed to collect the leachate.
– After a period of two months, the vermicompost will be ready for harvest.
– An additional pit will be set up to ensure the facility has two active pits dedicated to vermicompost production.
* Pending Tasks:
– Construction of an additional pit to bring the total to two pits dedicated to vermicompost production.
– Analysis of the physical and chemical characteristics of the vermicompost and leachate produced.
– Organization of training workshops focused on vermicompost production techniques.
The plan is to construct an additional composting pit to increase our production volume; the outreach and training workshops are also scheduled to take place in April. This time was chosen because rainfall is particularly heavy during the current months, and they wanted to ensure the facility was fully completed beforehand. Additionally, they intend to conduct an analysis of both the vermicompost and the leachate to determine their specific properties, thereby enabling their dissemination with greater confidence.
