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permaculture - Re: Brown Nose worms for vermicompost->INORA

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  • From: "Steve Diver" <steved@ncatark.uark.edu>
  • To: permaculture@listserv.oit.unc.edu, Elfpermacl@aol.com
  • Cc: compost@listproc.wsu.edu
  • Subject: Re: Brown Nose worms for vermicompost->INORA
  • Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 17:27:08 +0000

> Steve, does the brown nose wriggler, which sounds like a setup for a gag,
> tolerate tropical and/or subtropical conditions?


I'm not familiar with tropical tolerance of Brown Nose worm.

However, Jay Mertz at Rabbit Hill Farm also works with the
Perionyx excavatus worm which he says in "only" adapted to Far
South conditions.

[Next spring he will offer the Denverbena worm which is popular
in Belgium]

Interestingly, Perionyx excavatus is one of the key worms used in
vermicomposting in India.

On my trip to India '96-'97 we went to Pune which is the
Fertile Crescent of Worm Composting. There are half a dozen
organizations there specializing in vermiculture.

INORA - Institute of Natural Organic Agriculture in Pune, a leading
non-profit for organic agriculture in India, helped 400 farmers in
1996 establish wormeries and planned to help 600 more in 1997. The
goal of the wormeries is production of vermicompost biofertilizers to
enhance soil quality and productivity. Soils in India are
impoverished of organic matter due to neglect and dependence on
chemical fertilizers. The climate itself is harsh on soil organic
matter, with hot dry conditions for several months each year.
INORA views vermicompost as a low-tech soil improvement practice
that is well adapted to small farms.

They assist farmers in erecting wormeries, which are shade houses
constructed of bamboo poles and thatch roofs 80 feet long and about
30 feet wide.

For bedding they use a mixture of 50% cow dung and 50% biomass such
as grass and fodder. The biomass comes from intentionally planted
crops in under-utilized spaces such as fence rows and bunds. The
INORA advisors help farmers look at the non-cropland areas
around the farm as productive spaces to acquire biomass as a source
for worm bedding and bioconversion. The farmers fill a wicker basket
with 10 kg of the 50:50 mixture, and plop down two patties side by
side. This continues until a long row of double patties is formed.
The worms are added atop the plops, and then covered with loose
organic matter or previously made worm compost. Thus a worm
bed is established.

The worms they use are African red worms and common red worms.
After equilibrium is established, 95% of the population settles out
as African red worms and 5% red worms; yet they keep using the red
worms because they occupy an important ecological niche in the worm
bed. It takes about 3 months for the worms to work over the first
bed, but only half this time in following cycles due to worm
population buildup.

A pamphlet from INORA says they use the following worms:

Eisenia foetida
Perionyx excavatus
Eudrilus euginae

[Which species is African Red Worms.... Perionyx or Eudrilus?]

One other notable practice at INORA is the inoculation of the
worm beds with 3-4 soil microbial inoculants 10-12 days
prior to harvest. These microbials include azotobacter and
azospirillum (N-fixing microorganisms) along with phosphorus
solublizing bacteria, to create a vermicompost biofertilizer. This
end product, the vermicompost biofertilizer, is applied at a rate of
2 tons per acre.

Two observations:
*The integration of worm compost with microbial inoculants is an
advanced organic farming practice in India.
*It is a remarkable achievement to make and apply 2 tons/acre
precious biofertilizer from organic wastes.... all prepared and
spread by hand with the aid of a bullock cart.

Worm Digest ran a special issue on vermicomposting in India.

Steve Diver




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