MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, April 4 (PIA) – A Forester from the Watershed Management Division-Mindanao Generation (WMD-MinGen) of the National Power Corporation (NPC) has promoted the advantages of vermicomposting as an alternative to commercial fertilizer.
Vermicomposting is the process of producing vermicompost, an organic fertilizer from bio-degradable waste materials with the help of earthworms.
Nasrollah M. Macaumbang, Communications Relations Officer of the WMD-MinGen, said that vermicomposting provides an economical means of achieving high agricultural yields because earthworms produce castings that naturally contain high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, the main nutrients needed by all plants.
He said it is also good for the environment since it will eliminate the problem on waste disposal and the need for landfill, reduce the use of inorganic fertilizer and pesticides, create soil supplements with impressive nitrogen and mineral levels, as well, as improve soil fertility and health through soil aggregation and aeration.
He explained that while biodegradable waste materials decompose naturally, traditional composting often takes a long time to effectively break down all components of the waste products.
However, he pointed out that ‘vermin’ or worms speed up the process because they have the ability to eat through a massive amount of waste in less time.
Macaumbang said vermiposting is also a good source of income that requires only a small capital.
He said one only needs to invest in hollow blocks to build a fence around the compost that will serve as the bedding, while other requirements are biodegradable materials from household, market, or garden wastes, earthworms which can either be red worms (Eisenia foetida or Eisenia Andrei) or the African night crawler (Eudrilus eugeniae), and worm food which can come from cattle, poultry, rabbit or horse manure, fresh food, pre-composted food wastes, legume hays, or corrugated cardboard.
Macaumbang further said that worms will not survive in an anaerobic condition so proper aeration, temperature and moisture of the beddings should also be observed in vermiculture.
Aside from selling the vermicompost, the earthworms can also be sold separately to others who are interested in vermicomposting since earthworms also reproduce, he added. (Apipa Bagumbaran/PIA-10)
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