COMMERCIAL VERMICOMPOST UNIT-
REQUIREMENTS
Land: For initiating a vermiculture production and extension unit, about 0.5-1 acre of land is required on which about 8 to 10 shacks sized 180-200sq.ft could be built. The land should have adequate water supply with watering facilities. Sub Marginal land could also be used. In case one does not own land, he or she could take apiece of land on lease for a 10 to 15 year period.
Building and/or Shed: For a commercial unit, one has to invest for an office; warehouses for raw material and finished goods, the infrastructure should have accommodation facilities for the manager and workers.
Shed: An open shed supported by pillars for the corners or a shed on top with bamboo rafters, wooden tie ups is needed to prevent the vermicompost bed from getting soaked from rain water or from wind. The shed should be designed with sufficient place for movement of labourers to do their work.
Vermi-beds: The vermibed should be 75cm-90cm in thickness with adequate drainage facilities to drain out excess water. The entire bed should be in uniform height to ensure equal production. The width of the bed should not be more than 1.5m so that the centre of the bed can be easily reached.
Seed Stock: Seeds are the primary requirement to start vermicomposting. Worms multiply within a period of 6 months to 1year, but to start the vermicompost bed should have about 350 worms per m3 to increase the worm population in about 2 to 3cycles with our affecting the production.
Roads, Paths & Fencing: The site needs adequate infrastructure with roads and paths for easy movement of workers, trolleys and wheel barrows to transport the raw materials to the bed & carry out the finished compost. The site should be fenced to prevent entry of animals or unwanted elements onto the site. The investment should be minimum for this purpose but these facilities are pivotal to ensure undisturbed production
Water Supply System: The vermicompost beds have to be kept moist with about 50% water content. Adequate water supply with well designed water distribution mechanism is mandatory. Drippers with nonstop water flow would be viable for continuous water supply and also helps in saving water. This may be a costly investment but reduces operational costs of manual watering and economical in the long run.
Machinery: A shredding machine to shred the raw material, wheel barrows and trolleys for transportation to and fro the site for loading & unloading of compost, aeration, for air drying, machinery for sieving, stitching and automatic packing.
Transport: Transport is required in order to shift raw materials to the site, especially if the source of the raw materials is far away from the unit. For a unit that produce about 1000 tones of compost per annum, a truck with the minimum capacity of 3-tonnes is required, smaller units can use smaller vehicles depending on their production. On-site vehicles, like trolleys are required to transport the raw material from the warehouses to the shacks. These expenses could be included in the project cost.
Furniture: A decent amount could be used to furnish the office which could also be used as a store house, spending on the basic requirements for an office and racks for storage.
Operational Costs: In the operational cost, some expenses are recurrent. These expenses include cost of raw materials, fuel & Transport costs, power, Insurance, repair & Maintenance, wages for labourers & staff salaries. The number of staff & workers hired should be according to the need of workers of each level of the production depending on the size of the unit. Manpower should be properly managed and used properly at all work points.
Extension Service: A vermicomposting unit could serve the vicinity by providing cultural material of desired species and train farmers and aspiring entrepreneurs who are interested in vermicomposting. Those who have the idea to set up commercial vermicomposting units too can get practical advice & culture material at reasonable prices from the existing units. These vermicomposting units could benefit from extension services unit by selling culture material and by consultancy. Units could also construct smaller, simpler models which could serve as demonstrations for farmers and give wide publicity & to popularize vermicomposting.