1.2 Detalles de contacto de las personas de referencia e instituciones involucradas en la evaluación y la documentación de la Tecnología

Nombre de la(s) institución(es) que facilitaron la documentación/ evaluación de la Tecnología (si fuera relevante)

ICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) - Nepal

1.3 Condiciones referidas al uso de datos documentados mediante WOCAT

¿Cuándo se compilaron los datos (en el campo)?

01/03/2013

El compilador y la/s persona(s) de referencia claves aceptan las condiciones acerca del uso de los datos documentados mediante WOCAT:

Sí

2.1 Breve descripción de la Tecnología

Definición de la Tecnología:

Vermicomposting or worm composting is a simple technology for converting biodegradable waste into organic manure with the help of earthworms.

2.2 Descripción detallada de la Tecnología

Descripción:

Earthworms are valued by farmers because, in addition to aerating the soil, they digest organic matter and produce castings that are a valuable source of humus. Vermicomposting, or worm composting is a simple technology that takes advantage of this to convert biodegradable waste into organic manure with the help of earthworms (the red worm Eisenia foetida) with no pile turning, no smell, and fast production of compost. The earthworms are bred in a mix of cow dung, soil, and agricultural residues or predecomposed leaf-litter. The whole mass is converted into casts or vermicompost, which can be used as a fertilizer on all types of plants in vegetable beds, landscaping areas, or lawns.

Purpose of the Technology: Worms are so effective at processing organic waste that they can digest almost half their own weight in debris every day. Vermicomposting is a simple composting process that takes advantage of what earthworms do naturally, but confines the worms to bins making it easier for farmers to feed them and to harvest their nutrient-rich compost. Since all worms digest organic matter, in principle, any type of worm can be used; however, not all are equally well adapted to living in bins since some worms prefer to live deep in the soil while others are better adapted to living closer to the surface. The red worm (Eisenia foetida) is ideal for vermicomposting because its natural habitat is close to the surface and it is accustomed to a diet rich in organic matter, this makes it ideally suited to digesting kitchen scraps and to living in bins.

Establishment / maintenance activities and inputs: Vermicomposting can be carried out in different types of containers. There are only a few requirements for a good worm pit, the most important being good ventilation; the pit needs to have more surface area than depth (wide and shallow) and it needs to have relatively low sides. The base of the worm pit is prepared with a layer of sand then alternating layers of shredded dry cow dung and degradable dry biomass and soil are added. Under ideal conditions, 1,000 earthworms can covert 45 kg of wet biomass per week into about 25 kg of vermicompost.

Natural / human environment: Worm castings contain five times more nitrogen, seven times more phosphorous, and eleven times more potassium than ordinary soil, the main minerals needed for plant growth. The vermicompost is so rich in nutrients that it should be mixed 1:4 with soil for plants to be grown in pots and containers. Vermicompost should not be allowed to dry out before using.

Note: This type of vermicomposting is sometimes referred to as 'Pusa' vermicomposting because it was popularized in South Asia by the Rajendra Agricultural University located in Pusa, Bihar, India.

2.3 Fotografías de la Tecnología

2.5 País/ región/ lugares donde la Tecnología fue aplicada y que se hallan comprendidos por esta evaluación

2.7 Introducción de la Tecnología

Especifique cómo se introdujo la Tecnología:

• durante experimentos/ investigación
• mediante proyectos/ intervenciones externas

3.1 Propósito(s) principal(es) de la Tecnología MST

• Improve fertilizer

3.2 Tipo(s) actuales de uso de la tierra donde se aplica la Tecnología

Comentarios:

Major land use problems (compiler’s opinion): Crop productivity is limited by poor soil fertility, intense cropping, and a scarcity of irrigation water. Farmers notice a marked decrease in the health of their crops and degraded soil conditions when chemical fertilizers are overused. Vermicomposting is a low input response to this problem.

Forest products and services: fuelwood

Other forest products and services: fodder

3.4 Grupo MST al que pertenece la Tecnología

• manejo integrado de la fertilidad del suelo
• manejo de desperdicios/ manejo de aguas residuales

3.5 Difusión de la Tecnología

Especifique la difusión de la Tecnología:

• aplicada en puntos específicos/ concentrada en un área pequeña

3.6 Medidas MST que componen la Tecnología

3.7 Principales tipos de degradación del suelo encarados con la Tecnología

Comentarios:

Main causes of degradation: soil management

3.8 Prevención, reducción o restauración de la degradación del suelo

Especifique la meta de la Tecnología con relación a la degradación de la tierra:

• prevenir la degradación del suelo

4.1 Dibujo técnico de la Tecnología

4.2 Especificaciones técnicas/ explicaciones del dibujo técnico

Establishing a vermicompost pit
Diagram showing the layers needed to set up a vermicompost pit. Note that the middle layer is the thickest; the worms start here and eat both upwards and downwards. It is best to house the pit under a thatched or plastic roof in order to shield it from excessive sunshine and rain.

Technical knowledge required for field staff / advisors: moderate

Technical knowledge required for land users: moderate

Main technical functions: increase in nutrient availability (supply, recycling,…), Improve Soil Fertility

Secondary technical functions: improvement of topsoil structure (compaction), Stabilizes that soil

4.3 Información general sobre el cálculo de insumos y costos

Especifique cómo se calcularon los costos e insumos:

• por unidad de Tecnología

Especifique la moneda usada para calcular costos:

• dólares americanos

4.4 Actividades de establecimiento

	Actividad	Tipo de medida	Momento
1.	A low cost pit can be constructed with bricks on a moist or shaded site
2.	If bricks are not available, stones can be used for the pit construction;
3.	alternatively, a wooden or bamboo box or a plastic tray can also be used.
4.	Vermicompost pits are best started during the summer months.
5.	A thatched roof was built over the pit to help retain moisture in the heap
6.	at a level of approximately 40–50%, as well as to maintain an optimal temperature of about 20–30oC.
7.	Sand, soil, cow dung, and leaf litter are piled up as shown in the diagram.
8.	Material Used are Bricks and cement, dry cow dung, plastic sheet/bamboo, earthworm (around 2000)

4.5 Costos e insumos necesarios para el establecimiento

	Especifique insumo	Unidad	Cantidad	Costos por unidad	Costos totales por insumo	% de los costos cubiertos por los usuarios de las tierras
Mano de obra	Construction of pit	persons/day/unit	10,0	5,0	50,0
Material de construcción	Brick and cement	unit	1,0	70,0	70,0
Material de construcción	Dry cow dung	unit	1,0	10,0	10,0
Material de construcción	Plastic sheet/bamboo	unit	1,0	70,0	70,0
Material de construcción	Earthworm (2000)	unit	1,0	60,0	60,0
Costos totales para establecer la Tecnología					260,0

Comentarios:

Duration of establishment phase: 3 month(s)

4.6 Actividades de establecimiento/ recurrentes

	Actividad	Tipo de medida	Momento/ frequencia
1.	Water regularly and collect, harvest vermicompost	Agronómicas
2.	The pit is watered regularly. After five to six weeks, the top layer is removed and piled in one corner of the pit. After a few days, the worms will have borrowed down to the bottom of this pile and the compost can be harvested. The compost prepared in the pit should be harvested within 6 months and the pit refurbished as for the first set as discussed above.	Agronómicas

4.7 Costos e insumos necesarios para actividades de mantenimiento/ recurrentes (por año)

	Especifique insumo	Unidad	Cantidad	Costos por unidad	Costos totales por insumo	% de los costos cubiertos por los usuarios de las tierras
Mano de obra	Watering pit	persons/day/unit	5,0	5,0	25,0
Material de construcción	Dry cow dung	unit	1,0	5,0	5,0
Material de construcción	Water pipe	unit	1,0	10,0	10,0
Indique los costos totales para mantenecer la Tecnología					40,0

4.8 Factores más determinantes que afectan los costos:

Describa los factores más determinantes que afectan los costos:

All costs and amounts are rough estimates by the technicians and authors. This was a demonstration project conducted by ICIMOD.

5.1 Clima

5.2 Topografía

5.3 Suelos

Si se halla disponible, adjunte una descripción completa de los suelos o especifique la información disponible, por ej., tipo de suelo, pH/ acidez de suelo, capacidad de intercambio catiónico, nitrógeno, salinidad, etc. :

Soil fertility is medium

Soil drainage / infiltration is medium

Soil water storage capacity is medium

5.4 Disponibilidad y calidad de agua

Comentarios y especificaciones adicionales sobre calidad y cantidad de agua:

Water quality (untreated): Also for agricultural use (irrigation)

5.5 Biodiversidad

Comentarios y especificaciones adicionales sobre biodiversidad:

695 species of flora and 230 species of fauna have been documented within the Park's 30 ha area

5.6 Las características de los usuarios de la tierra que aplican la Tecnología

Indique otras características relevantes de los usuarios de las tierras:

Population density: < 10 persons/km2

5.7 Área promedio de la tierra que pertenece a o es arrendada por usuarios de tierra que aplican la Tecnología

5.8 Tenencia de tierra, uso de tierra y derechos de uso de agua

• Governement

• ICIMOD

• ICIMOD

5.9 Acceso a servicios e infraestructura

6.1 Impactos in situ demostrados por la Tecnología

Impactos socioeconómicos

Ingreso y costos

Otros impactos socioeconómicos

Impactos socioculturales

Impactos ecológicos

Otros impactos ecológicos

6.2 Impactos fuera del sitio demostrados por la Tecnología

6.3 Exposición y sensibilidad de la Tecnología al cambio climático gradual y a extremos relacionados al clima/ desastres (desde la percepción de los usuarios de tierras)

Otras consecuencias relacionadas al clima

Otras consecuencias relacionadas al clima

	¿Cómo es que la tecnología soporta esto?
active in warm climate	bien

6.4 Análisis costo-beneficio

¿Cómo se comparan los beneficios con los costos de establecimiento (desde la perspectiva de los usuarios de tierra)?

¿Cómo se comparan los beneficios con los costos de mantenimiento/ recurrentes (desde la perspectiva de los usuarios de tierra)?

6.5 Adopción de la Tecnología

Comentarios:

There is a strong trend towards spontaneous adoption of the Technology

Comments on adoption trend: Vermicomposting training was provided to farmers in Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Godavari, and Bishankhunarayan VDCs by ICIMOD staff in collaboration with local NGOs. More than 60% of the farmers who received training adopted vermicomposting on their own farms and they have also started selling worms to other farmers. The technology has been adopted by others who have visited the ICIMOD Knowledge Park at Godavari but most of these are just interested in introducing it on a small scale, such as, to produce vermicompost from kitchen waste for household use in their own gardens. The participants were also taught how to collect local earthworms to use for composting.

Drivers of adaptation of the technology
• A simple technology and easy to implement
• Local earthworms can be used.
• Not expensive; farmers can construct pits or uses wooden boxes or plastic trays.
• Produces high quality compost with a high concentration of nutrients
• Helps to reduce pests in the soil
• Can be scaled up to produce compost commercially

6.7 Fuerzas/ ventajas/ oportunidades de la Tecnología

Fuerzas/ ventajas/ oportunidades desde la perspectiva del compilador o de otra persona de referencia clave
The use of vermicompost reduces the need for chemical fertilizers and reduces dependence on outside sources. How can they be sustained / enhanced? Promote the technology by disseminating it to a large number of farmers on both small and big farms
Vermicomposting does not require keeping livestock. How can they be sustained / enhanced? It is considered to be a low-cost alternative that uses local earthworms and materials to produce compost.
On-farm composting saves the transportation cost needed to deliver compost to the farm.

6.8 Debilidades/ desventajas/ riesgos de la Tecnología y formas de sobreponerse a ellos

Debilidades/ desventajas/ riesgos desde la perspectiva del compilador o de otra persona de referencia clave	¿Cómo sobreponerse a ellas?
Purchasing earthworms from outside may be expensive for farmers.	Farmers can be encouraged to harvest local earthworms for composting.
Making compost from earthworms is not very popular in rural areas.	Create greater awareness on how earthworms can be used to compost leaf-litter and other kitchen waste.

7.3 Vínculos a la información relevante disponible en línea

Título/ descripción:

Vermicomposting: Journey to forever organic garden (no date)

URL:

http://journeytoforever.org/compost_worm.html