Date: 13th-14th November, 2012
The analysis of household survey showed that more than 90
percent of the farmers are not getting sufficient food from agriculture to meet
the needs of the family throughout the year. It also found that the
agricultural productivity has decreased tremendously in comparision to
productivity of thirty years back. The farmers pointed out the water scarcity,
insect/pest attack, use of low quality fertilizer, use of extensive chemical
fertilizer, soil degradation as the major causes of decrease in crop productivity.
They have been adapting to water scarcity through various adaptation strategies
but for rest of the causes, farmers are still shrugging off their owes with
“what to do”. The farmers in Lubhu were therefore increasingly getting
attracted towards organic fertilizers and though in small number, the practice
of making compost fertilizer at household level had already been started at the
farmers own initiatives. However lack of proper knowledge on the process of
preparation of compost and its application techniques was hindering the farmers
in expansion of its use. While doing need assessment with the farmers and
conversation with the official from agriculture service center in Lubhu, it was
found that they are in urgent need of capacity building programme on
Preparation, Use and Application of Compost and Vermicompost Fertilizer for
Better Soil Management. Though, this type of training was already conducted by
Department of Cooperatives, it was limited to only few farmers of Lubhu. It is
in this context, Peri-urban Water Security Project underway at Nepal
Engineering College considered that organizing a training on preparing organic
fertilizer for farmers of Lubhu is timely and important.
The basic objective of organizing this training is to
provide the theoretical as well as practical knowledge on preparing organic
fertilizer to the farmers of Lubhu VDC and capacitate them in preparing and
applying the prepared fertilizer to improve the soil and enhance the
agricultural productivity.
A resource person for the training was Dr. Janardhan
Khadka, the Senior Soil Scientist from Central Horticulture Center, Kirtipur,
Kathmandu and a total of 28 farmers from various Farmer's Committee in Lubhu participated
in the training. The 1st day of the training involved imparting basic
theoretical knowledge on soil, water and plant and importance of organic
fertilizers whereas second day was exclusively allocated for demonstration of
the use of compost fertilizer and preparation of organic fertilizer and
vermin-composting practically.
Day 1
Session 1
The first day of the training began with a brief description
of the peri-urban project and the activities conducted in Lubhu as the pilot
intervention site. Following this was the theory classes on the organic
fertilizer which started with the presentation on the soil and soil management
techniques wherein the role of soil in plant growth was focused in simple terms
so as to make the training effective and interesting to the participant
farmers. The participatory approach of training helped to bring forward the
problems being faced by the farmers, the causes and the knowledge gaps. The
interaction also helped to identify possible solutions to the existing and
emerging problems of soil degradation through sharing of the field based
experiences and experiences from research and practices in different parts of
the country and the world. While doing so, the facilitator highlighted on the
need of identification of soil type and state of soil such as its pH prior to
the soil treatment process. Additionally the farmers also understood the proper
technique and appropriate time for the application of Calcium carbonate (Chun), commonly used by farmers to neutralize
acidic soil.
Session 2
The second session
began with short note on the types of solid waste and need of proper management
of solid waste wherein the 3R principle was introduced (Reduce, Reuse and
Recycle). Resource person introduced about different techniques of preparation
of compost fertilizer on a domestic scale such as bin compost, pile compost,
pit compost, chamber compost and vermi-compost. Similarly he elaborated the
need of segregation of bio-degradable and non-biodegradable solid waste as
primary need of compost preparation and how increasing solid waste with
increasing urbanization can be a source of fertilizer through proper composting
techniques. He also discussed the aerobic and anaerobic composting techniques and
provided a detailed explanation on Size of waste, C:N ratio, Air, Moisture,
Temperature, Micro-organisms and pH
range.
During the session, the problems commonly faced by farmer
during composting were discussed. The most common problems faced by the farmers
were unpleasant odors from piled compost and cowshed for which resource person made
multiple suggestions like
- Do not to put
bones or meat scraps into the compost;
- Cover the compost
pile with dry grasses, hay, dry leaves or saw dust and
- Add lime or
calcium to neutralize odors.
The other commonly faced challenge for small-scale backyard
composting was finding enough carbon-rich materials to balance the regular
input of nitrogen-rich materials to maintain C: N ratio in compost. Resource
person explained about green material such as kitchen wastes, fruit and
vegetable peelings, grass clippings and other fresh materials as the common
sources of Nitrogen and brown material such as straw, branches, stems, dried
leaves, peels, bits of wood, bark dust or sawdust as a source of Carbon.
He also explained about the role of carbon in providing energy and the fluffy
nature of compost and nitrogen in providing protein needed for making enzymes
and also emphasized the need of balance between carbon and nitrogen. A healthy
compost pile should have much more carbon than nitrogen. A simple rule of thumb
is to use one-third green and two-thirds brown materials. This allows oxygen to
penetrate and nourish the microorganisms that reside there.
The training focused on aerated composting and explained
about the significance of turning over the pile to provide aeration. Similarly
the new techniques of no-turn composting techniques through management of
aeration mechanisms were also introduced. The aeration is to maintain the
appropriate temperature for the proliferation of microbes responsible for the
decay of organic wastes. The trainers advised the farmers to cover the compost
pits to reduce the loss of moisture and the nutrients and protect from rain to
maintain the moisture content in the compost as the excess of water could
result into decay of compost.
The training was focused on the use of locally available
material for the successful and sustainable use of compost as an alternative to
chemical fertilizers. The trainer explained the role of ash in regulating
moisture and quantity of its use. The excess use of ash could result into
increased pH due to its alkaline nature thus deactivating the microbial
activity in compost. Similarly, he described three simple tips to improve the
cow-shed quality and the quality of compost from animal dung by managing the
base for the animal bed, a canal for urine discharge and collection and a roof
for protection of cow-shed from direct sunlight and rain.
The resource person also described about the Effective
Micro-organisms (EM) to be used in preparing compost fertilizer. He elaborated
the role of EM in proliferation of micro-organisms responsible for composting.
Further, he focused on the need of checking the manufacture and expiry date
prior to the purchase of EM and advised to collect fresh EM for its effective
action. Towards the end of the session, he described about the proper technique
of application of compost including complete information on the application
time, distance from the plant, techniques to apply different types of plants
and season and timing for reapplication. In addition, he also explained about
the technique of application of human urine in agricultural crops.
Session 3
The session started with introduction of Vermincompost. Vermicompost
is the product of composting using various earthworms to create a heterogeneous
mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and
vermicast. Vermicast, also called worm castings, worm humus or worm manure, is
the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by an earthworm. These
castings have been shown to contain reduced levels of contaminants and a higher
saturation of nutrients than organic materials contain before vermicomposting.
Containing water-soluble nutrients, vermicompost is an excellent, nutrient-rich
organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. This process of producing vermicompost
is called vermicomposting.
The facilitator further classified two major types of
earthworms. Epigeic types live on the surface in freshly decayed plants and
animal residues whereas Endogeic types live underground and eat soil to extract
nutrient from decayed organic residues. Earthworms of epigeic category are
commonly used in vermicomposting and Eisenia
foetida is the species most commonly used. It is a voracious eater, each
worm eating 1-7 gram/day and cast 0.8- 6 gram/day.
Following
the introduction of vermicomposting was the presentation on the process of
vermicomposting, beginning with the process of preparing bed for the
vermicompost. Bedding is the living medium and also a source of food for the
worms. The bedding should be moist and loose enough to enable the worms to
breath and to facilitate aerobic decomposition of the food that is buried in
it. He further explained the possibility of vermicomposting in both indoors and
outdoors with proper care and management of the appropriate environment keeping
away from the direct sunlight and rain. The environment management involved the
management of bedding material, organic materials needed to supply necessary
nutrients, need of management of moisture and temperature range for the
survival of earthworm and the microbial activities in vermicomposting. Eisenia foetida, the most common worms
used in composting systems, feed most rapidly at temperatures of 10–32 °C and
the temperatures above the range may harm them.
During the
training the facilitator explained the possibility of vermicomposting on both
small and commercial scale and explained about it increasing popularity at both
national and international scale. He suggested to add the fresh organic
material based on how rapidly those were being consumed by earthworm and let
the material to decompose outside the bed for about two weeks so that the
leachate drains out, thus maintain moisture content in vericompost. Further, he
requested to not to leave the vermicompost unattended for too long time as
there can be excess or deficiency of moisture or any other imbalances in
layering of bedding materials. Vermicompost is ready for harvest when it
contains few to no scraps of uneaten food or bedding and can be collected when
contents look like dark black soil and most worms have migrated to the second
and third working lower layers. It takes 3-4 months to get first collection of
vermicompost after starting. While collecting vermicompost, he recommended to consider
the value of earthworm and suggested to pick out as many worms, eggs and
cocoons as possible from prepared fertilizer and returning them to the compost
bin. The training also included a session on troubleshooting the possible problems
and instructing the points to be considered in selecting the bedding materials,
composting material and explained the possible risks and pests, along with the
ways to avoid them.
He
explained that the vermicompost is
richer in many nutrients than compost fertilizer produced by other composting
methods. The value of vermicompost as soil conditioner and plant growth
stimulant is due to the concentrated nutrient in worm cast. Unlike other
compost, worm castings also contain worm mucus which helps prevent nutrients
from washing away with the first watering and holds moisture better than plain
soil from the decomposition of organic material. Further, it is rich in
microbial life which converts nutrients already present in the soil into
plant-available forms. Its recognition with a wide range of applications in
homes and commercial gardens was growing.
He also shared about the ongoing research on the process of
collection and application of human urine as fertilizer and other hormones such
as Rotex and Trichoderma fungus to
upgrade the quality of compost. Upon the discussion about the perceived cause
of declining application of organic manure, the participating farmers felt the
growing deviation from the indigenous farming practice and lack of knowledge
transfer from the expert to the farming communities are the major causes of not
applying of chemical fertilizers.
Day 2
The second day was for demonstration visit and doing
practical in preparing compost fertilizer and vermicompost at Bagbani, Central Horticulture Center,
Kirtipur. It was intended to provide the participants an exposure to the
activities involved in composting and vermicomposting and providing them
hands-on skill in preparing these fertilizers so that the farmers themselves
can prepare the fertilizers independently.
The farmers had a short visit in the center premise where they got chance to see all the process of
preparing and applying organic fertilizer and arrangement of collection of
human urine and its application after disinfection along with several fruit
varieties under research. Further, they also visited the waste water treatment
plant being constructed to supplement the irrigation water need for the
horticultural crops and various other researches undertaken in the centre.
During the practical session for the prepation of compost and
vermicompost, the total participants were divided into two groups. The trainer
reminded the first days theoretical session to both the groups and asked to
prepare compost and vermicompost themselves. With close observation and
facilitation of the trainer, all the participants themselves prepared compost
fertilizer and vermicompost.
Post lunch, the resource person trained the participants on
the use of bone powder and Trichoderma for
upgrading the prepared vermicompost. Following this, he explained the process
of application of the disinfected human urine for irrigation purpose.
The training ended with a evaluation of the training from the
participants perspectives and a short note from the research team and the
facilitator encouraging participants to take advantage of the capacity building
activities and to consult experts in case of any problem.
Figure: Evaluation of Overall Training by
the Participants
