Why should you vermicompost?

Our Sacred Space conducted a free vermicomposting workshop recently. “Why Compost? All around the country, landfills are filling up, garbage incineration is creates air and solid waste pollution and other waste disposal options are becoming ever harder to find. Composting provides a way to not only reduce the amount of waste that needs to be disposed of but also of converting it into a product that is useful for gardening,” said Dr Nina Sengupta, an ecologist.

Nina is an independent biodiversity conservation and sustainable development consultant and has a Phd in Wildlife Science. She has worked in forests in Africa, Asia, America, Andaman and Nicobar islands and her session on vermicomposting was well received. “Vermicompost is the product or process of composting using various worms, 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 before vermicomposting.

Containing water-soluble nutrients, vermicompost is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. Using vermicomposting systems for all your garden and kitchen wastes reduces your garbage by up to a third and provides you your own organic soil for container gardens,” explained Nina.