Vermicomposting
Also called: Vermicompost · Topic: Environment and Sustainable Development · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Rural Development"; Class 11, Ch 7 "Environment and Sustainable Development"
Meaning
Vermicomposting uses earthworms to turn organic waste into compost. Compost is manure made from rotted plant and animal waste. The worms do this faster than normal composting. The product, vermicompost, feeds the soil without chemical fertilisers. NCERT treats it as part of the shift away from chemical farming, because decades of chemical fertilisers damaged land and contaminated groundwater.
Example
A village collects kitchen scraps, crop leftovers and cattle dung in pits and adds earthworms. The finished vermicompost goes back onto the fields in place of urea. Municipal bodies gain too, because less waste goes to landfills.
Don't confuse with
- Biocomposting: this is the wider practice of making compost from organic waste. Vermicomposting is one type of it that uses earthworms to speed up the process.
Related concepts
- Traditional knowledge
- Biopest control
- Integrated pest management
- Organic farming
- Organic food
- Natural farming
- Zero budget natural farming
- Conservation agriculture
- Zero tillage
- Direct seeded rice