Article and Image Courtesy : The Hindu

Author : M. J. Prabu

D. Bharani at his vermicompost unit at Mayilladuturai

A Mayiladuthurai farmer shows how easy it is to make a simple vermicompost shed using local materials.

Be it organic or chemical farming, farmers in Tamil Nadu always have the habit of applying some truckloads of cow dung manure or vermicompost to their fields before planting their crops.

Sourcing problem

“Today it is a common knowledge that sourcing the raw materials for this manure proves a daunting task for many farmers. Cow dung or vermicompost is not easily available. And if it is available then the seller decides the price. I would suggest to farmers that they try to make their own compost/manure for their farms making use of locally available material in and around their fields,” says a progressive organic farmer, Mr. D. Bharani of Mayiladuthurai taluka in Tamil Nadu’s Nagapattinam district.

Usually farmers across the country build a roof either with thatched straw or asbestos sheets as a cover for their vermicompost manufacturing unit. The bottom of the unit will either have sand or plain cement or sometimes toughened red soil.

But Mr. Bharani has used locally available cut tree trunks for the four poles supporting his rudimentary compost unit.

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