Basement and cellar
How to get biohumus at home. Own business: biohumus production

How to get biohumus at home. Own business: biohumus production

Biohumus (vermicompost, worm compost) is an organic fertilizer for plants, a product of natural processing of livestock manure and food waste by technological worms. This type of compost is one of the most effective means increase the fertility of agricultural soils, and its production is quite simple and requires minimal investment. At the same time, according to many entrepreneurs, this type of business is characterized by high profitability and quick payback.

The technology for the production of vermicompost, indeed, is not complex. For the manufacture of vermicompost, the following “components” will be required: decomposed cattle manure, hay or silage, decomposed leaves, sawdust, food waste, technological worms (California and their various varieties, Vladimir). First you need to prepare a nutrient medium for worms, which is rotted compost and manure. As a rule, it is not very convenient to keep the processed product in your area. Therefore, it is better to negotiate with the supplier of this raw material so that he is allowed to lie down for some time.

Containers are prepared for worms - large wooden boxes. At the next stage, the compost is laid in boxes. Moreover, if it includes fermented manure and other components (leaves, sawdust, food waste), then the compost must be thoroughly mixed. From above, a layer of compost is covered with a layer of dry grass, which will maintain an optimal level of humidity and temperature in the box. Ripening compost should be periodically (once every 2-3 days) mixed so that it does not cake, and moistened with warm water so that the mass does not dry out. At the very beginning, while the fermentation process takes place, the temperature inside the box reaches 50 degrees Celsius, but then it gradually decreases. Worms are settled in boxes after the compost mass is fully prepared.

Experts advise not to launch all the worms at once, but first to test the mass on several dozen individuals. If everything goes well, then you can populate the rest. Within a couple of months, the worms get used to the new environment, after which they begin to multiply. The humidity of the compost should be 70-80%, and the pH level should not exceed 8. In winter, the temperature inside the boxes should be at least 19 degrees Celsius. You can raise the temperature by covering the compost with a layer of dry grass, moistening it with warm water and placing it in a heated room. The substrate must be regularly loosened and fed every ten days. 3-4 months after the compost is settled with worms, the worms are counted, for which a sample is taken from a 10 by 10 cm area. The number of worms in it is multiplied by 100. Surplus worms can be sold to fish farms, directly to fishermen, poultry farms and bone meal producers. At the third stage, biohumus and worms are collected. To collect humus, the substrate is sifted through a sieve with 2 mm cells. The worms remaining in the sieve are deposited in a separate box. You can do without sieving. It is enough not to feed the worms for several days, and then bring the substrate to the surface of the compost. After a couple of days, the worms will rise to the surface where they can be collected. The collected humus is weighed and packaged in plastic bags.

To organize the production of biohumus, a heated room will be required to accommodate boxes with compost and worms. Since the production cycle is year-round and continuous, production volumes can be very large. Therefore, you will need a warehouse to store finished products. In addition, you will need to buy a packaging line with a dispenser for packaging humus in bags of 3-6 kg and 20-50 kg. Humus in smaller bags can be sold through retail stores, and in larger bags through wholesalers. The cost of such a line is over 1 million rubles, but you can save money on it and purchase scales and a manual bag sealer instead (all together it will cost about 5 thousand rubles). To keep the worms, you will need wooden boxes with a bottom made of strong boards or metal. In addition, special vermicomposters can be purchased. Irrigation systems (usually drip irrigation) are used to moisten the compost mass. The cost of the simplest such system is about 1-1.5 thousand rubles. Do not forget about tools and working equipment: a rake, a shovel, a sieve, buckets, etc.

You will also need to purchase worms, establish a constant supply of manure, decaying leaves and food waste, develop packaging options, enter into sales contracts with partners, arrange delivery of finished products to customers. Biohumus can be sold directly to gardeners, gardening associations, gardening shops, poultry farms, producers of meat and bone meal, agricultural enterprises. The sale of worms to fishermen and fish farms can often bring a profit comparable to the profit from the sale of the humus itself. Thus, your product range may include vermicompost itself, concentrated liquid humus, bio-earth (a mixture of bio-humus and earth in a certain proportion), worms.

The costs of organizing such production include the purchase of equipment (about 45-50 thousand rubles without a packaging line), the purchase of raw materials (50 thousand rubles), the equipment of the premises with stove heating (45 thousand rubles), registration and IP and other expenses. You can start a business with 150 thousand rubles, and then gradually expand production volumes at the expense of profits. The profitability of such a business is estimated at 40%. With a population of 100 thousand worms, the payback period will be up to six months, and the total revenue will exceed 1 million rubles.

On the Internet you can find a lot of material both on the very technology of biohumus production, and on the calculations of profitability and payback. However, not all of them (especially the most rosy ones) are true. So, for example, if you are counting on a good profit, then you will not be able to manage with minimal investments, as well as recoup them in a short time. Firstly, the preparation of raw materials for the preparation of the substrate takes quite a long time - about six months. Thus, if you have not found a supplier of finished raw materials with the required exposure, then you can start your business no earlier than in six months. Secondly, with a large scale of production, one shed heated by a stove is no longer enough. You will need a whole cowshed, which still needs to be prepared - to make even floors for the ridges (fill the floor with concrete), lay the windows with bricks so that heat does not blow out of the room in winter, make the suspended ceiling as low as possible to preserve heat, equip driveways, make repair of internal premises, prepare production and storage facilities, etc. In addition, the finished humus will need to be dried (for large volumes of production, heated floors will be needed) and passed through a crusher.

To start a business, you can get by with 150 thousand rubles. However, the greater the volume of production, the greater the investment. In particular, some suppliers of raw materials provide the following technological and economic calculation for the production of vermicompost per 1000 sq. meters of heated area. In their opinion, the initial costs do not exceed 500 thousand rubles, and by the end of the first year of operation, the entrepreneur will receive finished products worth 3 million rubles (250 tons of humus produced at 12 rubles per kilogram). According to the results of the first year of operation, the profit will amount to 2.5 million rubles according to such calculations. In fact, investments at the initial stage will be an order of magnitude higher. It will be necessary to purchase land and premises (or at least rent them), carry out repair work and re-equip the production area, purchase and deliver 500 tons of manure, purchase worms, inventory, equipment for packing, separating, crushing humus. In addition, you will need at least one tractor with a blade and a trailer, several workers for the production of humus and maintenance of equipment ... Of course, all these expenses will clearly not fit into half a million. Moreover, according to a rough estimate, they will amount to at least 4.5-5 million rubles.

Also, do not trust the rumors about the 300% profitability of the biohumus production business. The real costs of conducting such production activities range from 1.5 million rubles a year. The main items of expenditure are heating, raw materials, electricity, wages for workers. The real profitability is not more than 100%. And then, this is true only with an increase in productivity up to 350-400 tons of vermicompost per year. However, with such volumes of production, another question arises - how to organize the sale of these products and, no less important, at what price. In the capital, for example, humus is sold in stores at a price of 25 rubles per kilogram, but for the regions often even 10 rubles per kilogram can be too high a price. There is another problem - the low awareness of farmers, summer residents, gardeners and gardeners about the benefits of biohumus. This type of organic fertilizer, despite its high efficiency and safety, has not yet been widely used in our country. Your potential buyers often don't even know what it is. In addition, the technologies for growing many common crops have not yet been adapted to the use of vermicompost. All this greatly complicates the organization of the sale of vermicompost in large volumes.

However, despite all the above difficulties, the vermicompost production business deserves attention. It is most advantageous to do it in conjunction with your existing business in the field of agriculture (for example, a farm for raising cattle, breeding rabbits, poultry, etc.).

Even a home business is worth registering. Enough to open IP and enter the code OKVED 01.49- Breeding of other animals. The paperwork will take no more than $ 30-40.

Buying a livestock of worms

An ordinary earthworm can also produce fertilizer, but for production scale and quick profits, California is better suited ( worm miner). It processes the earth faster, so the first portion of humus can be obtained in a week or two.

It is best to buy ringed ones on vermifarms. You need to buy a genetic unit: adult worms along with "young growth" and cocoons.

Worms for the production of biohumus are purchased in foreign soil, and then transferred to a specially prepared substrate. The average cost of a "family" of 1500 individuals - $ 35-40.

Biohumus production technology

You will need to organize the work in several stages.

Soil preparation. The basis of vermicompost is chicken manure and rotted cow manure. Here we add a little lime and peat (based on 200 grams per kg of substrate), food waste, vegetable peelings, silage, hay.
Substrate in boxes. Before being introduced into the soil by miners, it should be “sustained” a little for 5-6 days. Every two or three days, the earth is mixed and moistened with warm water. Under the influence of fermentation processes, it heats up to 45-50 degrees, and then the temperature drops to the optimum: 25-30 degrees. Then you can populate the prepared trays.
Launching pets. So that the production of biohumus with your own hands does not stop at the very beginning, it is worth releasing a “trial batch” (50 pieces) into the prepared land. If during the day they feel normal, the rest are launched. On average, 700-1000 pieces are needed per cubic meter. You need to pour them not in one pile, but evenly distributing them over the tray. After that, the "house" is covered with a cloth to protect the "pets" from bright light.
Top dressing. Over the next few weeks, your "pets" feed, breed and actively process the soil.
Removal of humus. When the density of soil settlement becomes too high, they will need to be planted, and then collect the vermicompost fertilizer that has accumulated at the bottom of the tank.

Biohumus production equipment

Minimum set of equipment for work: breeding containers, sieve (mesh diameter 4-6 mm), scales, shovel, devices for measuring soil acidity and temperature. If you make "houses" with your own hands, the total cost of equipment will not exceed $ 300.

It is possible to grow miners in a special pit on the street, but this is dangerous due to the penetration of ordinary worms, exposure to low temperatures and makes it difficult to collect humus. A purchase or independent production containers will allow all year round, adapting any room for this (garage, shed, pantry, etc.)

The biohumus box is usually wooden or plastic. You can make a wooden one from sheets of plywood with a thickness of 2.5-3 cm. Standard container dimensions: 1x2x0.5 m.

To prevent rodents from getting inside, the seams of the box should be strengthened with a tin flight. Holes are drilled in the bottom for collecting vermicelli, place the container on low bars at a slight slope to drain the liquid.

Under the box we put a container-substrate with a solid bottom surface. The lid can also be made from a sheet of plywood with air holes.

Trays can be stacked on top of each other to save space. This is a great option on how to make biohumus in the country with minimal cost money and space.

A small vermifarm needs a well-ventilated area of 14-15 square meters.

Even cardboard boxes can be adapted for breeding and an old refrigerator. They must also be installed at an angle. But the boxes will have to be changed frequently.

Caring for California Worms

A few content rules:

The ideal temperature is within + 4 ... + 40 degrees. In other conditions, animals die;
If miners are kept outside, in winter they must be moved indoors and covered with warm material;
The moisture level of the compost should be 70-80%;
In hot weather, the soil should be regularly watered with warm, settled water;
Permissible acidity of the substrate: 7-8 points;
To keep the necessary warmth and humidity, it is recommended to cover the boxes with straw. It lets air through and maintains the right conditions.

Loosening the compost

For animals to breathe freely, 1-2 times a week loosen the compost. So in their "houses" there will be enough air.

Loosening is carried out with a small spatula and very carefully, without damaging the "residents".

Feeding the worms

The production of biohumus with the help of worms provides for the formation of the correct diet for "pets".

This is almost any waste of your food activity: old tea leaves, peels and skins from vegetables and fruits (carrots, bananas, potatoes, apples, beets, etc.), moldy bread and buns, spoiled boiled vegetables and overcooked cooked cereals.

Not recommended use meat waste and manure. You can add grass and leaves to the feed. The top layer of compost is the miners' food. It should be updated every 10 days, applying top dressing with a layer of 5-6 centimeters.

For the first month and a half, ringed ones adapt to a new habitat and eat little, then they adapt and begin to breed.

The temperature is set to the optimum level in +24…+25 degrees. During this period, increase top dressing. Regularly check how much nutrient substrate is left on the surface.

Collection of vermicompost

After about three to four months, the preparation of biohumus ends - the "residents" process all the nutrient soil in a container. Before sampling, they are forced to starve a little, and then they bring in a 5-7 cm layer of food on the surface of the earth.

Hungry individuals gradually move into it. After a few days, this layer is removed along with the "residents". The procedure should be repeated 2-3 times in order to select the entire livestock together with the young, which have just emerged from the cocoons.

At the bottom of the “substrate” under the tray, liquid vermicay is collected, and the remaining contents of the container after the “pets” are evicted are sieved through a sieve, dried, and packaged.

There is a little trick how to collect valuable fertilizer even easier. Initially, you will need an empty box with a solid bottom, in which you put another container with a perforated bottom and populate the livestock in it. When the soil in the second container is processed, place the next container with a slatted bottom in the second container with a good layer of top dressing. Hungry annelids will completely move upstairs within a week, and you will have ready-made humus.

A family of 1,500 individuals produces approximately 2 tons of humus in four months. And after so much time there will be many more of them. This will increase production volumes or sell "extra" for breeding or fishing.

Sales

The finished product should be sold to wholesale dealers or directly to the owners of farms and land plots, flower farms.

The average price of a ton is $170-190. The offspring of worms should be offered to pet stores, fishermen, poultry farms, organic fertilizers. One individual costs approximately $0.02.

Costs and profits

To organize the production of biohumus at home, you will need to invest up to $ 400 in a business. The costs pay off in the first year of operation. Having bought a family of 1500 heads, it is realistic to produce 8-9 tons per year (- about $ 1500).

Keeping the total number of animals within 2000 pieces, sell the rest. This will bring additional income in the amount of $100-150 per year. Total annual revenue - in the region of $ 1600, net profit - 1200 dollars.

If we consider the production of vermicompost as a business, then on a small scale it will be rather a simple part-time job. To receive from $500 per month, it is necessary to increase the number of livestock to at least 10,000 annelids.

Worms selection and substrate preparation

Vermicomposting technology is practically waste-free. It is based on the natural ability of worms to process organic matter and soil, which in their body are chemically transformed, crushed, and enriched with useful substances. For production on a large scale, this process is carried out in special vermifactories. However, the simplicity of the technology makes it possible to establish production in small quantities at home or in the country.

The main condition for obtaining biohumus is worms, among which Californian and their domestic counterpart, the Staratel hybrid, are popular. Californians are distinguished by gluttony, omnivorousness, the ability to multiply rapidly, but they do not tolerate frost well and must winter in warmth. While "Prospector" continues humus formation even at low temperatures. In order to save money, you can accumulate ordinary earthworms, while the technology will not lose efficiency.

As noted in many educational videos and informational articles, organic waste is used to obtain vermicompost:

manure;
leaf litter;
branches;
hay;
straw;
leftover food;
feces.

First, prepare the substrate for the production of fertilizer. A collar is formed from the waste, moistened, additional soil, sawdust, sand are added, and left to rot. Fresh manure and chicken manure are toxic to worms due to their content of urea, uric acid and ammonia, so they are composted together with straw (hay) in a ratio of 1:2. To speed up the process of decay of organic matter, you can use special biological products - Tamir, Baikal-Em, Bioyodis, which will improve the quality of biohumus.

Release and feeding

When the composting process is completed, worms can be introduced. But before starting, it will be useful to watch a video on this topic. For convenience, the substrate is placed in any containers, boxes or baskets made of natural, harmless material, such as wood.

How to make biohumus

If necessary, drill holes in them for sufficient aeration and water drainage. It will be convenient to transfer such containers to a warm room for a period of cold weather to continue the process of biofertilizer production.

Use damp bedding of hay, straw, or shredded paper to provide additional ventilation. The technology involves filling the box with bedding by three quarters, after which compost is added. Then holes are made on the surface of the mixture and the worms are released. They wait until the worms completely hide in the substrate, cover the box with straw and leave it in a ventilated place.

The recommended population density of worms is 2000 zkz/m2. For their growth and improvement of nutrition, it is necessary to periodically add fresh waste. One of the most important conditions for obtaining biohumus is the constant moistening of the processed mixture.

The vermicomposting process lasts from 1 to 3 months depending on the type of waste used. In the end, a free-flowing mass consisting of small granules of brown or black color is obtained, with the smell of black soil, which is an organic fertilizer.

Separation of worms from fertilizer

Two methods are used to separate worms from biohumus. They are quite simple, but if necessary, you need to turn to videos or other training materials. Most often, this is sifting a small amount of the mixture through a regular sieve. When shaking the sieve, the humus is separated from the substrate with worms and falls down. All that remains in the sieve is transferred to another box and then the technology is repeated.
The second way to extract vermicompost is that the worms long time do not pour food (3-4 days). As a result, they become hungry, and it is only necessary to apply a layer of fresh waste (5 cm) to the entire surface of the substrate. The layer is removed after two days and, together with the worms in it, is transferred to a new place. If dead individuals are found among them, then they can be used to feed chickens, pigs and other domestic animals. For the winter, the containers are transferred to a warm room, under such conditions, the process of obtaining vermicompost continues.

The result of applying vermicompost

Biofertilizer production is not only an environmentally and economically viable method of increasing soil productivity, but also a safe way to dispose of organic waste. The use of biohumus provides a stable increase in soil fertility. At the same time, along with an increase in the yield of agricultural products, the cost of expensive chemical pesticides is reduced. This allows us to make agricultural production practically waste-free, environmentally friendly and cost-effective.

Earthworms are the main reproducers of soil fertility! Their ecological value!

Earthworms are the most ancient inhabitants of the earth, whose activities have created and are creating soils.

They are the main orderlies of the earth, the guarantors of the health and well-being of all living on it. They feed on dead decaying plant tissues that enter the soil in the form of litter, root and crop residues.

Today we will talk about the ecological significance of worms, about what role they play on earth, about how and why to breed them on your site. And also, as promised, I will share my experience in the production of vermicompost at home with the help of worms. It will be interesting, and most importantly, after reading to the end, you will learn a lot of useful information! ...

Why are earthworms needed?

Earthworms are the main consumers of dead plant debris. The biomass of worms is 50 - 72% of the total biomass of the soil. Absorbing together with the soil a huge amount of plant detritus (decaying dead plant tissues), microbes, fungi, algae, protozoan nematodes, etc., they digest them.

At the same time, worms excrete with feces a large amount of their own intestinal microflora, enzymes, vitamins, biologically active substances that have antibiotic properties and prevent the development of pathogenic (pathogenic) microflora, putrefactive processes, the release of fetid gases, disinfect the soil and give it a pleasant smell of the earth.

In the process of digestion of plant residues, humus substances are formed in the digestive canal of worms. They differ in chemical composition from humus formed in the soil with the participation of only microflora.

Processes of polymerization of low-molecular decomposition products develop in the digestive tube of worms organic matter and molecules of humic acids are formed, which form complex compounds with the mineral components of the soil (lithium, potassium, sodium humates - soluble humus, calcium, magnesium, and other metal humates - insoluble humus) and remain in the soil for a long time in the form of stable aggregates (water-intensive, water-resistant, hydrophilic and mechanically strong).

Therefore, the activity of worms slows down the leaching of mobile nutrients from the soil and prevents the development of water and wind erosion. Coproligs of worms of natural populations contain 11...15% of humus per dry matter.

Worms also have another specific feature that is very useful for agriculture. It is connected with their unique ability to improve and structure the soil.

During the summer period, a population of 50 worms in the arable layer of soil per 1 m2 lays a kilometer of passages and releases coprolites on the surface with a layer of 3 mm. Even more of them remain in the thickness of the soil.

Each worm passes through the digestive canal per day the amount of soil equal to the mass of its body. If the average weight of a worm is 0.5 g, then with their number of 50 individuals per 1 m2 (500,000 per 1 ha), they process 250 kg of soil per day on an area of 1 ha.

In the middle lane, the active activity of worms continues 200 days a year. Consequently, during the season they can process 50 tons of soil per hectare, providing it with humus.

A fundamental question is: what modern technical means can be used to accomplish a gigantic fruitful work on structuring and humusing the soil in a year? While there are no such forces and means!

And no one and nothing can compare with worms in their beneficial activity. It is their activity that once significant black soils of Russia were created - its pride and wealth!

From what has been said, it is clear that the most obvious sign of the health of the soil, its high fertility is the presence of earthworms in it. The more of them in the soil, the more functionally healthy it is. This should be recognized and adopted "in service" in the interests of the reproduction of soil fertility by all farmers!

How to start breeding worms in the garden?

Now many breed worms to obtain biohumus and even do business on worms. But we do not make money on this, and so modestly, but in order to save on biohumus (purchased), we decided to try to breed worms, and to increase their number in the country. Growing worms at home is quite within the power of every gardener. What do you need to grow worms? And which worms should be bred?

Red compost worms (hey-ze-niya foetida) are better suited for de-ve-de-nia, some of which can always be dug up in a loo-pe-rep-roaring compost heap. They differ from other types of worms in their dark brown color with alternating dark and light transverse stripes.

If there are no or too few worms on the site, then this does not matter, they can be dug up in the forest or, in extreme cases, purchased at a fishing store. I want to say right away why we took our own for breeding, and did not buy the popular "prospectors" or "Californians".

Firstly, it costs money, and secondly, we have heard about deception about their fertility, such as 1,500 of them come from one per year! Nothing like this! The fertility of our worms suits us quite well.

Compost worms are no worse if they create excellent conditions! For a year, 450-500 pieces are produced from one, and they are more adapted to our soils. Quite unpretentious.

And it all started with the fact that, like many summer residents, I also purchased biohumus in garden stores. And that only I did not come across in it! All sorts of things that are there, in principle, should not be! And once, because of the purchased biohumus, all the seedlings disappeared ...

Biohumus is easy!

I realized that the quality of the purchased biohumus is in question. And I thought somehow, if only I could learn how to get my own! And a year ago, having studied this issue thoroughly, I decided to try it.

Moreover, we never throw away kitchen waste - we put everything in compost. And there are a lot of them in our family of four. As a result of the experiment, without straining, we received 160 kg of pure excellent fertilizer, which we successfully used as a top dressing and for growing seedlings already in the spring of this year!

And it all started with the fact that in the fall I collected worms from the compost heap to the bottom of the bucket. I did not count them individually, but the bottom of the bucket was covered with a 3 cm layer of worms. Then, I collected half a bucket of compost from there, the same in which these worms lived.

In the apartment, I decided to take a warm and humid place for the worms - the bathroom. In a regular cardboard box, which I pre-glued with adhesive tape so that it would not crumble at the most inopportune moment, I poured half a bucket of compost, then worms, and on top another layer of compost.

Now it was necessary to give them food, so that the worms would not even have time to come to their senses from the fact that the move had taken place. I cut vegetable peels finely with scissors or, if there is no time to mess around, I twist them in a meat grinder.

With a layer of 1 cm, I put the feeding in the box and carefully moisten the contents from the sprayer. Then I cover with toilet paper, a double layer and moisten it with water too.

All! I leave them for a couple of weeks, spraying paper as they dry. You can sprinkle feeding with compost to avoid the appearance of midges. But cover with paper on top - it shows the level of humidity and protects from light.

There is no bad smell! Because worms produce certain substances that serve as a kind of deodorant. And the finished vermicompost smells so pleasantly of the earth.

Conditions for keeping compost worms!

Conditions must be ideal, and what does that mean?

Optimal conditions for the life of worms - temp-pe-ra-tu-ra 18-26 °,
Humidity 60-70% (re-gu-lyar-but po-li-va-yut) and
The reaction of the environment is pH 5.8-7.5.

Humidity is considered to-s-ta-precise, if you squeeze 1-2 drops from a lump in your hand moisture.

Keep the humidity stable, when the soil dries up, they will quickly die ... I took the water settled for a day, they will also die immediately from bleach.

Why in a box? Because cardboard "breathes", organically. If the bottom gets wet over time, then I just put the box with worms in another slightly larger box.

What to feed the worms? Almost everyone plant origin. I do not give animal waste to them, so that there is no unpleasant smell. Potato peels, watermelon and melon peels, squash, banana, and anything (citrus fruits are undesirable a lot - acidify the substrate), the main thing to remember is that worms have no teeth! Therefore, they pre-grind their food.

How often to feed the worms?

At first, almost every day I looked under the paper, to see if they had eaten it or not ... But it’s easier to look at the paper itself (later I realized this), as soon as holes appear on it, both corroded, and feed. Just put fresh food on top and cover with paper. The key is to not overdo it...

For a couple of months (September-October), the box was filled to the top. By the way, worms are such unique animals that stop breeding when their number goes off scale! Therefore, it's time to disassemble the box.

Cultivation of an earthworm in apartment conditions!

It happened like this: week I didn't feed them to make the worms hungry. And then she poured sweet food into one part of the box - these are banana peels, apple peels, and so on, but not much. After a couple of days, hungry worms crawled to the surface to eat, and I easily collected them together with the top layer and transplanted them into another such box. Everything is like at the very beginning, only in a different box.

And in full poured a little more sweet food and lured out the second part of the worms, the younger one. I did the same with them as I did with the first batch.

And for the third time she poured feed in order to lure out the young, which had already grown a little.

Further, from the first box, it remains only to lay out the vermicompost - yes, yes, yes, pure vermicompost remained in the box, but moist enough. I dried it for a couple of days on lined thick paper. And then she sifted through a rare sieve and laid it out in bags, put it under the bath until spring.

This way I got three boxes of worms, which were successfully filled for another couple of months (November-December)! After the New Year, I did the same with these three boxes and, as a result, by spring (March) I received 4 boxes of 40 kg each of pure biohumus + 9 boxes of newly laid worms (for March-April)!

Next, it's time to open holiday season- spring came! And all these 9 boxes already full went to the dacha for the May holidays! The result, I think, is excellent! The worms gave a good offspring of live weight and a lot of valuable fertilizer! And what happened next?

And then I kept them there for two weeks with hunger! Not because I am angry and cruel, but because the soil has not yet warmed up! That's when I warmed up by June, I finally fed them like that! ... I created a wormhole in the garden! How is it, you ask?

Everything is simple! She took a piece of land 3 sq. meters - the worst land. The place is in the shade, nothing grew there except weeds ... But it was planned to ennoble this nook in the future. So it has come - this is the future, I myself did not expect that it was the worms that would now "grow" there.

In general, we fenced this place - a wormhole with boards in the form of a box. And they poured the contents of the boxes into one corner, the height reached 30-40 cm, slightly leveled it, and now in the opposite part (the one in front is empty) they put yummy with a layer of 30-40 cm.

The length of such a pile gradually increased and cultivation continued in this way all summer. That is, we threw food to them from one side, the worms gradually crawled there, leaving behind pure vermicompost.

By autumn, I had a ready-made bed! But what about worms?

And I partially move the worms to other ridges, and leave a part in this ridge. Naturally, I fill the beds with rabbit manure, and mulch on top in the fall. That is, I do not keep the beds open - they are always covered with something. At zero temperature, under natural conditions, worms fall asleep until spring, and in the spring, waking up, they will have something to eat, I always take care of this!

From the compost heap, I again took a small batch of new worms into the apartment this fall and the familiar process began! Even this matter is fascinating, not at all troublesome, the main thing is to put yourself in the place of a worm and think, would I like it here? Would such conditions suit me? Would I like to live like this?

And if so it means everything is done correctly - the worms feel comfortable, multiply and provide valuable fertilizer from free waste, which most people simply take to a landfill!

Here's what else I do in the winter, now you know it ... I hope you find this information useful, maybe someone will want to use it, good luck! If you have any questions - ask in the comments below. All the best and see you soon!

Raw material base

The intensive agriculture that we see today leads to severe depletion of soils and reduces their content of vital organic matter. As a result of mechanical tillage, along with the harvest, a significant part of the organic substances in them is alienated, in turn, increasing the proportion of mineral substances. Soil mineralization occurs so intensively that the process becomes simply irreversible and the soil loses its fertile properties forever.

For this reason, agricultural enterprises and farms are forced to look for new ways to preserve soil fertility. And the best alternative to traditional types of fertilizers, in particular manure, is biohumus - a universal natural fertilizer that contains soil antibiotics, enzymes, vitamins and microelements, so necessary for all plants. Biohumus is very convenient to use, and most importantly, it is a cheap fertilizer. It is logical that the demand for biohumus will only grow in the near future...

There are a number of advantages of vermicompost over traditional types of fertilizers: - perfectly retains moisture in the soil; - significantly improves the quality of vegetables and fruits; — increases the yield of plants and prolongs the flowering period; - does not contain pathogenic microorganisms (unlike manure); - reduces the percentage of diseases of plants. At the same time, one of the main advantages of biohumus as a fertilizer is its low price. To achieve the same effect with traditional agrochemical methods, the farmer will need a tangible investment. The use of vermicompost is designed to reduce these costs several times. Biohumus, as a fertilizer, can be used everywhere: in gardens, vegetable gardens, for feeding ornamental plants, on farms and on an industrial scale. Convenient packaging of vermicompost (in bags) allows you to purchase fertilizer, both for private and commercial purposes. The shelf life of biohumus is not limited! Biohumus is applied in the spring before planting in doses of 3-5 tons per 1 ha. The increase in yield is: for grain crops up to 15 centners per hectare, for potatoes up to 60-80 centners per hectare, for vegetables up to 70% increase per hectare. If you increase the dose of vermicompost, you can achieve even greater yields. At the same time, it is impossible to overfeed the soil with biohumus! It is known that in the United Arab Emirates, where there is nothing but sand, thanks to biohumus, up to three or more crops are harvested ecologically. clean production. Thus, this country is not an importer, but an exporter of fruits and vegetables.

How much can you earn in the production of biohumus

You can make money on the production of biohumus in two ways. The first direction is the actual processing of organic matter and the sale of ready-made vermicompost. The wholesale price of vermicompost by region ranges from 7,000 to 10,000 rubles per ton. The cost of production, according to economists, is no more than 3,500 rubles (costs for heat, electricity, wages of workers, raw materials). Thus, we get profit from one ton from 3500 - 6500 rubles. The second source of income is the sale of the California worm. The main customers are fishing shops and small wholesalers. The calculation is something like this: a box of 50 worms at the wholesale price costs 30-40 rubles. From one ton of organic matter per month, you can get up to 10 thousand worms. Hence, the additional monthly income will be 6000 - 8000 rubles per ton.

Step-by-step plan for opening biohumus production

To start a business for the production of vermicompost, three components are needed: a room, a raw material base (organic fertilizers) and a Californian worm - the same magical organism that turns ordinary “manure” into a super-useful fertilizer called Biohumus. To reduce risks and start at minimal cost, you can use the basement of a private house or an ordinary barn as a breeding room for breeding stock. The main thing is that the room is heated so that the worm does not freeze in winter. Recommended course of action for beginners: 1. Acquire breeding stock of California worm. There are many ads on the Internet for the sale of a worm, average price: 1000 rubles for 2000 worms. 2. During the year, in a warm room, increase this population by 200 times, that is, get 400,000 worms. This is quite realistic if optimum temperature, humidity, acidity and good nutrition. California worms are hermaphrodites and reproduce at such a rate that they double their population every month. 3. Then in the summer, plant the grown worm in the prepared heap of organic matter - the process of obtaining Biohumus has been started!

Biohumus production technology

A common design for biohumus production is shallow trays lined with brick (or other material) with a side height of up to 30 cm. A mixture consisting of fermented manure, earth and straw cutting is placed in the trays. You can add a little lime flour to ensure the acidity of the medium in the range of 6.5-7.5 pH. The substrate is moistened to an optimum moisture content of 80%. Then, Californian worms are placed in trays with a substrate based on a density of 3-5 thousand individuals per 1 m2. The ideal temperature for keeping worms: from +25 to +30 degrees. To maintain the humidity at the proper level, the contents of the trays are periodically watered, and the trays themselves are covered with a breathable material. The full cycle of organic matter processing and the transformation of the substrate into biohumus takes 5 months. By this time, the worm population has increased five to ten times. To speed up the reproduction process of vermiculture, it is recommended to separate adult worms from the substrate every 2 months. Thus, for the processing of 5 tons of manure within 5 months, about 50 thousand individuals of the worm will be required. The output of biohumus from the total mass of the substrate will be about 50%.

Realities of "business" and pitfalls

With the organization of the production itself, a number of problems may arise, which at first glance seem to be trifles. First, it is land. Since organic waste is the main raw material in production, it will not work to place an enterprise near the housing stock. The sanitary zone is at least 300 meters, but this is the minimum. In general, it is recommended to organize the production of vermicompost on the outskirts of settlements in order to avoid any complaints from residents. The second issue is the transportation and storage of semi-liquid organic fertilizers. How and with what you will deliver semi-liquid manure from farms, how to remove solids, how to store manure, how to decontaminate and how to unload it from manure storage. In most cases, the manure will be delivered on multi-purpose tractor trailers. But keep in mind that the losses with this method of delivery are very large. The third question is the packaging of biohumus. It is good if you have several regular large customers to whom you will sell large quantities of fertilizer. But in most cases, you will be forced to look for ways to sell vermicompost in small batches. Your customers are farms, small wholesale dealers, specialist shops, plant nurseries and flower pavilions. It will not be possible to sell vermicompost "in bulk" to these customers - appropriate packaging is required. Most often, biohumus is packed in plastic bags of 1, 5, 10 and 20 kg. To do this, you will have to purchase the appropriate packaging equipment, which will result in additional costs at the start.

Raw material base

And finally, the fourth question is the availability of the same raw material base. Where will organics be supplied from if there are livestock farms in your outskirts? It is best if these are cattle breeding enterprises. It is logical to assume that if there is not a single such enterprise within a radius of at least 50 km, opening a biohumus production business is a pure gamble.

A step-by-step plan for starting a vermicompost business

Sales market analysis.
Drawing up a business plan
Tank equipment with optimal conditions for growing worms.
Preparation of a heated facility for breeding worms.
Acquisition of rotted cattle manure.
Preparation of rotten leaves, hay, silage.
Acquisition of worms (California or Vladimir).
Settlement of worms in prepared manure.

How much money do you need to start a business

To start a business you will need:

Biohumus packaging equipment - about 100 thousand rubles.
Purchase of raw materials - 50 thousand rubles.
Preparation of the premises, installation of a heating system - 50 thousand rubles.
Other expenses - 10 thousand rubles.

Initial costs can be reduced to 100-120 thousand rubles, using a used line or increasing volumes gradually. It is advisable to open a vermicompost production business for farmers, where there is an opportunity to save on raw materials.

What OKVED to indicate when registering

15 - production of fertilizers and nitrogen compounds.

What documents are needed to register a business

To register a business, you must register as an individual entrepreneur, open a bank account for cashless payments. You can apply for an IP at the tax office at the place of registration of the applicant, providing:

Application in the prescribed form;
A photocopy of the passport;
Receipt of payment of state duty.

Which taxation system to choose when registering

A simplified taxation system is the best way to open a business for the production of vermicompost.

Do I need permission to start production?

There is no need to issue special licenses and certificates to conduct biohumus production business. If the products will be sold through large stores, it is advisable for veterinary pharmacies to issue quality certificates. A simple document will attract more biohumus buyers.