The vermiculture in Ecuador is carried out in the provinces of Azuay, Guayas, Los Rios, Pichincha and Tungurahua. It is about new biotechnology techniques that uses the Californian red worm as a work tool.
Organic waste is used for this practice. In recent months, 88 tons of organic waste have been collected in the central, wholesale and fruit and vegetable markets, which are used in the vermiculture undertaking.
An industry is generated that in turn supplies several items:
-Production of humus and its distribution in agro-ecological farms.
-Sale of worms for different uses as bird food, fishing bait and as flour for the manufacture of fish food.
Every farmer in Ecuador who is interested in exporting his fruit and vegetable crops knows very well that the foreign market prefers to consume products obtained from agro-ecological crops, so these techniques are very favorable in their application.
You may be interested in Vermiculture in Ecuador: Characteristics, Provinces and Business.
Where is vermiculture practiced in Ecuador?
The provinces of Azuay, Guayas, Los Ríos, Pichincha and Tungurahua are the ones that carry out this activity, leaving aside amateur practice to become professionals in the field.
The provinces involved with this activity are located in the center and west of the country. Area where the rains and temperatures are not too intense, which favors vermiculture.
To carry out this project, the Municipality signed several contracts with farm owners.
Tons of organic waste are delivered through the Environmental Sanitation Directorate and the landowners carry out the production of humus on their farms with their staff.
Of what is produced, the government keeps 15% of the humus, which it uses in parks and public squares. The rest of the production is in charge of the landowner who is in charge of marketing it.
This plan favors the communities, since it increases the sources of work and reduces the problem of waste treatment.
Vermiculture results in that the number of worms used triples in three months, so the amount of residues needed also increases.
Humus production
When organic waste arrives, it is classified and disinfected. Then, a controlled fermentation takes place and upon reaching the required fermentation point, the fermentation is transferred to the beds where the worms are.
This material will be the one that serves as food. After 3 or 4 months the final product is obtained.
To be acceptable for marketing, it must be 90% decomposed and the parts used must not be identified.
The product obtained is 100% natural worm humus, which is used as organic fertilizer and soil improver. To achieve this, the Californian Red Worm is used.
The personnel of the farms related to this activity are in permanent training to optimize production.
There is an international list of earthworms, through which you can access related online courses, consultation forums and exchange of techniques.
References
- Vermiculture Manual - Collected from manualdelombricultura.com.
- Vermiculture is a good option - (Jul / 2016) - Collected from lahora.com.ec.
- Micro-business project for the production of earthworm humus in the province of Guayas - Collected from dspace.espol.edu.ec.
- Vermiculture with controlled production: an agroindustrial alternative - Collected from revistaelagro.com.
- High-level vermiculture - (May / 2013) - Collected from lahora.com.ec.
- Worm humus-Vermiculture in Ecuador - (Apr / 2016) - Collected from periodicojardinero.com.
- Vermiculture-Production plant - Collected from bioagrotecsa.com.ec.