Vermicomposting technology: An effective cluster based entrepreneurship development approach among farm women

Abstract

Vermicomposting technology is a successful approach for promoting compost utilization, organic farming, economic development and improving soil health. However, principal bottleneck of this technology dissemination in broad scale is the lack of proper scientific knowledge about composting and the limited productivity due to discrete production leading to unstable production rate and poor marketing possibilities. Considering this scenario, Sasya Shyamala KVK took an initiative of cluster based entrepreneurship development approach with the farm women of 5 villages of South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal through trainings followed by establishment of compost production unit (32 nos.) and regular monitoring for quality compost production. The success of this approach is not only limited to the pooled amount of compost production (14–16 t/year) by the beneficiaries throughout the year, but also a significant horizontal dissemination among other interested farmers (35 nos.) by observing the economic benefit (`5000/year/unit) through marketing of compost, vermiwash and earthworms. This endeavour not only helps in proper utilization of agri wastes, but also increases compost production and utilization, reduces fertilizer requirement, alternative income source, women empowerment and sustainable soil health management.