WORMS AT WORK

1. WORMS AT WORK TO PROMOTE ORGANIC FARMING

2. With an apology to “THE NATURE” Nature, do you exist any more? Where are you? You don’t seem as you’d look before! I know your green attire’s torn apart, The sympathy is my heart, I could not impart, Your children’ve been separated from you, Who stood tall, green, divine & true, Sad little squirrel, and the birdie on the rock, Awaiting for its homing flock, Ruthless humans are on a robbing spree, Your precious wealth they’ve looted with glee, I apologize on behalf of the ruthless humanity, And promise to give back your lost beauty, which might last till eternity!

3. INTRODUCTION Because of indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers & pesticides for decades the organic matter content of soils has come down to less than one percent. The residues of chemicals cause concern over the safety of food and sustainable production. The simple solution is organic farming by reverting to the use of manures, green manures, urban and rural waste etc. which can bring sustainability to agriculture with eco- friendliness.

4. INTRODUCTION Organic Farming is a production of crops which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetically compound fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators and live-stock feed additives. Organic farming is becoming popular these days because of its eco friendly nature. The earthworms have been considered as one of the important and promising groups of organisms suitable for composting the organic materials. Many exotic earthworms are being used in the vermi-composting

5. VERMICOMPOSTING IN INDIA In 1985, Maharashtra Agricultural Bioteks was formed and established a small plant to manufacture vermicompost from agricultural waste. The organization currently produces 5,000 tons of Vermicompost annually.

6. OBJECTIVES • To make people recognize the need for protecting, preserving and conserving environment. • To aware the local community about the importance and conservation of soil. • To create awareness among people about organic farming. • To develop a sustainable agriculture system for guaranteed adequate food production in the foreseeable future.

7. OBJECTIVES • To develop an alternative strategy over chemical farming which would be a guideline for working of biological processes in natural ecosystems. • To develop a sense of commitment among people to protect the environment. • To develop self-sufficient agriculture system which would rely as much as possible upon resources from within its own resources.

8. ILL EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL FARMING • CHANGE IN pH OF THE SOIL • POLLUTION OF SOIL OR GROUND WATER RESOURCES • MINOR PESTS BECOMES MAJOR PESTS • KILLING OF PREDATORS AND USEFUL PESTS • CAUSE OF VARIOUS DISEASES • LOSS OF NUTRITIONAL VARIETY • DESTRUCTION OF AGRO FORESTRY

9. ORGANIC FARMING-WHY??? • Keeping in view socio, economic and ecological factors there is a need to introduce sustainable agriculture system which has least negative impact on ecology.

10. VERMICULTURE:Rearing of Earthworms.Introducing: THE EARTHWORM • “The plough is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man’s inventions; but long before he existed, the land was … regularly ploughed and still continues to be ploughed by earthworm. It may be (doubtful) whether there are many other animals which have played so important part in history of the world.” Charles Darwin,1881

11. VERMICOMPOSTING Vermicomposting is a process of using worms (vermi is Latin word for worm) to process organic food waste into nutrient rich soil. worms can decay food waste and produce vermicompost , a very effective soil amendment . It is full of beneficial microbes and nutrients, and is great plant fertilizer.

12. OPTIMUM CONDITIONS FOR COMPOSTING • Temperature- Optimum is 68o to 77o F. • Moisture- • Optimum is 75% to 85%. • 1 or 2 drops should drip on squeezing the bedding. • Drainage is extremely important. • Ventilation- All the creatures need lots of AIR. • Environment- • pH 5.5 is preferred • Keep it dark as worms are sensitive to light.

13. DATA ANALYSIS We have together probed the minds of the people of sector41 through a questionnaire. We have taken the sample size of 200. they were not happy and wanted to promote organic farming.

14. FORMAT OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE Name:- Age:- • For how long have you been living here? • a) 5yrs b) 5-10yrs • c) 10-15yrs c) more than 15 yrs • What has been the impact of chemicals on the food items? • a) • b) • c)

15. METHODOLOGY • PLANNING: We the team of 5 members along with the guide teachers joined our hands together for completing our task. We thought of starting this project in our school campus only, as we have ample of space in our school where we can easily implement our project.

16. SURVEYING : We the are where the land could get ample shade.

17. QUESTIONING: We probed the minds of the people of different areas and discussed the benefits of organic farming. we also asked them the harmful effects of chemical farming. On the basis of the response, we stepped forward.

18. Questioning

19. CLEANING OF THE AREA: • We all put our heads together to save and conserve the soil. • We cleaned the area by cutting the grass. • Unwanted plants were removed and burnt. • Stones, pebbles were thrown away. • The area was leveled and ploughed. • We wet the ground on which wastes were to be placed by sprinkling water.

20. Cleaning of the Area

21. MEASUREMENT OF THE AREA: We measured the area by using a measuring tape which came out to be 8ft. X 10ft.

22. Measurement of the Area

23. BEDDING: The bottom of the ground was covered by coarse bedding such as sugarcane trash, grasses and cornstalks etc. Cow dung (15 kgs) slurry was prepared a layer of slurry was spread completely and evenly on top of the bedding.

24. Preparation of the Bedding

25. RELEASE OF EARTHWORMS: Earthworms were put on the top of the bedding. A layer of decomposable waste was added & the vermibed was covered with gunny bags to prevent birds from eating the worms.

26. Students releasing the Earthworms

27. CARE & MAINTENANCE OF THE VERMIBED: Water was sprinkled over the mixture at 3-day intervals for 11/2 months to maintain adequate moisture & temperature of the worms.

28. Sprinkling of water

29. HARVESTING, SIEVING & PACKAGING: After two months, the compost was ready. The gunny bags were removed and compost was harvested. Few worm castings were also observed which proved that the compost was ready. Then the sieving process was taken into account. During this process, all the earthworms were sorted out and the vermicompost was collected on the other side of the compost. Then the compost was packed in poly bags.

30. Sieving of Vermicompost

31. Vermicompost

32. Making the packets of Vermicompost

33. VERMICOMPOST BENEFITS SOIL BY • Enriching soil in microorganisms • Improving its physical structure • Adding plant hormones • Adding enzymes • Attracting deep burrowing earth worms already present in soil. • Improving water holding capacity.

34. FOLLOW UP PROGRAM • Project files were made on the topics Vermiculture, Vermicompost, Organic Farming vs. Chemical farming etc. by the students. • Poster making and slogan writing competition were conducted in school for generating awareness among everyone. • Vermicompost was shown to the students of different classes. In this way we aroused the scientific temper among the students.

35. Packets of Vermicompost were distributed to the local residents of sector 41, gardeners of our school and to the people who’re having kitchen gardens at their places. • The contact no. (9855787879 ) of the mobile vans selling organic vegetables were given to the residents of sector 41. • We with the help of other students conducted a rally to make people aware about the importance of vermicompost and organic farmers. All the participating students took a pledge : • “LET US JOIN OUR HANDS AND CONSERVE OUR NATURE”.

36. Spreading the message

37. Distribution of Vermicompost

38. SOME MORE SUGGESTIONS • Fallow Fields: Between two consecutive crops the field is kept fallow or free for some time so that the soil can regain its lost nutrients naturally. • Crop Rotation: Here cereal crops are grown alternately with the leguminous crops in consecutive seasons to maintain the fertility of soil.

39. SOME MORE SUGGESTIONS • NADEP Composting: Here waste is decomposed in layer wise manner along with cow dung in a specially designed airy pit. • Green Manures: Leguminous green manure crops are an important source of Nitrogen. Nitrogen fixed by these plants enriches the soil.

40. CONCLUSION Let us earn the blessings of future generations by organic farming. Growing plants and trees using vermicompost so that in the coming years we shall all have healthy fruits and vegetables leading to a rich life. Though we have been slow to cash in on the global situation, we have so far certified only 1426 farms as organic. It is high time “not to panic but to organic”. Let us take a pledge to promote ‘global worming’ and to remember:- “Nature provides a free lunch but only then if we know that we are the only caretakers of this planet”.

41. Promoting Biodiversity Thank you