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Vermiwash As a component of INM. Rahul Kumar and Shweta Vermiculture Research Station, Department of Zoology D.S. College (Dr. B.R.A. University) , Aligarh – 202001, Uttar Pradesh, India kmshweta3@yahoo.com. OBJECTIVES.
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VermiwashAs a component of INM Rahul Kumar and Shweta Vermiculture Research Station, Department of Zoology D.S. College (Dr. B.R.A. University) , Aligarh – 202001, Uttar Pradesh, India kmshweta3@yahoo.com
OBJECTIVES After going through this lesson, you will be able to produce Vermiwash.
Introduction • Vermiwash, a liquid bio-fertilizer can be collected through the column of activated earthworm. • It contains plant growth hormones like auxins and cytokinin apart from nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and other micronutrients.
Agriculturally Important Microbes in Vermiwash Vermiwash contains: • Nitrogen fixing bacteria Azotobacter sp Rhizobium sp. • Phosphate solublizing bacteria.
Benefits of Vermiwash • Vermiwash acts as a plant tonic and helps to reduce many plant diseases. • A mixture of vermiwash (1litre) with cow urine (1litre) in 10 liters of water acts as biopesticide and liquid manure.
Principle of Vermiwashproduction • The trickling of water takes away all the body secretions of the earthworm along with it and also other nutrients from the decomposed materials. • The collected water contains many nutrients readily available to the crop plants.
Composition of Vermiwash The composition of vermiwash is as follow: pH 7.48 ± 0.03 Organic carbon% 0.008 ± 0.001 Nitrogen% 0.01 ± 0.005 Available phosphorous% 1.69 ± 0.05 Potassium (ppm) 25 ± 2
Requirementsfor the production of Vermiwash • Bucket with tap • Earthworms • Cow dung
Method of preparation of vermiwash • Select one sufficiently large container made of concrete or plastic bucket . • Drill a hole at the base of the container to fix a tap to it.
Method of preparation of Vermiwash • A base layer of gravel or broken small pieces of bricks are placed upto height of 10-15 cm. • On the coarse sand layer place 40-45 cm pre-decomposed organic wastes and moisten the different layers by using water. • Introduce about 2000 earthworms into the container.
Integrated Vermiwash Unit • Vermiwash unit should be established with vermicomposting beds for large scale production.
Precautions • Water should be poured slowly. • Do not mix un-decomposed material while, watering. • Do not add any green material. • Do not allow to compact the contents.
LET US SUM UP • Vermiwash, a liquid fertilizer collected after the passage of water through a column of worm activation is very useful as a foliar spray. • It contains plant growth hormones like auxins and cytokinin apart from nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and other micro nutrients. • It contains nitrogen fixing bacteria like Azatobacter sp., Arobactericum sp. and Rhizobium sp. and some phosphate solublizing bacteria. • It acts as a plant tonic and helps to reduce many plant diseases.