Primary school teacher raises earthworms

(Baonghean.vn) - In the mountainous commune of Thach Son, Anh Son district (Nghe An), teacher Nguyen Thi Thuy built a model of raising earthworms to produce biofertilizer with high efficiency.

Earthworm farm system of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy in village 7, Tuong Son commune (Anh Son). Photo: Huyen Trang.

Although she is a primary school teacher, with her passion for agricultural production, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy has diligently studied books, documents and visited models in Cu Chi district - Ho Chi Minh city about the process of producing organic fertilizer from raising earthworms. After accumulating knowledge and experience, Ms. Thuy discussed with her family to rent over 1 hectare of land in the Lam River area in village 7, Tuong Son commune to implement the model.

Ms. Thuy said: At first, the family raised the animals on an area of ​​240 m2.²Thanks to proper care, the worms have grown strongly. From the initial source, she doubled, then tripled... currently the family's worm farming area has reached 0.5 hectares.

Earthworms are easy to raise and reproduce strongly. Photo: Huyen Trang

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy shared her experience: Raising earthworms is very easy because this is an animal that adapts easily to the environment and has a fast reproduction rate. The source of raw materials for raising earthworms is taken advantage of from livestock manure and agricultural by-products such as straw, corn stalks, etc. For the worms to grow well, farmers also need to build plots, earthworms like the dark, so during the raising process, they must be covered with tarpaulin to ensure humidity, avoid sunlight and also to prevent species such as toads, frogs, mice and insects from entering the garden.

During the breeding process, 20kg of seeds/1m is needed.^2,Feed the worms once every 2-3 days by feeding directly and watering regularly to ensure the worms have good growing conditions. Applying this method, after 1 month, there will be microbial fertilizer to harvest. In addition to producing microbial organic fertilizer, Ms. Thuy also invested in a machinery system to produce worm juice to provide food for shrimp farms.

Currently, with an area of ​​0.5 hectares, each day Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy's worm farm can supply the market with 2 tons of biofertilizer and 500 liters of worm juice.

Nutrient-rich earthworm castings help produce clean crop products. Photo: Huyen Trang

According to Ms. Thuy, among organic fertilizers, earthworm manure is the most popular among farmers because it is rich in nutrients and stimulates plant growth. In particular, unlike manure, earthworm manure is easily absorbed and increases the ability to retain water in the soil, preventing root diseases.

Vermicompost adds nitrogen-fixing, phosphorus-decomposing, cellulose-decomposing microorganisms and disease-resistant microorganisms. Therefore, vermicompost has the effect of improving soil, reducing the use of chemical fertilizers, stimulating seeds to germinate quickly and evenly and is suitable for all types of crops, especially creating clean products in agricultural production.

Currently, the earthworm farming model for biofertilizer of Ms. Thuy's family is visited by many people to learn from the experience, because the investment capital for raising earthworms is not large, and the income is quite good, but farmers need to combine it with raising livestock and poultry to make full use of food sources and waste, increasing economic efficiency.

Huyen Trang