Raising earthworms for business can be lucrative if you know how to do it and sell it. We look at earthworms as despicable creatures but they are helpful to the environment because they turn decomposing materials into organic fertilizers. The breeding of worms and converting organic materials into compost is called vermiculture. African Night crawlers are the most common type of earthworms raised by breeders here in the Philippines.
If you are planning to start breeding earthworms, it is critical to have a steady supply of substrate (a substance that is acted upon, especially by an enzyme) in a biochemical reaction, if you want to try vermicomposting. Animal manure is an excellent source of substrate, but African Night crawlers eat their own weight in substrates dally and thrive in soil with 80 percent moisture. A kilogram of worms-roughly 1,000 crawlers-need a kilogram of substrates a day, so that in a month’s time your kilogram of worms will have consumed 30 kilograms of substrate. As they multiply they will require more food-each worm will produce three to five capsules of young each week that will mature in 30 days-and the quality of your substrates will determine the quality of your worms and the compost they’ll produce. In the Philippines, vermi casting can be a good source of income.
You can use grass clippings, madre de cacao leaves, sawdust or coconut dust and animal manure. Avoid using kitchen scrap (its nutritional value is very low) or market waste (these may have been exposed to chemicals) to feed your worms because you will only produce low quality compost. Also pay attention to where you’ll put your worms. The recommended dimension for each of your worm beds or windrows is at least 12 ft by 12 ft by 1 foot, which can hold at least two kilograms of worms and up to 60 kilograms of substrate. You may use concrete, bamboo, screen or hollow block walls and soil flooring for your windrows. Under ideal conditions (enough food and moisture) 1,000 crawlers will multiply to 30,000 and up to 120,000 in six months. You may start with 10 kilograms of worms and at least 1,000 square meters of space for producing substrates. The key to successful worm growing is following the correct formulation for substrates.
You can also use one part untreated sawdust or coconut dust and one part animal manure for breeding and composting. To produce high quality vermicast, your substrate must be composed of 25 percent nitrogen (mardre de cacao and ipil-ipil are rich in this nutrient) and 75 percent carbon (grass clippings or leaves). And remember that your substrates should be nearly decomposed before your feed them to the worms. You may house your worms in wooden or plastic boxes that are at least 12 inches deep, but you must place them in windrows once they began multiplying. You must have good drainage to keep the worms from drowning and ensure the windrows have enough moisture all the time. You may harvest worm castings weekly but take care you don’t kill young worms and capsules. You must air-dry your compost for three days before using it. This can be a lucrative business as you can sell the compost at 500 pesos per sack.
Posted by Manuel
Manuel Montala was an online entrepreneur who enjoys blogging about entrepreneurship and gathering information for his blog to help budding entrepreneurs. You can also reach him on twitter: http://twitter.com/mmontala
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m interested with your worm business, how can I reached your office..I need more information…Thank you…
Thanks for your comment. I’m glad you are interested but I’m only blogging about the worm business. I’ll try ti find some contact info of suppliers and post it here. Thanks again.
hello sir,
i have been studying the vermi casting and really interested to it, my problem is where can i buy worms for me to start vermi culture, but in a low price, i am 21 year old , can you help me look for cheap prices of this worms…..
hi sir,
please help me in my study about the effectivity of the mixture of decomposed madre de cacao and cow’s manure in increasing the egg count of earthworms……
I’m interested in a small earthworm culture just for the house to lessen garbage and go green. Where can I buy them? Any supplier here in Metro Manila?
@Mariano Gemora
I can’t find a supplier in metro manila but maybe you can inquire Vermi Phil if they have an outlet. This is their website and contact info: http://www.vermiphil.com/contactus.asp
Just to let you know we sell earthworms in Metro Manila
Our company name is Earthworm Sanctuary and we have demonstration and sales outlets at the La Mesa Ecopark in Fairview and in QC Circle Park. We give lectures and seminars on raising earthworms and we sell earthworm starter kits. Our contact # is 0922 896 1996 or 02 931 2617. Thanks, Beth and Tony De Castro
I started home vermicomposting in February, 2010 and have been selling excess earthworms (african nightcrawlers) since July. Small quantities – 250 gms to 1 kg. Pickup only. Call me at 0906 486 1098.
If you wish to know more about home vermicomposting, go here.
Hi! I’m selling one of my indoor worm bins. It has about 50 worms, perfect for the newbie hobbyist.
I’m in QC. You may contact me through my blog.
Thanks!
hi i’m nuevacijana and i do also the vermiculture in my place and i have a lot of friends wants to have a seminar from the expert like you guys may i ask a favor do you conduct a seminar in the province like us so that we can learn more about worms vermi culture and organic fertilizer.
thanks! 09228858185
@cristy
Hopefully there will be someone who will introduce to us a seminar for Vermiculture. Maybe someone will post a comment here.
For those in Manila, you can drop by the house anytime. I can talk you through the basics of vermicomposting.
Old mushroom fruiting bag is a good source of vermi substrate it has organic content that is rich in protein and other minerals that night crawler needs.
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