Organic entrepreneurship for organic manure : N Noren
Focus On Entrepreneurs Of Manipur
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 01 2012: In the absence of any big industry worth its name, there is little room for mass employment except Government jobs but almost all Government jobs have steep price tags in this corruption ridden society.

Yet, for a class of enterprising individuals, Government jobs are not that much alluring.

They have the acumen for entrepreneurship and self-employment is their trademark of life.

Apart from being self-employed, this class of people are successfully giving employment to scores of fellow citizens, if not many.

Ningthoujam Kumar of Thangmeiband College Gate is one among the new breed of successful entrepreneurs and his proud profession is vermiculture and manufacturing of vermi-compost.

For this, he had undergone a series of training in different parts of India.

Now, he is producing several tonnes of vermi-compost from his sprawling vermiculture unit located at Nongdam Mayai Leikai.

N Kumar was earlier working as a teacher.

After his stint as a teacher, he ran a printing press and during this period he edited a weekly journal Kanglasha.

A vermi compost unit

Guided by his love for community service and his penchant for helping fellow citizens, Kumar finally founded the Natural Resources Development Foundation at Nongdam Mayai Leikai and embarked on a journey of vermiculture and vermi-compost starting from January this year.

At first, Kumar procured around one lakh earthworms from different parts of Manipur as well as the Eisenia Fotida species (of earthworm) from France.

Now, the number of earthworms in his Nongdam Mayai Leikai farm has grown to more than 10 lakhs.

These earthworms are being reared in 18 vermi-pits which are three inches high, four inches wide and 10 inches long.

Each of these pits is producing two tonnes of vermi-compost, a type of organic manure within a period of 55 to 60 days.

At present, there are 4000 Kgs of vermi-compost at the farm and another 4000 Kgs are being processed.

To make the vermi-compost a first rate organic manure, Kumar is using a six-feet long locally manufactured harvester.

Before this harvester was installed, the vermi-compost was sieved manually.

Apart from the vermi-compost, a reddish fluid which percolates from the vermi-pits is being collected.

This fluid known as Worm Wash is very useful in vegetable cultivation.

In foreign countries, this fluid is bottled and sold at high prices.

N Kumar and his team are not confined to vermiculture alone.

They are also cultivating mushroom.

Chopped straws used in cultivating in mushroom are thrown into the vermi-pits after harvesting mushroom.

These decomposed straws are popular food for earthworms.

By investing Rs 15,000, Kumar's farm has already earned a profit Rs 40,000 within a short period from mushroom alone.

The farm has also started marking the vermi-compost at the rate of Rs 12 per Kg.

At this rate, Kumar would certainly get Rs 48,000.Kumar's vermiculture farm is employing six people��three men and three women and they are being paid monthly salaries.

Among the six employees, the manager is being paid Rs 5000 per month while the other five employees get Rs 3000 as monthly salary.

In addition, the farm used to hire 10 other people for feeding the earthworms and collection of leftover foods and they are being a daily of Rs 250 each.

Kumar who has set of target of employing at least 15 people permanently has already undergone training in his profession at Ghaziabad, Saharanpur, Pusa, Faridabad, Coimbatore and Nagaon.

Kumar is confident that one-third of the agricultural practices in Manipur can be made organic by replacing chemical fertilizers with vermi-compost if six or seven more vermiculture farms like his can be set up.