Worm breeding inspires crisis-hit economy

Worm breeding inspires crisis-hit economy

By Mehru Jaffer

CIPANAS, West Java (JP): Do not laugh if you hear about a man
who earns his living raising worms. Vermiculture, the science of
breeding earthworms, is wriggling its way into more hearts than
one, especially after the onset of the economic crisis.

Ferry, who is 31 years old and a father of three, recalls
spending two terrible years without a job until he accidentally
wandered into the earthworm ecology farms in Cipanas, West Java.

From a family of traditional rice farmers in Central Java,
Ferry left his village to be a roving salesman for a factory
which manufactured furniture parts. He was doing fine until the
crisis caused the factory to go bankrupt, leaving him jobless.

A year ago he ventured into West Java where he heard of
Biomiks Worm Farming, a place that is still desperately looking
for more farmhands. Today Ferry is a member of Biomiks
Cooperative Society and earns a fixed income of Rp 400,000 per
month plus about Rp 350,000 in profit sharing in an area where
the minimum wage for farmers is between Rp 150,000 and Rp 200,000
per month. With his future and income secure, he is able to enjoy
the luxury of a third child.

Prasetyo Seno, the president of Biomiks, is forever on the
lookout for other unemployed people like Ferry who are looking
for alternative ways to earn a livelihood. An architect and real
estate developer, Seno became interested in vermiculture when he
planned environmentally friendly housing for residents in
Bandung.

In the housing complex he built he wanted to provide residents
with a facility for disposing organic waste with a minimum impact
on the environment.

Soon he was introduced to vermiculture and vermicomposting,
the process of feeding household waste to worms. That is when he
realized how desperate farmers in this country are for
fertilizer. He was inspired by the Cubans, who used fertilizer
made from worm powder in the absence of petrochemical fertilizers
from former communist allies and after the U.S. slapped economic
sanctions on the country.

"Indonesians are in a similar situation at the moment. Out of
56 factories producing fertilizer before the crisis, 50 have
closed down. The six factories still in operation are unable to
sell their products as the cost is too high for the local
farmer," explained Seno, who added that the country needs at
least 16 million tons of fertilizer each month. However, only 10
percent is available, and even that is not affordable.

What he would like to see is entrepreneurs here making their
own fertilizer, which will resolve multiple problems like
unemployment and lifting the agro-industry out of its current
state of depression. At Biomiks, the farmers produce five tons of
fertilizer, but even that is not enough to meet demands. One
factory requires 2,500 tons each month.

Organic compost made from worm powder is considered valuable
for farms and cattle feed. It is said to increase the yield of
vegetables and to sweeten fruit. A quick glance around reveals
that the worm farming industry is going through a boom phase all
over the world. The main reason for that is an increase in
awareness about environmental waste management and the
minimization which worms are capable of resolving as they eat
everything and breed copiously in a very basic habitat. In the
U.S., Mary Appelhof, author of Worms Eat My Garbage, a book about
home vermicomposting, recently released a revised edition of her
book, which has sold over 100,000 copies.

In a recent interview, Appelhof said, "The interest now is
just growing -- more and more people are doing it. It's
definitely changed not only my life, but now there are large-
scale projects ... At the time I started, I didn't believe there
was an industry. I believe there is a developing industry
now ..."

The Australian Worm Growers Association boasts a membership of
over 600 individuals. In the Indian city of Pune, grape yields
increased to 15 tons per acre after the use of vermicompost. This
was higher than yields under conventional fertilization.

Not only does a worm breeding business cost very little to
setup, but it can be established on a small area of land and run
on a part-time basis. In Jakarta alone, about 100 worm farms
already dot the city with four to five people manning each one.

Biokos is one of the bigger farms in West Java where more than
20 farmers, along with their families, have managed to stave off
starvation by breeding earthworms.

"One way of converting land in an urban area that was not
occupied after the real estate business went bust, and to fight
unemployment, is to start vermiculture activities," said Bambang
Wasono Basoeki Rachmat, a member of the Vermi Cooperative
Society.

He said that about 52,000 hectares of land in the Jabotabek
(Greater Jakarta) area alone has become wasteland. He wants the
cooperative society to act as a social safety net for all those
millions who lost their jobs in recent months and do not know
where their next meal will come from.

For this same reason, Bambang and Seno visit factories that
are about to close down and talk about the benefits of earthworm
farming to employees who will soon be jobless.

The two entrepreneurs have also sent out about 1,000 container
bins to schools in Lampung, South Sumatra. The bins are an
extremely efficient flow-through system where worms are fed all
the waste from the institution, leaving behind tons of compost
with minimal investment or supervision.

The idea then is to collect and hand over industrial,
agricultural and even personal waste to the vermifarmer in return
for an environment that promises to become healthy again.