VERMIWASH BY URINE METHOD
Introduction –
Vermiwash is a natural product formed by vermicomposting of organic matter from rich population of earthworms. The composition and quality of vermiwash vary depending on the raw organic matter used for vermicomposting. The composition of vermicompost and vermiwash prepared from the same organic matter are essentially the same. It comprises numerous chemicals viz, hormone, mucous, enzyme, vitamins, proteins, different macro and micronutrients, and a large number of microbes that distinguishes the two products. its application as a fertilizer to enhance crop productivity, it can also be applied in disease suppression and pest control due to the presence of essential antimicrobial and anti pest 0.chemicals. vermiwash is rich in many different nutrients, vita-mins, growth hormones, which acted as disease and pest suppression agents. As compared to application of solid vermicompost, its liquid form (vermiwash) is more suitable due to its bioavailability to reach quickly to targeted area around the roots of plants.
Advantages :
1) It acts as biofertilizers, restores soil nutrients, stabilizes soil, and enhances soil fertility at a long-term period.
2) It attends to social issues and recycles waste.
3) It is shown to be a profitable enterprise as a circular economy.
Objectives –
1) Refurbish the old compost wash system.
2)Use the vermiwash in hydroponics system and observe the growth of plants.
3)The worms should be alive.
4)To monitor the system regularly.
Need of project –
A healthy human can produce approximately 800-2000 milliliters per day.
The cost of 45 kg urea bag is 267 Rs. India imports 8 – 10 million tonnes of the urea and India consumes 30 – 35 million tonne urea in each year. The major states in India having consumption more than 100 kg per hectare:
| State Name | Urea consumption per hectare |
| West Bengal | 122 kg/h |
| Haryana | 167 kg/h |
| Punjab | 184 kg/h |
| Uttar Pradesh & Uttaranchal | 127 kg/h |
| Andhra Pradesh | 138 kg/h |
| Tamil Nadu | 122 kg/h |
In the remaining states, the consumption per hectare is lower than the all India average.
Why Indian soil poor in nitrogen?
Continuous application of inorganic fertilizer or chemical-fertilizer without addition of FYM caused depletion of N in the soil. Some farmer’s apply only DAP and MOP, no urea application. Nitrogen is universally deficient in Indian soil with 99 % of soils responding to N application.
Nitrogen deficient land’s:
Bihar, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Puducherry, Rajasthan.
Why urine based vermiwash is important than chemical fertilizers:
Released from field trials have shown that a 500 ml of vermiwash can replace one bag of conventional urea as if has 40,000 ppm equivalent nitrogen provided by one 45 kg bag of conventional, and 140 ppm nitrogen provided by 500 ml vermiwash. economically vermiwash is beneficial than chemical fertilizer.
Urine can be used as a fertilizer without fear it will fuel the spread of antibiotic resistance, researchers have revealed – although they urge caution against using fresh bodily waste to water crops. Urine is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus and has been used for generations to help plants grow.
In 365 day’s we collect 400 liter urine from a single person and if that urine is used as fertilizer in our field, we can get 250 kg of grain from that 400 liters of urine.
We replace the vermiwash as chemical fertilizer and save the soil carbon level. vemiwash as suppliment to improve seedling, plant growth and yield for oganic agriculture. vermiwash an agent of disease and pest control in soil.
Process flow chart –
20-07-2022
Project assigned, assembly, introduction to ashram, self introduction, visit to ashram and took overall information about the ashram.
22-07-2022
Bill of material –
Hand Sketch –
Cleaned the old used crates taken from the scrap of ashram’s scrap area. Cleaned the rusted parts of system with the help of polish paper. Cleaned the fiber tray from the scrap of ashram area and put it down and place at the bottom section of system.
23-07-2022
1) Repaired and cleaned the another system. Also repaired the18w submersible water pump and learned how to find the problems in submersible water pump and how to repair the pump.
2) Visited the village to buy new submersible pump and wire for the system.
25-07-2022 to 05-08-2022
Collected the brown bio-mass for vermiwash system and filled the all 3 crate’s with that bio- mass.
Mixed all of the collected bio-mass in the plastic paper carefully and refilled all the crate’s with the brown bio-mass. Runed the system properly. Purchased earthworms from the Jategaon at 400 Rs/kg price and that earthworms were of medium brown color with small and long both size. Placed the earthworms in shadow because earthworms does not sustain at high temperature.
Helped Ketan in his project of vermiwash bio-slurry to collect the dry bio-slurry in the dry form and to add the earthworm’s in the bio-slurry.
Collected the human urine to add it in the bio-mass to boost the decomposition process. Collected the dry form of brown bio-mass for the vermiwash system and added the human urine into the brown bio-mass. Also placed the crate in the shadow. Helped Ketan for vermiwash bio-slurry project, helped to collect the bio-slurry from biogas plant and that slurry is present in dry and liquid form.
Collected the urine and added the urine in the 3rd crate of vermiwash compost system.
Helped Samarth to design the rack for slurry cake bag from scrap his project is bio-slurry filtration in these project the solid biomass form of bio-slurry are sort out from liquid bio-slurry.
Helped Vaishnavi to plant the flower plant’s in there system. Her project name is green wall and it is the project to decor the wall.
Added the earthworms in all the 3 crates of brown bio-mass carefully and after that the crates were maintained at low temperature so that the worms can be sustained.
06-08-2022 to 16-08-2022
Collected and added the urine in the vermiwash system. Collect the brown bio-mass and add the biomass in the 3rd crate of system.
Done the survey of agricultural hand tools and the reason of survey is to understand the problems faced by the farmers while using the hand tools.
Had a discussion on energy cycle and nitrogen cycle and learned the importance of nitrogen. Learned the basic element like oxygen, hydrogen in our body and use of nitrogen.
17-08-2022 to 24-08-2022
Had a review and discussion on the project.
Learned some information about hydroponics and their basics and taken the Flood and drain system from Karthik to observe the effect of vermiwash on that system.
Learned the composition and characteristics of the earthworm.
Composition of Earthworm.
Earthworm are rich in protine and various amino acid the protein content of earthworm meal was 54.6 – 59.4 on dry weight. Earthworm help break down food and repair body tissue. They also contain copper, mangneze and zinc.
Characteristics of earthworm.
They have no skeleton, but do have lots of muscle earthworm don’t have much coloration, so they usually white, gray, pink or raddish brown. some earthworms have red blood, and you can see it through their skin, their skin produces stimy mucus that help’s them slide through the soil.
Learned some information about vermiwash, in which form does plant intake nitrogen, nutrients required for the plants, nutrients present in the vermiwash, etc.
25-08-2022
Measured the pH, TDS, EC of the surface water which is used in vermiwash project, and also measured the pH, TDS, EC of the vermiwash and learned the some information about how to balance the TDS of both water samples.
27-08-2022
| No | Reading | Surface water | Well water | Verm wash |
| 1 | pH | 7.8 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| 2 | EC | 494 | 838 | 1938 |
| 3 | TDS | 246 | 324 | 3807 |
Learned about balancing of TDS of both water for Flood and Drain system.
Take over the flood and drain brinjal system of Ajay Patil.
Design of flood and drain system.
After adding vermiwash Brinjal system look like these,
29-08-2022
After making the set up we connected the timer to the submersible pump and measured the time required to fill the solution in pots, after measuring the time we filled the media in pots and again measured the time required to fill the pots with solution.
Fixed the timer on the system. Added 14700 ml well water in tub and added 14250 ml of vermiwash in to the tub and used the surface water to make the vermiwash.
30-08-2022
Process of Maintain the TDS – 800
1)Total water in tub 30,000 ml having 1385 TDS.
2) Added 12,850 ml of water in tub with 346 TDS and measured the TDS, the TDS of total water in tub is 1195.
3)Added 13,475 ml of water in tub of 346 TDS and measured the TDS, the TDS of total water in the tub is 868.
4) Added 3,675 ml of water in tub of 324 TDS and measured the TDS, the TDS of total water in the tub is 811.
5) The total water in the tub is (well water) – 44,700 ml.
6) The total vermiwash in the tub is – 14,275 ml.
7) Total water in the tub is 58,975 ml.
31-08-2022
1) Observation of brinjal in hydroponics system.
| No | Morphological Characteristics of brinjal plants | Plant 1 | Plant 2 | Plant 3 | Plant 4 | Plant 5 |
| 1 | No of leaves | 27 | 29 | 37 | 26 | 20 |
| 2 | No of flowers | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | No. of flowering stage | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
2) Cutted the unwanted roots of plants in hydroponics system of brinjal.
01-09-2022
1) Measured the TDS of total water in hydroponics system of brinjal.
TDS – 804
2) Runed the vermiwash system for accurate 15 minutes and measured the TDS.
TDS – 1439
3) Set the time to fill the bucket i.e. 2 min
02-09-2022
1) Measured the TDS of hydroponics system of brinjal.
2) Run the vermiwash system for 15 minutes.
3)Measured the TDS of vermiwash.
4)Observed the hydroponics system of brinjal.
03-09-2022
1) Measured the nitrogen from the vermiwash.
Nitrogen – 140 ppm in 1 ml vermiwash.
2) Measured the TDS of the vermiwash.
TDS – 1189
3) Runed the cycle of vermiwash for 15 minutes.
4) Measured the TDS in hydroponics system of brinjal.
TDS – 802
05-09-2022
1) Done discussion on solar PV system design.
2) Removed the old media and cleaned the bucket and removed the roots trapped in the laterals and refilled the media in the bucket no 1. only for trial purpose.
06-09-2022
On next day, the effect of cleaning process of the system is seen on the plant of no. 1 of brinjal system, the leaves of plant are fade normally. From this stage, I learned how plants sustain in the water and how the plants uses the nutrients present from the vermiwash.
07-09-2022
1) Observed the effect of the process to refill the media of the plant in the bucket no. 1
2) Plants are grown normally after done all process of cleaning the system.
3) Taken some observations and checked TDS of the system water and checked does timer work properly.
08-09-2022
1) Changed the media of remaining four buckets. Cleaned the buckets first and removed the roots trapped in the lateral and kept the plants and filled the system with the same old media.
2) Filled the buckets with well water (TDS-249) for clean the system and removed the salts from the inner surface of the bucket.
11-09-2022
Studied about urea production, urea imports and total consumption of country, and learned about the states with urea deficiency in India. India imports 8 – 10 million tonnes of the 30 – 35 million tonnes of urea that is consumed each year. Among the major states the, the per-hectare consumption is more than 100kg in West Bengal.
Process of urea production – Commercially urea is most commonly produced by reacting carbon dioxide with ammonia at 200ºC (392ºF). After reacting, urea is evaporated and processed by prilling or granulating to produce a solid end product.
13-09-2022
Measured TDS of the system and added 1.7 l vermiwash in the tub and maintained TDS at 800.
15-09-2022
Removed the old vermiwash from the system and added the new vermiwash in tub and added the water to maintain the TDS at 1113. Taken photos of all plants for observation and sprayed the insecticide on all five plants carefully for better growth of plants.
16-09-2022
Runed the vermiwash cycle for 15 minutes and added water with TDS of 239 in the vermiwash system. Study on price cutting of vermiwash system and make transportable system for waste management.
18-09-2022
Observation:
1) New flowers are grown on the brinjal plant.
2) Leaves encountered with disease.
3) New brinjals are grown.
4) Brinjals have fast growth.
19/09/2022
Learned about which type of pesticides can be used the above leaf diseases and made solution of pesticides and also learned how to find out which type disease is on the plants. 1 L water and 1 ml pesticide (imidacloprid) mixed well and filled in bottle and sprayed on leaves.
20/09/2022
Harvested brinjals and weighed by using weighing machine. By using vermiwash by urine method trail on brinjal plants in flood and drain system gave best result. Quality of harvested brinjal is good and new brinjal flower grown.
Weight of brinjals – 157 grams
Total no. of brinjal- 5
21-09-2022 to 25-09-2022
Checked system of hydroponics.
Checked the working of the timer.
Checked the TDS and pH of vermiwash
TDS – 869
pH – 8.9
Learned how to measure the TDS, EC, and pH of water and how to decrease or increase the TDS of water.
26-09-2022
Removed the old brinjal plants from the bucket’s.
Cleaned the buckets and cleaned the lateral.
Cleaned the water pump and also removed the old vermiwash from the tub of flood and drain system.
27-09-2022
Planted three chillies, one tomato and one brinjal to the system. Added new vermiwash and maintained its TDS at 900 ppm.
28-09-2022
Runed the vermiwash cycle for the new plants.
06-10-2022
Today, when I observed, I found that the growth rate of chilli and tomato plants is lower than that of brinjal plants. So I decided to throw out all the water in the tub and start a new vermiwash and check back after 1 week. I poured vermiwash in that tub
and kept TDS at 900. Kept the water cycle time for 2 minutes.
06-10-2022 to 13-10-2022
Daily I observed the system and check whether the system is working properly for better growth of plants.
14-10-2022
Today, when I observed, I found that the growth rate of chilli and tomato plants is lower than that of brinjal plants and the TDS is reduced from 900 to 730 ppm plants are look healthy than previous week observation.
15-10-2022
Today, when I checked the vermiwash system, I noticed that all the worms I had put in it were dead. So I showed it to Suvarna mam and Sonal mam and I went to go to the farm behind the vigyan ashram for worm collection and collected 300 grams of worms.
16-10-2022 to 20-10-2022
Observed the crates after adding one liter of urine and checked whether recently added worms are live or died, discussed with Dixit sir on the next procedure to be done in the vermiwash system.
29-10-2022
Observed the flood and drain system, I found the brinjal plant and chilli and tomato plants are little bit weak because they were not getting enough water and so I added water to the system. Also, set the system timer and now the system is working properly.
30-10-2022 To 10-11-2022
Today when I checked the crate I noticed that the earthworms were alive and active at the bottom of the system, so I immediately collected the urine and put it in and put the stand of the system in water to prevent the attack of ants. Today I added new vermiwash to the flood and drain system and kept its TDS at 1000 ppm.
Today I completed the work of making the stand – in it today I learned welding, learned to cut square iron pipe in desired size and after all that I completed the stand and made a system for growing plants using this chemical fertilizer, flood and drain system.
Today I noticed that the chilly plant in vermiwash system is getting a new leaf and the plants are looking healthy.
11-11-2022 to 18-11-2022
Today I went to Waghole Nursery. Went there and bought chilli plants and planted them in the system of using chemical fertilizers.
Material Flow Diagram-
- Pipe System – a) Drip pipe
b) T and L joints
c) Grommets
2. Submersible pump
3. Pots – 5 litres
4. Reservior = 30 litres
5. Crop – Brinjal
6. Nutrient – Soil extract with sugar
Material:
- Drip pipe – 16 mm
- T and L joint – Plastic – 16 mm
- Reservior – Plastic – 30 litres
- Pots – Plastic – litres
- Grommet – Rubber – 5
PLANTATION:
We have planted chilli and tomato in pots in growing media.
The following are dosing which we have used for the chemical system.
The total system is of 30 litres therefore we made dosing according to 30 litres.
- Ca(NO3)2
Required Nitrogen – 150 ppm
Required Calcium – 139 ppm
N = 150/0.15 = 1000 mg
C = 1000×19/100 = 190 mg
1000 mg × 30 litres = 30 gm.
2. K2SO4
Required Potassium – 216 ppm
K = 216/0.50 = 432 mg
432 × 30 = 12.960 gm
3. MgSO4
Required Magnesium – 47 ppm
Mg = 47×100/9.6 = 489.5 mg
489.5 × 30 = 14.685 gm
4. Humic acid 0.1 ml = 0.1 × 30 = 3 ml
19-11-2022 to 25-11-2022
Chilli growth was better in vermiwash based system compared to chemical fertilizer system while tomato growth was similar in both systems.
Conclusion:
In flood and drain system which is run on vermiwash, we can sustain the plants by just giving vermiwash without using chemical fertilizers. Chilli grows well in that system and tomatoes grow in the same way as in the chemical fertilizer system. In vermiwash system we can sustain and grow worms very well.
