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Women of Dhanbad are changing the direction of their lives with vermi compost. The women learned the entire process by watching YouTube and are earning money while working in the cowshed. They earn profits by selling these fertilizers to agricultural farmers.
Dhanbad. In Dhanbad’s Bastakola Gaushala, Kiran and her three fellow women from Mukunda Basti of Balliapur block are not only looking for a way to earn their living. Rather, they are also laying the foundation of a permanent green revolution. These women groups of Sindri assembly constituency have together taken a big step towards organic farming by preparing vermicompost. This fertilizer is making the farmers’ fields fertile and is also giving a safe direction to the environment.
Sale of more than 5 quintals of vermicompost
About seven months ago, when a person named Ajay, who had come to the cowshed, had told these women the method of making earthworm-based organic fertilizer, no one had thought that these women would start production so soon. But today these women have prepared more than 5 quintals of vermicompost and are selling it directly to the farmers.
Learned how to make from YouTube
Kiran tells that the initial inspiration came from Ajay. He explained to us the method of making fertilizer from cow dung. Then we learned the whole process by watching YouTube and four women together started the work. Started by rearing earthworms in a small cement tank. For this, special types of earthworms were brought from Ranchi and Giridih.
It is ready in 60 days
The process of making compost demands utmost care. Women store half a tractor’s worth of dung in a cool place and cover it with a jute sack. After this, about 20 kg of earthworms are left on that heap. The first layer is ready in about 45 days. Whereas the second layer is formed after 15 days. The prepared compost is separated by filtering it through a sieve and pure vermi compost is ready in about 60 days.
New identity gained from vermi compost project
Farmers buy ready fertilizer directly from the cow shed. The income earned from this is spent on fodder and shelter for the cows of the cowshed. This model is not only environment friendly, but is also working towards making the cowshed financially self-reliant.
Kiran and her fellow women have been serving in the cow shelter for the last five years. They work every day from 8 am to 5 pm and their wages are paid by the Gaushala administration. The vermi compost project has given a new identity to her hard work and has become a source of inspiration for other women of the area.
These four women from Dhanbad are proving that if given opportunity and guidance, rural women can also become leaders of economic and environmental change.
