Vermiculture in Egypt: - FAO - Regional Office for the Near East and

3. Use of compost worms globally in countries of similar climate
The previous two chapters covered the historical background as well as the trial The
Philippines, Cuba and India are examples of countries with similar overall conditions
to Egypt Their technologies are simple and could be easily adapted to the local
conditions. The United States of America is the model example of advanced
technologies in vermiculture. Such examples will broaden the readers choice with
what could be done in the future. Unfortunately, vermicompost and vermiculture are
very limited in MENA region, Most of the studies look at utilization of local species
to produce vermicompost. For example, Aldadi et al. (2005), Nourbakhsh (2007) and
Yousefi et al. (2009) had some studies in Iran aiming for waste water treatment.
Therefore, the following examples were selected to broaden the picture of commercial
production. One could adapt or modify any of them or even create a newer version.
3.1 Vermicomposting in Philippines
The worms used are Lumbricus rubellus and/or Perionyx excavator. The worms are
reared and multiplied from a commercially-obtained breeder stock in shallow wooden
boxes stored in a shed. The boxes are approximately 45 cm x 60 cm x 20 cm and have
drainage holes; they are stored on shelves in rows and tiers. A bedding material is
compounded from miscellaneous organic residues such as sawdust, cereal straw, rice
husks, bagasse, cardboard and so on, and is moistened well with water. The wet
mixture is stored for about one month, being covered with a damp sack to minimize
evaporation, and is thoroughly mixed several times. When fermentation is complete,
chicken manure and green matter such as water hyacinth is added. The material is
placed in the boxes and should be sufficiently loose for the worms to burrow and
should be able to retain moisture. The proportions of the different materials will vary
according to the nature of the material but a final protein content of about 15% should
be aimed at. A pH value as near neutral as possible is necessary and the boxes should
be kept at temperatures between 20 o C and 27 o C. At higher temperatures, the worms
will aestivate and, at lower temperatures, they hibernate. The excess worms that have
been harvested from the pit can be used in other pits, sold to other farmers for the
same purpose, used or sold for use as animal feed supplement, used or sold for use as
fish food or, may even be used in certain human food preparations (Misra and Roy,
2003).
African night crawler was introduced in the Philippines in the 1970s for the
production vermicastings as an organic fertilizer. Its use today remains focused for
this purpose. Recently, with rising cost of imported fishmeal, a study explores on the
commercial farming of the species, specifically on its production economics, and the
technical challenges in husbandry and operation (Cruz, 2005). This project was
funding assistance of the DOST-PCAMRD 1 . The site chosen was a flat but slightly
inclining area (around 3%) of approximately 1,000 m 2 . It is partially shaded by
mahogany trees in the morning and the afternoon. The soil is clay loam with nearly
neutral pH. Water used for the experiment was provided from an adjacent deep well.
1 Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development, (Department of Science and
Technology)
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