In agriculture, fertilizers harmful to health are used. But there is also an environmentally friendly alternative. Even at home, it is possible to open biohumus production as a business. Technology, profitability, the benefits of producing natural plant nutrition over chemicals are presented in a detailed business plan.

Fertilizers - a means to increase productivity and reduce crop diseases. However, pesticides, herbicides and nitrates from the soil enter the products, and then into the human body. It is much safer to use organic vermicompost, which has the parameters of chemical fertilizers, but does not harm health.

Production process

Biohumus is also called vermicompost or worm compost because of the original production technology involving worms. Raw materials are fed to worms, and fertilizer is obtained at the exit.

As a raw material, a rotten mixture of waste products from cattle, small animals or birds is used. To increase the nutritional properties, leaves, food waste, sawdust, lime and peat are added.

The resulting substrate is placed in wooden boxes or special containers with sides 25-30 cm and covered with a layer of hay. For several days, the compost is watered and mixed so that it ripens. Then the worms are poured on top of the raw material in an even layer and covered with a dense opaque material so that the temperature is maintained inside and no light comes in.

Due to the fact that worms are engaged in vermicultivation, they are called technological. In fact, these are earthworms of the Californian or Vladimir variety. For processing 1 square. m. humus requires 1500-3000 individuals.

The process of processing the substrate into biohumus lasts 4-5 months. During this time, you need to take care of the beds and maintain a microclimate:

1. Carefully loosen the ground when it is caking.
2. Add nutrients three times a month.
3. Pour with warm, settled water to maintain humidity at 70%.
4. Maintain temperature not lower than 19 ° С and not higher than 30 ° С.

Advice from experienced manufacturers: before populating thousands of worms in boxes, you need to test the quality of the nutrient medium on ten to twenty individuals.

Worms not only process the substrate into fertilizer, but also multiply. The growth is determined in this way: 10 square meters are typed from the box. see the earth and the number of worms is calculated in it, the resulting number is multiplied by 100. They begin to choose vermicompost when the population of vermiculture exceeds standard values.

The collection is carried out in two ways:

• Sift the entire mass through a sieve.
• A little fresh humus is poured into the box and the worms go upstairs in search of food. The procedure is repeated several times, removing each time a layer of earth. The remaining mass is vermicompost.

About 10 kg of fertilizer is obtained from 10 kg of substrate, and the number of worms increases by 5-10 times. Excess populations are sold to fishermen or entrepreneurs who start humus production.

Business plan

To start the project, you need to draw up a business plan for the production of vermicompost:

1. Organization of the site for the farm.
2. Purchase of equipment, tools and materials.
3. The acquisition of raw materials and worms.
4. Registration of a business.
5. Sales organization.
6. Economic calculations.

Area

The production of biohumus as a business is opened in several ways:

• Based on an existing agricultural sector, for example.
• Run a separate project.

In the first case, you will need to allocate a barn, an empty barn or even part of the basement. In the second, you have to rent a territory, preferably not far from a poultry farm or livestock farm. To produce trial small batches of fertilizer, an entrepreneur can start production at home.

Depending on the planned scale of production, it is necessary to equip an area of \u200b\u200bup to 80 square meters. m. for the placement of beds, packaging equipment, warehouse of finished products. Experts believe that the average annual production of vermicompost on a site of 1 square. m. is 300 kg.

To maintain the necessary conditions and microclimate, the farm building should be equipped with heating, ventilation, water supply, electricity. To minimize heat loss in the winter, it is necessary to fill the floors with concrete, cover all the holes in the walls, including the windows, and lower the ceiling as low as possible.

Equipment

For the production of humus at home, it is enough to build boxes for the substrate, purchase working tools, scales, plastic bags, and a sealing machine. You can adjust the temperature and humidity manually according to the readings of measuring instruments.

Industrial production of vermicompost requires more serious investments in equipment:

1. Rack installation for filling humus with worms.
2. Drip irrigation system.
3. Crusher.
4. Mechanical screen for sifting humus.
5. Filling equipment.
6. Instruments for measuring and controlling the microclimate in the room and substrate.
7. Shovels, buckets, carts.
8. Tractor with trailer for moving large volumes of manure.

If you additionally engage in the production of aqueous extracts from vermicompost, then the cost of equipment will increase several times. Manufacturing technology involves the use of extractors, technology for fermentation and purification of the product.

Raw materials and worms

2 main components for biohumus production:

• manure;
• worms.

The larger the volume planned to produce, the more raw materials need to be purchased. That is why a highly profitable business with low cost is possible at a farm for breeding animals or birds, where there is constant access to free manure. If raw materials are purchased from the outside, cattle manure is preferred.

The composition of the substrate also includes compost, sawdust, hay. According to technology, before the waste becomes suitable for food for worms, they must rot for 5-6 months. To store the mass of humus, you need to equip a special site or enter into an agreement with the supplier for the delivery of already seasoned raw materials.

California red worms are used in the production of vermicompost for the following reasons:

1. Life is 4 times longer than ordinary earthworms.
2. Reproduction rate is 10 times higher.
3. High disease resistance.

There are Vladimir worms bred by Russian developers that are superior to California worms in some respects. Worms are bought from vermifer farmers who breed them on an industrial scale.

registration

In order to receive legal income from the sale of vermicompost, it is necessary to register a business. For the operation of a small farm, a form of individual entrepreneurship is suitable; it is better to design a large production as a limited liability company. It is profitable to pay taxes according to a simplified scheme.

No special permits or licenses are required for the production of biohumus. When concluding sales contracts with shops and farms, you will need a quality certificate for the products.

Sales

The main difficulty of business planning is to establish a constant distribution of fertilizers. The target audience is very extensive:

• private farms;
• state agricultural enterprises;
• plant nurseries;
• flower shops;
• fisheries;
• greenhouse owners;
• summer residents.

Biohumus is usually sold in plastic bags weighing 1 kg, 5 kg, 10 kg, 20 kg. The easiest way to sell products through a wholesale network is to find one or two buyers of large lots. You can open a point in the market, create an online store.

To inform buyers about the benefits and benefits of vermicompost, you need to create a package with the text printed on it, which will indicate the characteristics of the fertilizer, the rules of use, the expected yield.

Also, do not forget about advertising in specialized magazines, newspapers, the Internet. In many localities agricultural fairs and exhibitions are held, it is necessary to take part in them with samples of finished products.

Video: biohumus production technology.

Economic calculations

Estimation of the size of the necessary investments in the production of vermicompost allows costing the cost of launching the project. The calculations are given for business development at home from 20 tons of our own raw materials:

For six months, while the worms will produce humus, you need to pay utility bills. In winter, the cost of heating is a large part of the cost.

The average market price in the retail network for 1 kg of vermicompost is 15 rubles, at wholesale - 7 rubles / kg. Worms are bought in packages of 30 rubles. for 50 pcs. Also, in the presence of demand, it is possible to sell earthen mixtures based on vermicompost. Calculation of annual income from the sale of fertilizer produced and:

For the first year of the farm's operation, the invested funds will fully pay off, the profitability of the business is 100%. It is possible to increase profitability by increasing production volumes. In this case, the farmer will have to hire assistants, include salary costs and taxes in the estimate.

Any business in agriculture is associated with many difficulties, vermiculture is no exception. It is economically feasible to produce organic fertilizers only at low cost, which is possible if you have your own raw material base.

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Biohumus, also known as vermicompost, is a natural fertilizer that is several times more effective than organic analogues. When using it, the yield increases by 25-50%.

It is noteworthy that there is no need to apply this fertilizer annually, since it perfectly saturates the earth with nutrients. It is enough to carry out this procedure once every three to four years. Such advantages lead to the fact that the demand for vermicompost is constantly increasing. In this regard, its production can become a profitable and promising business idea. We’ll talk about how to organize such a business in our article.

Biohumus Production: Business Plan

Vermicompost is a waste product of earthworms or California worms, which are placed in a nutrient medium, where optimal conditions are created for their reproduction. The organization of such a business can be divided into four main stages:

1. Preparatory stage. At this stage, a suitable room is selected, which is then equipped accordingly. The worms themselves are also purchased, and legal registration of the business takes place.
2. The cultivation cycle, which involves the grinding of raw materials of organic origin and its addition as it is processed into composters (about once a month), daily moistening of the nutrient medium, timely planting of worms and sending vermicompost for further processing.
3. Preparations for the sale of finished products. The production of vermicompost is not limited to removing worms from the composter. Vermicompost must also be carefully sifted, dried, and only after that you can proceed to packaging. At this stage, you will also need to weigh and pack the finished goods.
4. Implementation. This stage includes the search and expansion of sales channels for finished products using various marketing tools.

Registration of necessary documentation

To start this business, you do not need to draw up any permissions or receive certificates of conformity and licenses. It is enough to register as an individual entrepreneur (IP) for paying taxes according to a simplified scheme.

Vermicompost manufacturing equipment

The production of vermicompost does not imply the use of any sophisticated equipment. You only need composters, which you can either buy or make yourself from boards, a mechanical sieve for sifting, as well as scales and a device for sealing packages.

The walls of the composters in which the worms will live should have a height of about 35-40 centimeters. Moreover, they can represent not only plastic or wooden boxes, but also pits with concrete-flooded walls. Depending on the chosen type of construction of vermicultivators, from 50 to 125 thousand rubles will be required to equip a room of 50 square meters.

Additional units, such as a sieve, scales, etc., will cost another 30-40 thousand rubles. In addition, you will need working equipment in the form of shovels, carts, buckets, forks for loosening, as well as an irrigation system and instruments for measuring soil temperature and acidity. For their purchase will have to spend another 30-40 thousand rubles.

The choice of premises for the manufacture of vermicompost

The production of vermicompost is not possible without the availability of suitable facilities. It must necessarily be equipped with ventilation and heating system. Its area is determined on the basis of the planned volume of finished products. It should also be noted that additional space is required for filling, packing and storing compost.

As for the financial costs of buying or renting and arranging the premises where the production of biohumus will take place, they will vary depending on the region and the type of structure. However, be prepared that at this stage you will have to invest from 50 to 500 thousand rubles.

Acquisition of a worm colony

You cannot do without these little workers. Buying 1000 worms will cost you two to three thousand rubles. This amount is enough to populate two square meters of your vermiferm. If you plan to produce biohumus on an area of \u200b\u200b50 square meters, respectively, about 50 thousand rubles will have to be spent on the purchase of a sufficient population of worms.

Raw materials

The raw material for the production of vermicompost is manure that has passed the stage of composting. As a rule, livestock products of cattle are used. Raw materials are purchased at a price of 500-1000 rubles per ton. However, if you are lucky, you can agree on its free removal, as quite often farmers are faced with the problem of disposing of manure.

Sales of finished products

The main product of your vermiferm will be pure vermicompost, packaged in bags of various volumes, as well as mixtures based on it. However, worms themselves can also be sold in parallel. It makes sense to offer such a product to fishermen, pet stores, and poultry farms, as well as selling it directly as producers of environmentally friendly fertilizers.

Potential consumers of your main product will be gardeners and homeowners, home gardeners, as well as various nurseries and farms involved in agricultural production. In addition, it is possible to sell fertilizer to wholesale buyers who will be engaged in its further resale.

Biohumus production: the financial side of the issue

Starting investments for the purchase or rental, as well as equipment for the premises, providing it with everything necessary and the purchase of worms will amount to 170 to 800 thousand rubles. Current expenses for utility bills, raw materials, salaries, etc., will range from 100 to 200 thousand per year. Thus, your costs in the first 12 months of the business will vary from 270 thousand to 1 million rubles.

As for the revenue side, if you produce and sell 15 tons of vermicompost per year, the net profit will be from 150 to 200 thousand rubles. Moreover, this amount can be doubled, putting up for sale not pure vermicompost, but mixed with other substrates.

Thus, investments in the biohumus business will pay off in one and a half to two years. In this case, the level of profitability will be about 150-170%.

Modern people prefer to buy organic vegetables grown on the basis of vermicompost. This is a very valuable technology that allows you to maintain human health. In addition, this is one of the quite promising and profitable areas of activity for beginning entrepreneurs. We will talk about how to open humus production at home in this article.

What is biohumus needed for?

Almost all fields in our country are contaminated with pesticides and various mineral fertilizers. Farmers constantly complain that crop yields are declining annually and, accordingly, profit is decreasing. Pests and all kinds of diseases destroy plants right on the vine.

Biohumus is an organic fertilizer that has unique properties. Of course, this is not a panacea that can solve all the problems, but nevertheless, such a drug provides real help. Nowadays, it is widely used in agriculture instead of chemical fertilizers for growing environmentally friendly vegetables.

Business features

To engage in the production of vermicompost at home is most convenient for those people who breed cattle. In this case, the entrepreneur does not have to purchase raw materials. For the production of this organic fertilizer, California red worms are most often used. They live 4 times longer than ordinary earthworms and reproduce much more actively. You can purchase these amazing worms online. They are delivered without any problems to any region of our country. Before you do this, you need to draw up a detailed business plan for the production of vermicompost. This will help you plan correctly all stages of activity and organize your work correctly.

Technological process

Now let's figure out where to start the production of vermicompost. First of all, you need to prepare a substrate and acquire worms. This matter should be approached very responsibly. Typically, worms are purchased from specialized vermicelli farms. The genetic population must contain at least 1,500 individuals, among which there will be both young worms and cocoons. Before buying worms for vermicompost, prepare a place for them. To do this, you can use compost heaps or ordinary wooden boxes. Also, read about at home.

Scheme: Production of vermicompost

The traditional biohumus production technology consists of four stages:

1. Preparation of nutrient substrate. As compost, bird droppings and cattle manure are used. To improve its quality, you can add leaves of vegetable crops, food waste, as well as a mixture of peat and lime per 20 kg per 1 ton of substrate;
2. Bookmark Worms. This stage requires careful preparation and careful attention. For 1 square. 750-1500 worms lay a meter of compost. They are evenly distributed over the entire surface together with the nutrient substrate. Since worms do not like bright light, you need to cover the heap with dark material that does not allow air to pass through;
3. Top dressing. Ranges with worms should be loosened and watered periodically, because they are very sensitive to a decrease in humidity. Watering is carried out with settled water, the temperature of which is 20-24 degrees. Compost in a box is divided into three zones. The top layer is a food for worms. It should be supplemented periodically to provide them with food;
4. Selection of vermicompost and worms. After the density of the worms in the nutrient substrate begins to exceed the permissible limits, there is a need for their selection. First, the worms are kept hungry for several days, after which they put a layer of food on which they move. After 2-3 days, it is removed along with the worms. The procedure is repeated 3 more times for 3 weeks. The remaining vermicompost is collected with a scoop, dried a little and packaged for storage.

From home production of vermicompost, you can get a stable high profit if you find in advance marketing channels for finished products.

Equipment

In order to produce organic fertilizers in larger volumes, it is necessary to purchase special equipment for the production of biohumus. You will need composters and a mechanical sieve to sift the finished fertilizer. In addition, you need to buy scales and a special filling device.

It is worth noting that the price of equipment for the production of vermicompost largely depends on the type of construction. Approximately you will have to spend from 50 to 125 thousand rubles. A sieve and scales will cost you 30-40 thousand rubles. You also need to purchase working equipment - shovels, trolleys, instruments for measuring acidity and soil temperature. For this you will spend another 30-40 thousand rubles.

Sales

Before drawing up a business plan of vermicompost, it is necessary to find reliable distribution channels. The success of your enterprise depends on this in many respects.

Pure vermicompost is sold in bags of different volumes. In addition, worms can also be sold. They are bought by poultry farms, fishermen, pet shops, as well as producers of organic fertilizers.

The main consumers of vermicompost are homeowners, farmers and flower nurseries. Large quantities of fertilizers are purchased by wholesalers for their further resale. Since the cost of vermicompost is quite affordable, this product is in great demand. With its implementation usually there are no special problems.

Financial calculations

For the purchase of equipment and worms you have to spend 150-500 thousand rubles. In addition, it is necessary to take into account constant payments - wages to workers, raw materials, payment of utilities.

Now let's talk about income. To calculate them, you need to find out how much vermicompost costs. One kilogram of organic fertilizers is sold at 10-15 rubles. If you produce about 15 tons of vermicompost per year, net income will be 150-200 thousand rubles. To increase profits, you can mix pure vermicompost with other substrates. Initial investments pay off in 1.5–2 years. The profitability of the enterprise at the same time reaches 150-170%. In the future, income will only grow.

Vermicompost production

• Before setting up biohumus production as a business, you should familiarize yourself with all the nuances of this area of \u200b\u200bactivity;
• First of all, it should be remembered that rats, moles and other rodents feed on earthworms. Therefore, containers with worms should be placed in a room with hard floors and impervious walls;
• In addition, you should consider how you will store and transport semi-liquid fertilizers. As a rule, tractor trailers are used for this. In addition, care should be taken about packaging. Basically, such products are purchased in small batches, so appropriate packaging will be needed.

conclusions

Experts believe that the production of vermicompost by worms is a rather promising and profitable business line. Of course, in 2-3 years it will not make you a millionaire, but, despite this, you can make good profit on the sale of biohumus. To succeed in this area, you need to constantly look for new wholesale buyers. This will help you get a positive result.

Preparation of the medium for technological worms

The biohumus production technology provides that technological worms can be fed only in rotted compost or manure. To do this, you must first agree with the suppliers of cattle manure and food waste so that this raw material is kept for some time. Also, in the conditions of home production of vermicompost, they reach the level of charm of the raw material mass and at the same time prepare wooden boxes for worms.

Compost ripening stage in a box

Compost is placed in a wooden box, taking into account its physical and technical properties, after which it is necessary to thoroughly mix fermented cattle manure, food waste and ripe leaves with each other. To maintain the required level of humidity and temperature in the formation, it is covered with straw from above and then periodically watered with warm water and thoroughly mixed for several days. In the process of raw material fermentation, the temperature level inside the box reaches 40–50 о С, and upon completion of the process it decreases to fixed values.

The placement of technological worms is carried out only in a well-prepared environment, for which it is recommended to test the quality of the compost on a small number of worms, and after the positive results run the rest. The acclimatization of technological worms in a new environment takes several months, after which they begin to fulfill their intended purpose, in this case produce biohumus. The moisture level in the compost should be at least 70–80%, the pH level should be within 6–8 with the obligatory loosening of the substrate, since the correct aeration and respiration of technological worms depends on this. The production technology of vermicompost is completely built on worms and completely depends on them, so if you decide to do this unappetizing thing, the first thing you should care about is the state of these not-so-pleasant creatures.

Worms are fed every 10 days, for which a vermicultured substrate should be prepared in advance. For the life of the worms in the winter season, it is necessary to maintain the temperature level not lower than +19 о С, for which the compost is covered with a layer of straw, poured with warm water and placed in a heated room. The population of technological worms is counted every 3 months, for which a sample is taken from a plot of 10x10 with the subsequent multiplication of the number of worms in the sample plot by 100. In case of an excessive number of worms, surpluses are sold to fishermen, fish farms, poultry farms, producers of bone meal and other interested persons.

Collection of vermicompost and worms

The procedure for separating humus from the substrate is carried out by means of a conventional sieve equipped with 2 mm cells, with the preliminary transfer of technological worms to a new wooden box. In addition, the separation of worms from compost can be carried out by the method of delaying feeding, after which the feed is placed on the surface of the compost. Over the course of several days, all the worms rise to the stern, where it is convenient to remove them and thereby separate them from the humus.

Vermicompost packaging

Vermicompost packaging is carried out in plastic bags with preliminary weighing of the product. After the process of formation and development of production, the range of products offered is expanded by collecting concentrated liquid humus or preparing mixed bio-earth. Currently, almost no one, with the exception of a narrow circle of gardening specialists, knows what biohumus is.

Since even among summer residents with great experience, few people know about this fertilizer, which is an organic substance obtained during the life of a huge population of earthworms. Biohumus is a mass of earthworms and excrement of their vital activity that are very useful for the soil.

Organization of own business

The technology for the production of biohumus in artificial conditions was developed in the USA. The process itself does not require any significant financial costs. But on the other hand, it brings quite considerable and, more importantly, stable profit, thereby making the organization of one's own biohumus production business more than appropriate.

The first thing that is necessary for organizing this kind of business is a room, which can be used as a building or a garage located on a summer cottage. To organize a large enterprise, you can rent old abandoned farms, workshops and other similar structures. In most cases, for the breeding of worms, boxes made of their wood and, in some cases, brick counterparts are used.

Vermicompost production technology

The biohumus production technology is based on two components: substrate and worms. The substrate is the manure of domestic animals and birds, most of which is formed on farms specializing in livestock breeding, willingly selling or in most cases giving this product away to biohumus producers, and in some cases also paying for the export of manure from the territory of production.

In our country, California earthworms are used for the production of vermicompost, since they are characterized by a high level of fertility. Their population can increase 500 times in just one year! The main disadvantage of worms is that even when the temperature of the soil drops to + 4 ° C, they die and can thus live in our garden in the country house for only one year.

According to the assurances of domestic businessmen, earthworms from the Vladimir Region have proven themselves well, which not only tolerate cold well, but are also fertile. The optimal conditions for the life of the worms are the temperature of the substrate in the range of 18–20 ° C with a humidity level of at least 70–80%.

To completely eat and digest one cubic meter of the substrate, the worms need no more than 5 months, during which, to avoid drying out, it is periodically watered from above with warm water.

Ready biohumus is a large-sized adult worms, which are selected together with humus. As the main advantages of biohumus from other fertilizers, one can mention one hundred percent environmental friendliness of the product, which is the most effective and safe fertilizer for growing fruit and vegetable crops, flowers and other things.

However, the question always arose with such bold statements of the producers: “Why is even the most disgusting way of producing fertilizer considered better than small chemical additives?” Can someone's excrement mixed with worms give better results than the fertilizer developed in a modern laboratory? Sometimes everything that naturally happens is so ugly that it ceases to be natural for human nature. And it’s scary to imagine that we eat products that someone has the courage to grow on such a “fertilizer”!

Important points

Before organizing the production of vermicompost, it should be remembered that earthworms are one of the diets of rats, moles and other rodents. That is why in the room where the containers with worms will be located, impermeable walls and ceilings, as well as hard-coated floors, are required. In addition, an important factor in the breeding of worms is the amount of substrate that is formed during the decomposition of the protein into amino acids by means of fermenting microorganisms.

The preparation of the substrate is as follows: manure and the like are spread out in a layer 30 cm thick, covered with a film and heated to a temperature of 50–60 ° C, after which it is kept for several days, after which it is piled up and brought to a moisture level of 70– 80% and reduce its temperature to 30 ° C. After which the substrate is ready!