Wormcast

[WormFarmer]

This is a hugely informative site which I only recently came across, quite by accident. I had no idea that there were so many working farang farmers in Thailand - and there must be many more who are not members of this Forum.

I am a farang currently working in Bangkok. With retirement on the horizon my (Thai) wife and I have been working these last two years to set up a worm farm at our modest property in Roi Et. We started out with a kg each of three types of greedy compost worms and now have about 300 sq.m of worm beds. Target is to have 1,000 sq. m. of fully populated worm beds within about a year from now. Currently we have a relative looking after our house and the mandatory half dozen buffalo and cows as well as keeping an eye on the worms which don't need much attention apart from watering.

The object is not to sell worms per see, as anyone can pick these up from the paddy fields after it rains, but to sell wormcast (wormshit) which is natures finest organic fertiliser. Main target will be the growers of fancy potted plants for Bangkok apartment/condo dwellers. As far as I can see organic farming hasn't really taken off yet in Thailand, so there is no market there yet, although I stand to be corrected on this. I estimate that with 1,000 sq.m I can produce about 200 tonnes of wormcast every six months.

I would be keen to hear from any other farangs who are (or have tried and failed) worm-farming in Thailand.

Reading this forum I also realise the potential for other types of farming once we move up-country on a permanent basis and I have got over the culture shock. We have about 15 rai of land so I am considering the possibility of Dragon Fruit posts inter-sperced with Mukua. Water in our area is generally not a problem, by the house we have a couple of boreholes down to 20m and these have never failed. One provides house water the other pumps to a water tower which feeds the sprinkler system over the worm beds. More boreholes could be put down as and where required as the cost is low.

[RamdomChances]

I've seen an other post here about worms, mabye in the chang mai section, you could do a search.

[chownah]

http://www.thewormman.com/thailand/pics.htm

People have been trying to make a business of selling worm castings for a long long time.....it never seems to catch on.....maybe the people at this link will be the first to make it work.

[jdinasia]

I always thought Bat Guano was a better fertilizer <natural>

[WormFarmer]

Thanks for that link Chownah. I know this chap and have already met up with him, but I am keen to know if any others are around or for any other advice / comment.

[chownah]

I always thought Bat Guano was a better fertilizer <natural>

You may be surprised to find out that bat guano is not allowed for use as a fertilizer if you want to be certified in some places. Also, it would not be a good substitute for worm castings in that you can grow stuff in pure worm castings but bat guano is too strong and you can easily burn roots with it.

I think that the reason that worm castings don't seem to sell well is that a microbe based composting techinque will produce a product that is virtually as high quality if not actually equal in quality to worm castings...and it is easier to do....and even compost is not an easy product to sell except for in urban environments which is where Wormfarmer is targeting. I'm an organic farmer so I appreciate the high quality of worm castings and am always happy to find the little buggers in my garden (I've got lots of them because I put alot of organic material in my soil regularly)....but creating a market for the castings seems to be a difficult thing to do....the only viable market that I know of for worm related stuff is the worms themselves for bait which I have seen in resort areas in the US.

[Mobaan]

Will be intersted to hear the ongoing worm story.

Reg Dragon fruits- They are selling at the local markets and grocerystores for 30 -5- Baht per KG. (dep. on colour and variety ) Over the past few month we planted about 100 plants of the dark purple Vietnamees varity . Harvest should start in 6-9 month .

What is MUKUK you want to interplant with the Dragon fruits??

[JungleBiker]

Will be intersted to hear the ongoing worm story.

Reg Dragon fruits- They are selling at the local markets and grocerystores for 30 -5- Baht per KG. (dep. on colour and variety ) Over the past few month we planted about 100 plants of the dark purple Vietnamees varity . Harvest should start in 6-9 month .

What is MUKUK you want to interplant with the Dragon fruits??

I think you'd get a better response if you started a new thread on dragon fruits.

I don't know what is MUKUK?

I think you'd be better off keeping the soil weed free (with herbicides) and also putting some mulch material around the plants such as rice straw, rice husks, baggase (sugar cane waste) in a 1 meter circle, but leave a small gap of say 5cm between the material and the plant stems to avoid rotting of the stem. The mulch will help supress weeds (then no need to spray too close with the herbicides), maintain soil moisture, improve soil fertility, etc.

[JungleBiker]

MUKUK… Ah... I see… I read back through the thread and I see wormfarmer is talking about makua not makuk. He is referring to the local type of eggplants that Maizefarmer describes in another post – I think it is “Smallscale farming in Buriram”. I think for 6 – 9 months it is not worth establishing an intercrop like this – it will only get in the way when managing the dragon fruit and make life more complicated. I think it would be better to grow the makua in a separate plot. Intercrops makes more sense when grown for the first few years between a long term crop like rubber that takes 7 years to start bearing latex.

[JungleBiker]

This is a hugely informative site which I only recently came across, quite by accident. I had no idea that there were so many working farang farmers in Thailand - and there must be many more who are not members of this Forum.

I am a farang currently working in Bangkok. With retirement on the horizon my (Thai) wife and I have been working these last two years to set up a worm farm at our modest property in Roi Et. We started out with a kg each of three types of greedy compost worms and now have about 300 sq.m of worm beds. Target is to have 1,000 sq. m. of fully populated worm beds within about a year from now. Currently we have a relative looking after our house and the mandatory half dozen buffalo and cows as well as keeping an eye on the worms which don't need much attention apart from watering.

The object is not to sell worms per see, as anyone can pick these up from the paddy fields after it rains, but to sell wormcast (wormshit) which is natures finest organic fertiliser. Main target will be the growers of fancy potted plants for Bangkok apartment/condo dwellers. As far as I can see organic farming hasn't really taken off yet in Thailand, so there is no market there yet, although I stand to be corrected on this. I estimate that with 1,000 sq.m I can produce about 200 tonnes of wormcast every six months.

I would be keen to hear from any other farangs who are (or have tried and failed) worm-farming in Thailand.

Reading this forum I also realise the potential for other types of farming once we move up-country on a permanent basis and I have got over the culture shock. We have about 15 rai of land so I am considering the possibility of Dragon Fruit posts inter-sperced with Mukua. Water in our area is generally not a problem, by the house we have a couple of boreholes down to 20m and these have never failed. One provides house water the other pumps to a water tower which feeds the sprinkler system over the worm beds. More boreholes could be put down as and where required as the cost is low.

I haven't tried worm farming, but I have been thinking about it.

In the UK it is the warm bait market that is the main product. I wonder if here in Thailand the ornamental fish market (either breeding farmers or individual keepers) could be a market for the worms? Perhaps frog and turtle farmers could be other targets? Perhaps you could investigate this yourself.

I was also wondering if there may be an export market for the worm eggs - e.g. produce the eggs in Thailand and then export to say Japan or Europe where hatcheries could use them to produce worms for the angling bait market. By doing the egg production in Thailand it may be more cost effective for the foreign worm producers?

There may also be an export market for organically-produced worm casts in the richer countries. (By the way, I heard that worms sercete some substances into the casts that enhance plant growth? Don't know if this is scientifically proven?)

Let me know if you are interested to explore these export market options. I would be interested to cooperate both in terms of export development and in terms of produtction. If you get into export you will need volume and that could require recruiting many small producers - this might be something that I could organize in Laos through a rural development project.

One very important factor will be getting sufficient quantity and quality of food for the worms - what did you have in mind for feeding?

JungleBiker.

[WormFarmer]

MUKUK… Ah... I see… I read back through the thread and I see wormfarmer is talking about makua not makuk. He is referring to the local type of eggplants that Maizefarmer describes in another post – I think it is “Smallscale farming in Buriram”. I think for 6 – 9 months it is not worth establishing an intercrop like this – it will only get in the way when managing the dragon fruit and make life more complicated. I think it would be better to grow the makua in a separate plot. Intercrops makes more sense when grown for the first few years between a long term crop like rubber that takes 7 years to start bearing latex.

Yes, Mukua is correct. I take your point about intercropping, but from what I read about dragon fruit it may be a good idea to keep the posts well apart provided that space is not a premium. I liked Maizefarmers idea to grow the mukua in pots which would enable them to be moved at a later date. Anyway, it will be at least two more years before we move up-country on a permanent basis so I still have time to listen to lots of advice. Basically my idea is to use up a bit of spare land as an additional source of income to the wormcast production, also we can use our own wormcast to fertilise the plants.

I haven't tried worm farming, but I have been thinking about it.

I was involved in a worm farm in UK for a few years. The arrangement was that I would continue to work in Thailand and provide development finance whilst my partner ran and, using my finance, expanded the farm. However, we experienced big problems not of our making: first the foot & mouth outbreak in 2001 completely knocked out the angling trade and our main purchaser went bust, then, where we were in Wales it was almost impossible to get labour. The British welfare system makes it more profitable to go on the dole than to work as a farm labourer. Eventually, having lost a bundle of money, we decided to shut the business down. Having subsequently decided to settle permanently in Thailand I decided to re-visit the worm farm idea as neither of the problems which plagued us in uk will arise here in Thailand.

In the UK it is the warm bait market that is the main product. I wonder if here in Thailand the ornamental fish market (either breeding farmers or individual keepers) could be a market for the worms? Perhaps frog and turtle farmers could be other targets? Perhaps you could investigate this yourself.

Not necessarily nowadays, whilst angling does account for about 900 tonnes of worms per year, and as said above, when I was involved with the worm farm in uk it was our main market, a growing market now is disposal of domestic waste. The European Community Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 sets out a programme for member states to reduce significantly the amount of biodegradeable waste going into landfill sites. Methane gas from landfill sites is seen as a major contributor to global warming. The programme has been adopted by the British Government as detailed in a policy document "Waste Strategy 2000 England and Wales" and other subsequent documents, which can be found at the various uk government web sites. Essentially the government has to progressively reduce the amount of biodegradeable waste going into landfill sites so that in 2010 it is at 75% of 1995 levels and by 2020 to 35% of 1995 levels! Given that 83% of all municipal waste goes into landfill, this is a huge undertaking.

Just one of many uk government initiatives is to try to encourage all householders to purchase and use home vermi-composting units. There is therefore a growing demand for worms in supplying such home worm-bins. Sad to say this market did not materialise in uk in time to save our business, perhaps we were too far ahead of our time. America and Australia have been actively encouraging home worm bins for a long time now. Not only does this get rid of domestic waste, householders end up with high grade fertiliser for their gardens.

Unfortunately Thailand is not yet into home vermi-composting, although with the problems of waste disposal around Bangkok they could certainly use it. Thus the market for worms per-see is not yet here. Exporting worms could be a problem, not so much because of the worms themselves but because of the medium (peat or whatever) in which they must be packed, as there are so many restrictions in virtually all Countries about importation of "soil". In US & UK worms are regularly packed in moss peat which is generally regarded as "safe" but I am yet to find an equivalent, suitable packing medium in Thailand.

There may also be an export market for organically-produced worm casts in the richer countries. (By the way, I heard that worms sercete some substances into the casts that enhance plant growth? Don't know if this is scientifically proven?)

Let me know if you are interested to explore these export market options. I would be interested to cooperate both in terms of export development and in terms of produtction. If you get into export you will need volume and that could require recruiting many small producers - this might be something that I could organize in Laos through a rural development project.

Although there is a market for worms in Thailand, as well as for dried worms in both China and Japan (for traditional medicine) I don't see this as being so big at present. Any old earthworm which pops up in the paddy fields after rain can be caught and dried, no need to breed greedy compost worms for this. I am therefore currently aiming to sell wormcast (worm-shit) NOT worms. This is the best organic fertiliser / plant nutrient there is - even Charles Darwin realised the enormous contribution worms made to the world. This could maybe exported, and any help/cooperation on this would be welcome, although I think you are right that this would involve the cooperation of several sources to make it worthwhile. Personally I hope I can find sufficient market in Thailand so that I can avoid the hassle of exporting. One potential market is the growers of all the fancy potted plants so beloved by Bangkok's condo-dwellers who have no gardens so must rely on buying bags of potting compost and/or plant nutrients. I am also in touch with another worm breeder in Thailand with a view to future cooperation.

One very important factor will be getting sufficient quantity and quality of food for the worms - what did you have in mind for feeding?

Indeed it will. We use dried cow and pig manure, mixed with coconut husks. There is plenty of all of that available around us. Originally we were getting the coconut husks for free as the growers just strip that off before selling the coconuts with the tops chopped off in the market. As soon as they had a reasonable pile of husks they were burning it to avoid snakes using it, but as soon as they found someone actually had a use for it, it got a price tag - but it's not exorbitant and we can live with that. We also add rice husks, and get waste overripe fruit (lots of watermelon and jack-fruit) from the market at the end of the day.

As previously said we are still just expanding our wormstock and not yet selling any wormcast. Plan is, when we get up to strength in worm population, to separate out a tonne of medium per week, sort the worms from the medium, put the medium into a separate "box" for a week or so with a few sacrificial worms to eat up all remaining food to finalise to production of good quality wormcast. The sorted-out worms will be put into a fresh medium and left to feed and breed for six months, by which time the rotation will have gone around full circle. I reckon I can achieve this rate of production with a 1,000 sq.m of worm beds.

[teletiger]

I've never seen a worm on our farm, and we've dug and ploughed most of it. Is it an Issan thing? Too much clay, quartz?

Regards

[JungleBiker]

Hi Wormfarmer,

About exporting worms in peat… (actually I was talking about exporting worm eggs rather than worms, but anyhow..) …you can buy peat in Thailand but it is expensive (imported) – mainly used for producing flower and vegetable seedlings from expensive F1 hybrid seeds. You mentioned coconut husks but I am not sure if you are aware that in Europe part of the horticulture industry has shifted from using peat (destruction of peat bogs is not environmentally friendly) into “coco peat” (coir dust) – this is what you get after you remove the shell and coir fibres from the husks (since this makes use a of waste product it is environmentally friendly). There is a guy in Thailand who makes a machine for doing this separation – I have a phone number somewhere if you are interested. I think the machine costs about 60,000 baht. It’s also possible to buy bags of coco peat in the local garden shops – just ask around.

I don’t know where you plan to locate your future worm farm, but it may also be worth considering baggasse (not sure how many s’s and g’s in that word!) – it’s the waste that’s left over after crushing sugar cane. If there’s a sugar mill nearby it might be worth considering though I don’t know if worms like it? I also wonder about spent mushroom compost? There are small mushroom farms here and there growing oyster mushrooms, etc, in plastic bags full of sawdust. I think they sometimes dump there spent bags anywhere they can. Perhaps you could use that stuff? I think the original saw dust comes from mills that process rubber wood (para wood) down in the south.

I think cassava mills are another industrial source of organic waste.

Just giving you ideas to consider.

[WormFarmer]

Just giving you ideas to consider.

Hi JB,

Thanks for all those suggestions. Our farm is located in Roi Et but I don't know of any sugar mills near to us. I'll look into your various suggestions when I can, meaning when I'm up there. The coconut husk separator sounds like a good idea, but at present exporting worms is not on my agenda, so no need for an export medium - although if I get too many I may re-consider as compost worms fetch about $40 per kg in US, so I'll keep it in mind. Don't know of any mushroom farms near us, but all these sort of things bear looking into and I appreciate your ideas.

[WormFarmer]

I've never seen a worm on our farm, and we've dug and ploughed most of it. Is it an Issan thing? Too much clay, quartz?

Regards

There are worms just about everywhere, even in clay. Take a look after it rains as the drumming of the rain on the ground brings the worms out. On our farm in Roi Et, which is well into Issan, we see a lot of worms after rain. Incidentally, my idea to grow dragon fruit came from reading your posts on it, is it still a viable option?

[Syduan]

I've never seen a worm on our farm, and we've dug and ploughed most of it. Is it an Issan thing? Too much clay, quartz?

Regards

I would think that the most likely reason for not seeing worms on your land is due to over usage of chemical fertisers which will kill off the worm population as well as valuble nutrients. Another reason could be extensive flooding over a long period of time.

Either way using vermicast as a natural fertiliser will introduce the worm population back into your land, thereby enhancing root growth, increase crop yeilds and improve soil drainage amongst other benifits.

[Syduan]

I've never seen a worm on our farm, and we've dug and ploughed most of it. Is it an Issan thing? Too much clay, quartz?

Regards

I would think that the most likely reason for not seeing worms on your land is due to over usage of chemical fertisers which will kill off the worm population as well as valuble nutrients. Another reason could be extensive flooding over a long period of time.

Either way using vermicast as a natural fertiliser will introduce the worm population back into your land, thereby enhancing root growth, increase crop yeilds and improve soil drainage amongst other benifits.

[chownah]

Worms need organic material in the soil. The standard practices for rice cultivation in Thailand tends to deplete the soil of organic matter so there is nothing for them to eat. Putting worm castings in a soil may introduce worms but unless there is something for them to eat they will die.....you want worms?....then get organic matter in the soil and they will appear....my experience is that they will appear by themselves if the organic matter is present.

Chownah