Victor Kuznietsov, manager of the finishing complex of Sigma, PE

Manure is an essential element of pig producing business. Often it is a problematic one. As it has rather aggressive odour and cannot be placed on fields in a ‘raw’ form. This requires the creation of special pig biowaste managing system. One of its components might be a Californian worm, that change organics into high-quality biohumus.

In USA the waste processing with the help of Californian worms has long been fixed. Nowadays worms and their growth technology are American export items. There are a lot of big livestock farms, where all manure is processed by this vermiculture.

On Sigma pig farm the separated solid manure fraction is used as a substrate, which is put in a storing bunker and overwatered to get the wet mix. Storing bunkers are above-ground,30–40 cmhigh. The sides are made of slate, and the bottom can be covered by straw. Such a construction has many advantages: it is easy to install, and the main thing, when the biohumus is ready, you can break the storing bunkers down and tractor will freely take the manure. The optimal worms’ number per m2 is750–1,500.But here we have no limits — the more of them, the faster manure becomes the biohumus. Biohumus practice reduces the nitrate concentration in soil and makes fertilizers and plant diseases protection unnecessary.

After the Californian worms were put into storing bunkers with prepared manure, the main thing is to keep the humidity on 65–85%level, otherwise the vermiculture will die. If the feeding is not enough, you see that worms become paler and their circles disappear. It means that biohumus is ready and it is a high time to replace Californians into the new storing bunker. On Sigma farm, Californian worms are used as solid manure processing supplement. The results are very good. Within a few years of working with this vermiculture only several weaknesses were noticed.

1. What biohumus amount is produced by the average worm in twenty-four hours?
2. It seems that worm breeding is a very simple thing, but there are also some nuances. If the worms are grown in the open air, how to organize their wintering? How to maximize its effectiveness and economy?
3. What characteristics pay attention to while buying Californian worms? What useful elements appear in biohumus thanks for the vermiculture? How does it influence the crop?
4. When worms process all substrate it is desirable to ‘resettle’ them into another storing bunker. How to do it in a right way? What time intervals are convenient?
5. What exact weaknesses in red Californian worm usage were noticed by Sigma, PE?

You can find answers for these and other questions in the full version of the article in the magazine «Profitable Pig Production», № 5 (17) 2013.