Good news to everyone!

Rishi Agrotech have come up with a new vermiculturing e-book ! Check out the latest information and vermiculturing technique to maximize your profit from this business.

Why pay unnecessary money for vermiculturing course which usually charge from Rm250 to Rm400 per session. With only Rm15 , you can get almost all the information from this 21 page—colorful and attractive e-book.

Wait …there’s more ….. If you ordered now….the e-book will be post to your home downloaded in a very attractive CD ..absolutely no posting fees.

Some Preview of the latest e-book.......

Home Made EM...Update

Good day everyone , still remember on my Home Made EM from previous posts...well its been 3 months since I prepared the solution and its time for test the ph of the enzyme. For your information , I will start to call the solution as fruit enzyme , because the name EM-1 is a copyright name of the EM company based in Japan. Just don't want to trouble myself on copyright issue , thus starts today we will define the solution as fruit enzyme.

Well its been almost 3 month since I first prepare the enzyme , and the smell of the solution were also not that bad. The smells remind me of a red wine ....if you guys happen to come across a red wine. Ya .....it smells exactly the same !

The ph also show positive outcome were it shows between 3 to 4 . The control ph is somewhere around 3.5 . Below is the photos of the ph reading strips and the fruit enzyme before filtration.

Hope the fruit enzyme is ready now ....I will use it in my next batch of worm bedding and spray it thoroughly on the prepared bedding before adding the worms in it.

Will up date the outcome in near future ...bye :)

Vermicompost Workshop

14 March 09 , I was given an opportunity by the Pemuda MIC Biro Pembangunan Usahawan Dan Pertanian to give a seminar on Vermicomposting and Vermiculturing . The seminar was conducted at Seberang Jaya Safira club , and was attended approximately 30 participants . There are few other speakers as well were each of us was given 30 – 40 minutes to briefly explain to the participant on the current agriculture business. Cat fish rearing , Ikan kelah rearing , leech rearing , and also Red Chili plantation with “fertigasi” technology were among the famous topics.

I give my very best on explaining the method of worm rearing and emphasis on urban worm culturing and how to make some side income and explaining how simple vermiculturing are and what are the demands for both worm and compost. I hope the participants satisfied with my explanation / presentation and look forward for their response very soon.

There are also officers from Jabatan Perikanan Malaysia and Jabatan Pertanian Pulau Pinang , explaining a lot of opportunities that waiting to be grabbed especially by the youths on these both sectors.

There are also officials from Agro Bank ( formerly known as Bank Pertanian ) explaining the financial help availability from both the banks and also the government for the participants to be grab.

The seminar which was conducted from 1.00 pm until 6.30 pm , were successful with full participants until the end.


Special Thanks to Dato’ Edward Santara , CEO of Masterskil University , Mr M Suresh PJK , Ketua Pemuda MIC Penang , and special gratitude to Mr. K Saravanan , Tim. Ketua Pemuda MIC ( Bahagian Permatang Pauh ) for giving the opportunity to participate as a speaker on such a major event. I’m honored. Thanks.

Home made EM

After re-considering the many greatness of EM ( Effective Microorganism ) , I have decided to make my own EM , to be used for my worm food scrap fermentation. I have browse thru few agriculture sites/blogs and surprisingly, I found very informative blog from Indonesia , teaching on how to DIY ( do it yourself ) Effective Microorganism. The process are rather simple , but the turn over time of obtaining a good quality of EM may take up to 2 to 3 months.

Below is the ingredients that I used for making my own EM , ( not sure either it success or not )

5 liter of water – preferably a rain water or aged tap water
1.5 kg of food scrap – fruits peels , vegetables ( no meats , dairy product )
500 gram of molasses – diluted in warm water

The ratio of making a good EM is 10:3:1 , ( Water : Food scrap : Molasses )

Step 1:-
Cut your food scrap into small pieces – no need to be perfect

Step 2 :-

Prepare molasses , dilute it in warm water , no need to be very warm , just enough to make the molasses melt.


Step 3 :-

Pour the diluted molasses in a 5liter air tight container and stir a bit

Step 4 :-
Put all your chopped food scrap into the container


Close it tightly ( preferable air tight container ) and store it. Pls avoid direct sun light and store it in a cool dark place such as in your bathroom. Open the cover daily for a gas burp and stir it a bit , this to make the built up ammonia gas escape , and also to get rid of the unpleasant smell if any. As I mentioned it earlier , making and home made EM is not the exact science , thus , hopefully , the EM can be use in 2 to 3 month , when the ph of the solution is ~ 3.5. Will update on the status on my DIY EM , gradually. Bye !.

Do It Yourself Manure

As I have mentioned in my earlier blogs , the worm medium can be made from various number of organic sources. Its all depends on your own creativity and on the availability of such carbon or nitrogen source around you. Some will feels disgust on touching on the animal "poo" , but this must not make us as the show stopper.

Here I will show a way on making your own manure "poo"...no… don’t get me wrong , it as nothing to do on poo..ing in your worm bin. :)

First , try to find any food scrap around you , you may also get it from a wet market near to your house or from the weekend pasar malam sellers. You are more than welcomed to collect the food waste from them. As for me , I just collect the peels and waste from the road side fruit seller and this is more than enough for me. The ingredients is as usual papaya , pineapple, melon , banana peels , guava , ciku , and many more ……. some egg carton and egg shells can also be used as extra carbon source. Please make sure that your food scrap is free from excessive orange peels or citrus base fruits such as mango.

Clean your fruit scrap.


Than , blend it in your regular home food processor …… in this case I just “borrow “ my wife food processor with the condition of “ clean it back after use “ ….. yes madam …agree :)


Below is the fruit sludge or slurry after blending.


Pack the sludge and put it inside the freezer over night.




The goodness on freezing the fruit sludge is, the sludge can be used anytime to feed your worm and it definitely free from fruit flies larvae. Since frozen foods breaks down easily , the worm seems consume the food faster as compare to solid foods and research shows the worm grows faster as compare to normal worm feed on solid foods.

Another use of the food sludge , is to mix it directly with coconut coir ( serbuk sabut kelapa ) and use it as the worm bin medium. The worms love it as well.

Try it !! …… :)

Bokashi Composting

What is a Bokashi composting ?

Bokashi (Japanese for "fermented organic matter") is a method of intensive composting. It can use an aerobic or anaerobic inoculation to produce the compost. Once a starter culture is made, it can be re-used, like yogurt culture. Since the popular introduction of effective microorganisms (EM), Bokashi is commonly made with only molasses, water, EM, and wheat bran. However, Bokashi can be made by inoculating any organic matter with a variety of hosts of beneficial bacteria/microbes. This includes manures, spent mushroom compost, mushroom spores, worm-casting tea, forest soil tea, yeast, pickles, sake, miso, natto, wine and beer. Molasses feeds the microbial cultures as they inoculate the organic matter.

The Use of Bokashi.

In household applications, kitchen waste is placed into a container which can be sealed with an air tight lid. These scraps are then inoculated with a Bokashi EM mix. This usually takes the form of a carrier, such as rice hulls, wheat bran or saw dust, that has been inoculated with composting micro-organisms. The EM are natural lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and phototrophic bacteria that act as a microbe community within the kitchen scraps, fermenting and accelerating breakdown of the organic matter. The user continues to place alternating layers of food scraps and Bokashi EM until the container is full. Liquid (known as Bokashi juice) is drained off as necessary. This liquid can be used as plant food, or can be poured down the drain. This may be a good practice for households with septic systems, as it is believed that this may help maintain a healthy septic environment within the holding tank. Bokashi juice is acidic, however, and if being used as a plant feed, it should be diluted at a rate of 1:100 parts water.Once the bucket is full to capacity, the waste can be buried. Two Bokashi Buckets are often employed, in order to create an alternating setup. Waste from the first Bokashi Bucket is allowed to continue to ferment for 10-14 days or for any additional length of time. The waste can then be buried. The empty Bokashi Bucket is then ready to use when the second one is full.Inside a recently-started Bokashi bin. The aerated base is just visible through the food scraps and Bokashi bran. Bokashi Compost will look different to other compost that has decayed. As the food waste does not breakdown or decompose while it is in the bucket, much of its original physical property will remain and it will have a pickled appearance. Breakdown of waste will occur after it has been transferred to the soil. Burying Bokashi Compost in a garden will supply plants with a nourishing food source and condition the soil with enriching microbes. If the fermented Bokashi compost is being transferred directly to the garden, the material should be buried in a thin layer for 4 to 6 weeks prior to over-planting.

Source : Wikipedia.

World biggest earth worm

Do you know how big is the world largest earth worm ?

The world largest earthworm can be found at Australia which known as Megascolides Australis , or also known as Giant Gippsland Earthworm. The worm have been known to grow exceed three meters , I repeat three meters !! in length and up to 1 inch in diameter.

It was first discovered in 1878 and is one of the Australia’s 1000 native earthworm species. Having a dark purple head and a blue-grey body , they line in the subsoil of blue, grey or red clay soil along stream banks and some south or west facing hills of their remaining habitat which is in Gippsland in Victoria, Australia.

The Megascolides Australis live in deep burrow systems and require water in their environment for respiration. These worms rarely leave their moist burrows. They have relatively long lifespan for invertebrates and can take 5 years to reach maturity. They breed in the warmer months and produce large egg cocoons which are laid in their burrows. When these worms hatch in 12 months they are already 20 cm long. They can sometimes be heard in their habitat making gurgling sounds as they move underground.

Megascolides Australis lay large amber colored capsules, just like the ones here in the image provided. These are 4-8 cm in length and about 2cm in diameter. The egg capsule is made of a tough, semi-transparent, horny material called chitin, which gives it the appearance of being made of plastic and resemble cocktail sausages in shape. They are laid close to the soil surface at an average depth of 20cm.

I wonder if we were want to use this worm for our vermicomposting , imagine how much of casting it can produce in a day ?! , but you have to wait until 12 month for the cocoon to hatch and another 5 years for the worm to reproduce….. want to give a try ? :)

Package for grab !!

Good news for all new worm breeders , Rishi AgroTech is now promoting the vermiculture/vermicompost package with a affordable price. The offer comes with 2 different package that cost as below :-

Package A - RM 700 ( include )

• 1 kg of Red Worm


• 1 unit of 5 Tier Drawer set ( modified )


• 1 unit of Pressurized Spray Bottle


• 1 unit of Drawer Stand ( fit for 2 unit )


• 1 unit of Worm Filter


• 1 unit of Compost Filter


• 1 unit of Water Container


• 20 kg of Worm Medium


• Training and home setup ( Northen region only )
  

Package B - Rm1250 ( include )

• 2 kg of Red Worm


• 2 unit of 5 Tier Drawer set ( modified )


• 1 unit of Pressurized Spray Bottle


• 1 unit of Drawer Stand


• 1 unit of Worm Filter


• 1 unit of Compost Filter


• 1 unit of Water Container


• 40 kg of Worm Medium


• Training and home setup ( Northen region only )

( Click on image for bigger preview )

Both package comes with buy-back contract for both worm and vermicompost , call now before its too late !!!

* The price will be cheaper by Rm100 ( Package A ) and Rm200 ( Package B ) if there is no buy-back contact made upon purchase.

Effective Microorganism or EM-1

The History of EM

In the field of nature-based technologies, an important discovery was made by a quiet, reflective microbiologist from Japan. Dr. Teruo Higo had diligently been testing a variety of microorganisms, when he accidentally fell upon a blend of microscopic organisms that had formed a symbiotic alliance. The waste products of one created the food for the other. Dr. Higa decided to call his discovery “Effective Microorganisms™”, which is now popularly referred to as EM.
EM·1® Microbial Inoculants was first used for organic agriculture. The farmers were not only producing higher yields at lower costs, but they were simultaneously cleaning up their farming environment with this new product. This was a huge breakthrough for sustainable agriculture. Because of the economic factor of producing more for less, Higa believed it was only a matter of time before all foods would be organically grown.
But Dr. Higa began wondering if EM·1® could be used for cleaning up other contaminated environments. So he began testing EM for cleaning up landfill sites, polluted rivers, and other chemically- impacted environments. EM·1® was triumphant in decontaminating these sites as well.

The Use of EM

Effective Microorganisms™ is now being used throughout the world for a broad variety of natural remediation applications such as:

• Decontamination services for natural and manmade disaster sites.
• Bioremediation of toxic and hazardous waste sites and spills.
• Production of organic fertilizers and silage from recycled green wastes.
• Natural purification and treatment of wastewaters/sludge.
• Economical maintenance and recycling of quality drinking water.
• Production of renewable and clean-burning bio-fuels.
• Livestock/poultry/aquaculture natural health and environmental quality maintenance.
• Remediation of noxious, greenhouse gasses and odor control.
• Highly-nutritious organic foods and natural health care products.
  
  Source :- www.emearth.com