On 11^th August, 2022, with the generous contribution of 1.5 Kg Tiger worms (Eisenia foetida) from National Soil Services Centre, Thimphu, Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Forest Research and Training initiated Vermicomposting in the Nursery shed.

The earthworms were housed in a wooden tub of the dimension 2m*1m*0.5m and fed with meticulously ground organic refuse that were carefully weighed each time the worms were fed. Moisture content and temperature were vetted by the nursery incharge on a regular basis.

On 27^th January, 2023, the Institute made its first ever vermicast harvest that yielded four 25kg sacks of vermicast and hundreds of worm ova.

Worm castings contain five times more nitrogen, seven times more phosphorus, and 11 times more potassium than ordinary soil, the main minerals needed for plant growth (https://tpncorganic.com/product_details_38) accessed on 30^th of January, 2023

We plan to further vermicomposting works and start breeding worms in a separate chamber.