Is Vermicompost The Answer?

By turning organic waste into nutritient-rich fertilizer, vermicompost could be part of the solution to Goa’s garbage crisis. Goa, a world tourist destination and one of the greenest states in India, is facing a major garbage problem. The total absence of waste management infrastructure has generated illegal garbage dumping throughout the state. This, on top of spoiling Goa’s beautiful landscape, often causes inconveniences such as foul smell and health hazards. Municipal Councils across Goa are failing to take serious action to tackle the issue. In such a dire situation, the solution might come from individual initiatives, undertaken by creative and resourceful citizens like Dr Sheela Gupte, who started vermicompost in her garden. She owns a house surrounded by a big garden. Forced to acknowledge the large quantity of waste generated by her garden and by her cooking, she decided to start a vermicompost. The vermicompost is a simple process through which various species of worms are used to enhance the decomposing and recycling cycle of organic matter to produce nutritient-rich compost that works as an excellent fertilizer, soil conditioner, and a natural pesticide. Using this process, Dr Sheela Gupte manages to recycle all of her organic waste, which she then uses in her garden.  According to her this does not require much effort, and it considerably reduces her garbage. Sulochana, our Community Correspondent in Goa, decided to make a video to document the innovative solution used by Dr Sheela Gupte to solve her garbage problem. “I find her vermicompost really inspiring. It is a remarkable solution, and it is so easy to set up! After meeting Dr Sheela Gupte, I also started some vermicompost, and it works very well,’ said Sulochana. In a state where garbage is one of the more crucial issues, small-scale solutions such as Dr Sheela Gupte’s vermicompost are a ray of hope. Municipal councils should now step in to take this initiative to a larger scale.
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