Factors Affecting Respiration

Temporary vermin-compost unit 150 TPA(ton per annum) (ASSAM CONDITION)

COMPONENTS REQ

1 Sheds

For a vermi-composting unit, whether small or big, this is an essential item and is required for having the vermi beds. They could be of thatched roof supported by bamboo rafters and purlins, wooden trusses and stone pillars. If the size is so chosen as to prevent wetting of beds due to rain on a windy day, they could be open sheds. While designing the sheds adequate room has to be left around the beds for easy movement of the labour attending to the filling and harvesting the beds.

2 Vermi-beds

Normally the beds are 75 cm - 90 cm thick depending on the provision of filter for drainage of excess water. The entire bed area could be above the ground. Care should be taken to make the bed with uniform height over the entire width to the extent possible to avoid low production owing to low bed volumes. The bed width should not be more that 1.5 m to allow easy access to the centre of the bed.

3 Land

 About 0.5-1 acre of land will be needed to set up a vermiculture production cum extension centre. The centre will have at least 8-10 sheds each of about 180-200 sq.ft. It should also have a bore well, and pump set or watering arrangement and other equipments as described in the scheme economics. The land can be taken on lease of at least 10-15 years. Even sub marginal land also will serve the purpose.

4 Buildings

When the activity is taken up on a large scale on commercial lines, considerable amount may have to be spent on buildings to house the office, store the raw material and finished product, provide minimum accommodation to the Manager and workers. The cost of the buildings along with the electrification of these buildings and the vermi-sheds may be included under this item.

5 Seed Stock

This is an important item requiring considerable investment. Though the worms multiply fast to give the required numbers over a period of 6 months to a year, it may not be wise to wait till such a time having invested on the infrastructure heavily. Thus, worms @ 350 worms per m3 of bed space should be adequate to start with and to build up the required population in about two cycles or three without unduly affecting the estimated production.

6 Fencing and Roads/Paths

The site area needs development for construction of structures and development of roads and pathways for easy movement of hand-drawn trolleys/wheel barrows for conveying the raw material and the finished products to and from the vermi-sheds. The entire area has to be fenced to prevent trespass by animals and other unwanted elements. These could be estimated based on the length of the periphery of the farm and the length and type of roads/paths required. The costs on fencing and formation of roads should be kept low as these investments are essential for a production unit, yet would not lead to increase in production.

 7 Water Supply System

As the beds have always to be kept moist with about 50% moisture content, there is need to plan for a water source, lifting mechanism and a system of conveying and applying the water to the vermi-beds. Drippers with round the clock flow arrangement would be quite handy for continuous supply and saving on water. Such a water supply/application system requiring considerable initial investment, however, reduces the operational costs on hand watering and prove economical in the long run. The cost of these items depend on the capacity of the unit and the type of water supply chosen.

8 Machinery

Farm machinery and implements are required for cutting (shredding) the raw material in small pieces, conveying shredded raw material to the vermi-sheds, loading, unloading, collection of compost, loosening of beds for aeration, shifting of the compost before packing and for air drying of the compost, automatic packing and stitching for efficient running of the unit. Costs of providing necessary implements and the machinery have to be included in the project cost.

9 Transport

For any vermi-composting unit transport arrangement is a must. When the source of raw material is away from the production unit, an off-site transport becomes major item of investment. A large sized unit with about 1000 tonnes per annum capacity may require a 3-tonne capacity mini-truck. With small units particularly with the availability of raw material near the site, expending on transport facility may become infructuous. On-site transport facilities like manually drawn trolleys to convey raw material and finished products between the storage point and the vermi-compost sheds could also be included in the project cost.

10 Furniture

A reasonable amount could also be considered for furnishing the office-cum-stores including the storage racks and other office equipment. These enhance the efficiency of operations.

11 Operational Costs

In order to operate the unit, expenditure on some items have to be incurred on a recurring basis. These items include salaries of the staff, wages to the labourers, cost of raw material, fuel cost on transport of raw materials and finished goods, packing material cost, repairs and maintenance, power, insurance, etc. The number of office personnel and labourers have to be decided breaking each activity into a number of sub-activities and for each sub-activity estimating the work involved and the capacity of the labour to finish the work in a given time. The number of persons should be so chosen to keep them engaged throughout by providing enough persons at various work points like stores, vermi-beds and equipping them with adequate number of implements to avoid undue waiting.

Annexure-1

Estimate for construction of temporary shed for setting up 150 TPA vermicompost unit

(Size 8 m x 15m x 5.4 m)

Sl.No. Iteam Quantity Rate (Rs.) Amount (Rs.) 1 Wooden ballies (3 m long) 472 25 7800 2 Wooden ballies (3.6 m long) 48 30 1440 3 Bamboos (3 m long) 800 15 12000 4 Bamboos (6 m long) 240 20 4800 5 Bamboo mats for covering the roof 720 25 18000 6 Coir rope 6 mm dia 200 kg 15 3000 7 Binding wire for tying bamboos & mats 100 kg 25 2500 8 Labour charges for erection of sheds          - 20000 9 Miscellaneous 2460 Total 72000

Annexure-II 150TPA vermi-compost unit - Implements and machinery Sl.No. Particulars of item Amount (Rs.) 1 Shovels, spades, crowbars, iron baskets, 2800 dung fork, buckets, bamboo baskets, trowel, wire mesh sieves (3 mm and 6 mm) 2 Plumbing and fitting tools 1000 3 Power operated shredder 20000 4 Sieving maching with 3 wire mesh sieves 35000 0.6 m x 0.9 m size - power operated with out motor 5 Weighing scale (100 kg capacity) 1500 6 Weighing machine (platform type) 5000 7 Bag closer 3000 8 Empty barrels (200 L capacity) 4 Nos. 1600 9 Culture trays (plastic) (35 cmx 45 cm) - 4 Nos 200 10 Wheel barrows - 2 Nos. 10000 Total 80100 Say 80000

Annexure-III Total operational cost for one cycle of 75 days Bed volume 330 m3 Recovery percent: 30%

Sl.No. Particulars Unit Rate Amount (Rs.) 1 Agricultural waster @ 320 kg per m3 105.6 ton 100 10560 2 Cow dung @ 80 kg/m3 26.4 ton 150 3960 3 Worms @ 350 per m3 500 worms per kg 231 kg 50 11550 4 Formation of vermibed with agro-waste, cow dung and worms 330 m3 46 15180 5 Harvesting, sieving, packing, etc., including cost of bags 40 ton 0.45 18000 6 Electrical charges for pump, machinery, lighting etc. - - 4800 7 Repair and maintenance - - 7950 Total 72000 Cost for 5 cycles 360000 Rent on lease @Rs 8000/year 8000 Total operating cost 368000

Annexure-IV 150 TPA vermi-composting unit - Costs and Benefits

Years I II onwards 1 Costs a) Investment costs i) Open sheds with bamboo mat roofing 72000 - over bamboo frame work supported by wooden ballies ii) Machinery and tools 80000 - iii) Office-cum-store 60000 - iv) Water source 60000 v) 2 NADEP tanks 5000 Total 277000 b) Operational cost 360000 360000 For 5 cycles in a year @ Rs. 72,000 per cycle of 75 days Lease rent 8000 8000 Total 368000 368000 2 Benefits a) Sale of vermicompost of 200 tonnes 300000 450000 @ Rs.2500/- per ton (60% in first year and 90% from 2nd year onwards) b) Sale of worms @ 5 kg per tonne of compost and Rs. 50 per kg - 45000 c) Consultancy & ext. services - 10000 Total 300000 505000 Net Benefit 79200* 137000

Operational cost for two cycles is capitalized in the first year

Annexure-V 150 TPA vermicomposting unit - Financial Analysis

(Rs. in lakhs) Particulars Years I II to IX 1 COSTS A Capital Cost i) Buildings 1.32 - ii) Machinery / tools 0.8 - iii) Water supply system 0.6 - iv) NADEP tanks 0.05 - B Operational cost 3.68 3.68 Total Cost 6.45 3.68 2 BENEFITS i) Sale of vermicompost 3.00 4.50 ii) Sale of worms 0.45 iii) Consultancy and extension services 0.10 Total benefit 3.000 5.05 3 Net benefit *0.792 1.37 Discounting Rate 15% NPV 2.35 IRR 36% NPV of benefits 22.31 NPV of costs 19.97 BCR 1.12

Annexure-VI Repayment schedule Outlay- Rs.4.242 lakh* Bank loan -Rs. 3.394 lakh Interest (%)- 15

Repayment Year Loan Outstanding Net Income Principal Interest Total outgoing Net Surplus 1 339400 79200  - 50910 50910 28290 2 339400 137000 31000 50910 81910 55090 3 308400 137000 36000 46260 82260 54740 4 272400 137000 41000 40860 81860 55140 5 231400 137000 47000 34710 81710 55290 6 184400 137000 54000 27660 81660 55340 7 130400 137000 62000 19560 81560 55440 8 68400 137000 68400 9510 77910 59090

* including capitalization of operational cost for 2 cycles (Rs.1,47,200/-)