Started with 100 worms for Tk 100: now 240 tonnes of compost a year, Tk 14 lakh in sales, Tk 5-6 lakh profit

Abdur Rahim of Monohorpur village in Monirampur upazila, Jashore, worked 18 years at Grameen Bank and took voluntary retirement. In 2011 he bought 100 earthworms for Tk 100 and began making compost in a clay vessel. The scale grew gradually. He now leases 40 decimals of land near Monohorpur Kacharibari bazar to make vermicompost, with five workers regularly employed. The method is this: cow dung is collected from different homes and heaped in the open to release its gas, which takes a month. It is then spread under a tin shed in beds 7-8 inches thick and the worms are released. The worms' castings are the compost, which is separated and bagged for sale. Output is 20 metric tonnes a month, or 240 tonnes a year. It is sold wholesale to farmers and fertiliser dealers in Jashore, Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat and other districts. Annual sales are Tk 12-14 lakh, and after all costs the profit is Tk 5-6 lakh. Since the previous year he has started branding and selling in packets; a non-government organisation, with support from PKSF, gave him a sewing machine, other equipment and training free of charge. Certification required a trade licence and a quality test of the compost. Entrepreneurs call for price and quality control, easier licensing and loans on easy terms.