This document provides instructions for producing vermiwash, a liquid biofertilizer collected from earthworms. Vermiwash contains nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium as well as beneficial microbes and plant growth hormones. It is made by layering gravel, organic waste, and earthworms in a container with holes and a tap. Water trickling through activates the earthworms and leaches nutrients and microbes from the waste into the collected liquid, known as vermiwash. Vermiwash acts as a plant tonic that boosts growth and disease resistance when used as a foliar spray or mixed with other liquids.

1. Vermiwash
As a component of INM
Rahul Kumar and Shweta
Vermiculture Research Station,
Department of Zoology
D.S. College (Dr. B.R.A. University) ,
Aligarh – 202001, Uttar Pradesh, India
kmshweta3@yahoo.com

2. OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson,
you will be able to produce
Vermiwash.

3. Introduction
• Vermiwash, a liquid bio-fertilizer can be
collected through the column of activated
earthworm.
•It contains plant growth hormones like
auxins and cytokinin apart from nitrogen,
phosphorus, potash and other
micronutrients.

4. Agriculturally Important Microbes in
Vermiwash
Vermiwash contains:
 Nitrogen fixing bacteria
Azotobacter sp
Rhizobium sp.
 Phosphate solublizing
bacteria.

5. Benefits of Vermiwash
• Vermiwash acts as a plant tonic and
helps to reduce many plant diseases.
• A mixture of vermiwash (1litre) with cow
urine (1litre) in 10 liters of water
acts as biopesticide and liquid
manure.

6. Principle of Vermiwash
production
The trickling of water takes
away all the body secretions
of the earthworm along with
it and also other nutrients
from the decomposed
materials.
The collected water contains
many nutrients readily
available to the crop plants.

7. Composition of Vermiwash
The composition of vermiwash is as follow:
pH 7.48 ± 0.03
Organic carbon% 0.008 ± 0.001
Nitrogen% 0.01 ± 0.005
Available phosphorous% 1.69 ± 0.05
Potassium (ppm) 25 ± 2

8. Micro-nutrients in Vermiwash
Sl. No. Nutrient Quantity (ppm)
1. Sodium 8 ± 1
2. Calcium 3 ± 1
3. Copper 0.01 ± 0.001
4. Ferrous 0.06 ± 0.001
5. Magnesium 158.44 ± 23.42
6. Manganese 0.58 ± 0.040
7. Zinc 0.02 ± 0.001

9. Microbial composition of vermi-wash
Sl. No. Microbes Microbial count
(CFU/ml)
1. Total heterotrophs 1.79x103
2. Nitrosomonas sp. 1.01 x103
3. Nitrobacter sp. 1.12 x 103
4. Total fungi 1.46 x 103

10. Requirements
for the production
of Vermiwash
•Bucket with tap
•Earthworms
•Cow dung

11. Method of preparation
of vermiwash
• Select one sufficiently
large container made of
concrete or plastic
bucket .
• Drill a hole at the base
of the container to fix a
tap to it.

12. Method of preparation
of Vermiwash
• A base layer of gravel or
broken small pieces of bricks
are placed upto height of 10-
15 cm.
• On the coarse sand layer place
40-45 cm pre-decomposed
organic wastes and moisten the
different layers by using water.
• Introduce about 2000
earthworms into the container.

13. Integrated Vermiwash Unit
• Vermiwash unit should be established with
vermicomposting beds for large scale
production.

14. Precautions
• Water should be poured slowly.
• Do not mix un-decomposed material
while, watering.
• Do not add any green material.
• Do not allow to compact the contents.

15. LET US SUM UP
• Vermiwash, a liquid fertilizer collected after the passage of
water through a column of worm activation is very useful
as a foliar spray.
• It contains plant growth hormones like auxins and
cytokinin apart from nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and
other micro nutrients.
• It contains nitrogen fixing bacteria like Azatobacter sp.,
Arobactericum sp. and Rhizobium sp. and some
phosphate solublizing bacteria.
• It acts as a plant tonic and helps to reduce many plant
diseases.