Agricultural waste management and vermi-technology

Issue:
Harvesting the residue left in the field poses a major problem as removing it requires manpower and money

What farmer does??
In some places simply burn the dried leaves, stalk in the field itself as it is an easy option.
advantage of this:

• free manure, 
• increased water holding capacity

but disadvantages:

• Over time this practice makes the land barren and 
• kills several beneficial organisms that aid good growth. 
• Hence increasing the need and use of the fertilizers and we know the impact of excessive use of fertilizers

So here is the problem:

• The cost of fertilizers
• Side effect of fertilizers
• single crops -->same fertilizer --> devastating effect on fertility of soil.
• either turn too saline or too acidic

Lets discuss the Solutions:

1. Farmers can effectively use these wastes to make some sort of manure like vermi-compost and put it back to the soil. By doing so expenses can be reduced and soil fertility be upgraded.
2. The farmers can be also made aware of the importance of natural farming through vermi-composting methods.
3. Also the income obtained from such activity can be reinvested by the farmer in enhancing his farm resources and infrastructure for higher return.
4. He can go for crop diversification.
5. Loans- Govt can enable easy loans for such activity.

Big Question:- What is Vermi Composting??
Vermicompost / vermicast [copy paste from wiki]

• The product or process of composting using various worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms to create a heterogeneous mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials
• The end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by an earthworm. 
• Properties
• contains reduced levels of contaminants and 
• a higher saturation of nutrients than do organic materials before vermicomposting. 
• containing water-soluble nutrients, vermicompost is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. 

This process of producing vermicompost is called vermicomposting.
Reference:
farmers-can-save-and-earn-more-through-vermi-technology [TheHindu]