- Poor soil conditions in her village prompted her to investigate worm farming
- This is the best method so far
- I am planning to take the knowledge back to my village in Limpopo
The Enactus CUT, in collaboration with the Community Engagement Unit hosted the second worm farming expo at the Welkom Campus, following a successful one at the Bloemfontein Campus in May.
This expo was held in June at the Welkom Campus. The Enactus team at the Central University of Technology has ventured into a unique market of worm farming to create awareness of the importance of worms in sustainable farming. The team is the first to farm worms in the Free State and they are eager to introduce it to the province.
The Enactus CUT president, Yanelisa Giyose, said the poor soil conditions in her village prompted her to investigate worm farming.
This saw them going back to the drawing board and finding ways to mitigate the challenges faced with poor soil conditions on the farm.
“In one of our farming projects at the Glenstone farm, we struggled with producing good crops, because the soil was not conducive, our crops did not meet the commercial market standards, and the harvest was low. We started with the watermelon, followed by the butternut, but the harvest was so low, and crops were not commercially worthy, so our pilot crops failed,” she said.
“After going back to the drawing board, a lot of research was done and that’s where the worm farming initiative came about.”
According to Bright Hlungwani, the team started with one bag of red wiggler worms and the worm population has since multiplied. They now have more than ten bags and intend to resell 60 kg back to the owner.
“This is the best method thus far and I am planning to take the knowledge back to my village in Limpopo, because farmers there are suffering the same fate as the Glenstone farmers.”
Business Advisory member Ephraim Tshobeka, dubbed “grandfather of the worms”, said that since he started the worm farming process, he has become addicted.
“Our current methods of farming are depleting everything, so with this project, we are trying to find solutions by using sustainable farming methods to preserve what is left of our land. Our fight is against poverty, because soil enables us to secure food and we are doing that for future generations.
“Another important reason to venture into worm farming is to create employment, nurture soil and encourage organic ways of farming.”
