Hutubi County agricultural cooperative earns a million yuan a year by farming earthworms

These cold-blooded little earthworms have now become the big money-making treasure of the farmers of Luanshanzi Village, Wugongtai Town, Hutubi County, and have turned into truly worthy soft gold.

On November 27, the reporter came to the earthworm seedling base of the Lvjiayuan Earthworm Farming Farmers' Cooperative. As soon as we walked into the greenhouse, we saw four mud ridges built from cow dung. This is the hotbed for breeding earthworms. Each hotbed is 1.2 m wide, 25 cm high and 25 m long.

Turning over the surface layer of the hotbed, the earthworms inside were packed densely. "These little earthworms are all soft gold. Look, in only 13 days they have grown so well," said Guo Huaibao, the cooperative's director, his face full of joy.

By a chance opportunity, Guo Huaibao discovered the business opportunity of earthworm farming, so he reached cooperation with Dekang Shennong Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. and became the company's earthworm seedling base. In October this year, the Lvjiayuan Earthworm Farming Farmers' Cooperative was established.

"These seedling beds are provided by the company, and we are responsible for breeding," Guo Huaibao introduced. "Farming earthworms is especially simple. One thing is to maintain 20% humidity, that is, a ratio of 20 kg of water to 100 kg of dung. The other is temperature. At 10 degrees above zero, they can grow normally, and at 20 degrees they can reproduce normally, and the reproduction rate is especially high."

Earthworms are bred and farmed using fermented cow dung. Each month, farmers prepare and add newly fermented cow dung once according to the company's formula as food for growth, while humidity is maintained using the black micro-sprinkler pipes on the mud ridges, adding water when there is not enough moisture.

Farmer Yang Deyong stirred the fermented liquid of the formula. "This is the formula for adding cow dung to the earthworms after one month. Inside there are corn grits, brown sugar and fermentation powder."

It is understood that earthworms can loosen the soil, increase soil organic matter and improve its structure. They can also help acidic or alkaline soil become neutral soil, increase available components such as phosphorus, and make the soil suitable for crop growth. Because earthworms are rich in protein, using them as feed for livestock, poultry and aquaculture can all achieve increased production results. Earthworms also hold a certain place in pharmacology. They are a common traditional Chinese medicinal material, with effects such as reducing fever, relieving spasms, activating the meridians, relieving asthma, lowering blood pressure and promoting urination.

Yang Deyong said that after the company buys them back, it uses the earthworms and dung to make organic fertilizer. "After being eaten by earthworms, cow dung that originally polluted the environment becomes organic fertilizer. For example, it can be used to grow flowers, grow pollution-free vegetables in greenhouses, and raise seedlings in greenhouses. It is all the best organic fertilizer. Earthworms themselves also have many uses. For example, they can be used to make medicinal materials, and can also be ground into powder and added to animal feed."

This year, the cooperative used a total of 6 greenhouses for earthworm seedling cultivation. Each greenhouse has 8 beds, the seedling cultivation cycle is 100 days, and 3 cycles can be cultivated in a year. At the end of each cycle, the company buys back the hotbed as a whole. The 6 greenhouses can earn 576,000 yuan, and in a year it can reach more than 1.7 million yuan.

Yang Deyong did the accounts: "For one greenhouse like this, the investment is 32,000 yuan. After 100 days, the company's buyback price is 128,000 yuan. After deducting my costs, the income from one greenhouse is 96,000 yuan. Very considerable."

Guo Huaibao said that the cooperative has just started now and has only 5 people. In the future, it will use the earthworm seedling base to drive surrounding farmers to engage in earthworm farming, and later it will also establish a fertilizer station to help more farmers become prosperous.