After an incubation period of 30 days, when the worms should have multiplied several fold, the farmers can start charging the pits with all kinds of organic residues. Each time a layer of 5 cm can be added and, after spreading them evenly, a thin layer of soil should be used to cover the organic residues. The pits can be charged once in three days till the level reaches to just a few centimeters from the top. Regular watering should be done to keep the right amount of moisture in the pits. In another 90 days, the worms would have done their job well, as indicated by the earthworm castings on the topmost layer of the bed.
Farmers can collect the vermi-compost by digging out all the material from the pit.
They should keep the material in a heap in the sun so that all the worms move down to the cool base of the heap. The farmers can then remove the top portions safely, powder the compost and sieve before applying to the fields. The worms collected at the base can be used for inoculating new vermi-composting pits. The quality of vermi-compost is far superior to other composts in terms of nutrients and other plant growth promoting substances. The cost of making 0.5 tonnes of vermi-compost is approx.