Worms generate profit as well - Covic family farm at Subotica develops vermicompost for organic production

By the end of 2015, the worm farm for production of humus vermicompost in the agricultural household of Stevan Covic at Subotica should have 100 broods of worms. As Stevan Covic said for eKapija, the process of registration of vermicompost with the Directorate for plants protection which governs fertilizers and other plant nutrition sale, will start this fall.

Since he won the third place at the national competition for green ideas and it was second-ranked at the regional Philanthropy for green ideas in Albania, the Covic family is planning to invest funds in capacity increase. The reward of USD 7000 from the national competition will be sufficient to start outdoor worm production and cover the farm expenses and they are planning to use the reward from Albania totaling USD 10.000 to make the first indoor commercial worm farm.

With vermicompost vitamin C quantity in paper doubles

Covic came to the idea of this innovative business while looking for the job which does not require a lot of time Namely, his son suffers Batten’s disease so it is almost impossible to find regular employment since his son requires a 24-hour attention.

(Stevan Covic)

Most of the people know that vermicompost is useful for plants but they mostly do ot know how or why.

- will try to explain it. Land is not only the land with nutritive substances for the plants. Microorganisms which will split these substances into nutrients are necessary so that the plant could take them through the root. When you add artificial fertilizers in the ground, you damage the balance and kill microorganisms. Vermicompost not only feed plants but it rehabilitates land.

Vermicompost has potentially more than 10.000 kinds of useful bacteria and more than 5000 useful fungus which feed plants and protect it from bad microorganisms.

Organic vegetables from Ljubinje underway

At the Covic family farm in Ljubinje now two separate farms function separately, apart from Stevan’s vermicompost, there is vegetable production managed by Stevan’s brother Ivan.

Within their family business, the Covic family has flower shop as well and thus a number of options for placement of products to other flower shops, nurseries and flower producers.

Vermicompost tea and worms mini farm

Covic’s project does not comprise only the worm farm but promotion of vermicompost as the best organic fertilizer which exists. Apart from that, he is planning two new products which do not exist on our market – mini worm farms and vermicompost tea.

Mini worm farms are another innovative product because they can be kept in a flat or at a balcony.

- Worms recycle all the organic household waste (apart from meat and dairy products) and in return you get vermicompost for your plants and free worms for fishing. Of course, you can sell worms to fishermen so you can generate extra profit. In the west, these kinds of mini farms are becoming more and more popular.

(Mini worm farm)

Social company

Apart from environmental and economical, the project of Stevan Covic has a social motif as well. Because of his son’s illness, Covic and his wife participate in the work of more associations and in cooperation with them they will train and employ the disabled people at the farm.

-In the beginning, it will be a kind of a working therapy and if the program lives, I want to help to the ZaJedno association and SOSO Zarko Zrenjanin to set up on their own a worm farm where the disabled people would be employed. If you ask a parent of a disabled person what worries him most, 99% will say:”What will happen to my child when I am gone?” That is the reason why I opted for this step. It will be a big challenge of course but we will do our best – a collocutor of eKapija points out.

As for now, activities are running in line with the plan. Now, the Covic family is working on worm shelves which they will keep in a place where they can place some 16 broods.

- Worms will work during the winter as well and grow in number. During the fall, we are planning a nursery and in the spring, we will take the worms out – Covic who is starting in the spring an experiment where he will compare traditional production without vermicompost and organic with vermicompost says. He hopes that as of 2015 they will start completely organic vegetable production.

Irina Milosevic