Raising this calcium worm in Ben Tre, farmers clean their houses and have good extra income.

In Tan Phong hamlet, 10 households including members, farmers and local people have implemented the calcium worm farming model.

The Management Board of the Project (DA) of Propaganda and Mobilization for Farmers to Treat Waste in Vietnam of the Provincial Farmers' Association has supported (phase 1) each household participating in the project with 0.5 grams of calcium worm eggs and materials to build tanks as well as a complete system for raising calcium worm.

On average, a calcium worm breeding tank has an area of 4.5m2 (1.5m wide and 3m long); the floor is built with bricks around it (0.36m higher than the ground). Farmers equip it with a net to minimize the loss of livestock.

“I found that raising calcium worms has ensured the family's actual conditions and contributed to protecting the environment in rural areas.

Household waste such as vegetables, manure will create a food source for calcium worms. When calcium worms mature, they will create a food source for livestock as well as family crops, reducing investment costs in livestock farming.

"Easy to raise, no investment costs," said Ms. Le Thi Tinh, 56 years old, residing in Self-Managed People's Group No. 6, Tan Phong Hamlet.

Nuôi loài sâu này ở Bến Tre, nông dân làm sạch nhà lại có thêm thu nhập tốt- Ảnh 2.

Farmers' Association of Thanh Thoi A commune (Mo Cay Nam district, Ben Tre province) and local authorities visited the calcium worm farming model at Mrs. Do Thi Le's household.

Initially, farmers in Tan Phong hamlet implemented a model of raising calcium worms as food for livestock (chickens, ducks, fish) and creating organic fertilizer for crops (grapefruit, coconut). According to farmers, the temperature of 280C is good for calcium worm pupae to grow. Currently, the reproduction process (taking calcium worm parents to lay eggs) is still a "difficult" problem that requires high technology.

Ms. Do Thi Le, 56 years old, residing in Self-managed People's Group No. 12, shared: By maintaining a stable calcium worm farming model, her family has created a stable food source for livestock.

When I increase the number of eggs and the tank for raising calcium worms, I expect to have more income to create a stable economic efficiency for my family. Currently, when my family has household by-products, I feed the calcium worms and provide more soybean residue (once a week) to enhance the nutrition for the calcium worms.

After more than 20 days of raising, calcium worm eggs can become pupae with the size of chopsticks and can be sold at an average price of 25 - 30 thousand VND/kg. On average, from 0.5 grams of breeding eggs, farmers can harvest 80 - 100 kg of calcium worm pupae.

Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thanh Thoi A Commune, Nguyen Thanh Tuan, said: Through the time of implementing the calcium worm farming model in the locality, the Farmers' Association has realized that it has initially reaped effectiveness for farmers as well as environmental protection in rural areas.

Taking advantage of waste in daily life, to ensure reducing waste to the environment. Commercial worms create a food source to raise chickens, ducks, fish, helping to develop the economy for local people. Moving forward, the Farmers' Association continues to implement models, contributing to environmental protection such as: raising earthworms, composting organic fertilizers, fermenting by-products... Thereby, helping farmers in converting livestock and crop structures towards effective organic direction.

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