Preparing Bokashi
GUTHI organized a composting making training to the solid waste workers engaged in door-to-door waste collection in Dallu Awas on 15th of January 2017.
GUTHI in collaboration with the Ward No. 15 Community Development Center (CDC) has jointly initiated the community-composting project in Dallu Awash. The five staff of the Sisdol Sarsafai Kendra Pvt. Ltd. attended the training session, which was led by Shekha Narayan Maharjan, an expert in composting. Maharjan delivered the hands on training sessions on Bokashi method of composting that will be applied to process the organic wastes of 50 households.
“Bokashi which is a Japanese term meaning ‘fermented organic matter’ is commonly used as an inoculant in anaerobic composting, it can also be added to an aerobic compost pile”, explained Maharjan.
Prakash Amatya, an expert in waste management explained the past and the present scenario of the solid waste management practices of the Kathmandu Valley and urged the trainee to understand the fundamentals of the composting process that would help them in implementing the project successfully. Asmita Bhusal, coordinator of the project at GUTHI brought to the light many good reasons for the operation of the community composting at the Dallu Awash.
As similar to other communities of Kathmandu, the organic waste from Dallu Awash area, which makes up a considerable proportion of the total waste ends up at the landfill site on daily basis. “This is unfortunate since, apart from needlessly taking up dwindling landfill space, these materials can easily be diverted and turned into a rich organic fertilizer and the need to transport piles of waste to far off places will be greatly reduced,” added Ishwor Man Dongol, Chairperson at CDC.
The participants were enthusiast learning the method of composting. They hands on to prepare the Bokashi – typically consisting of rice bran inoculated with a special mixture of microbes, referred to as ‘Effective Microorganisms’. To make the end product richer in nutrients, chicken manure was added. “This ensures that as we add more kitchen organic waste to the bin, more “good” microbes are also added to keep the system active,”Maharjan added.
As a pilot phase of the community-composting project, 50 households of Dallu Awas will be intervened in collaboration with CDC and GUTHI and implemented by Sisdol Sarsafai Kendra Pvt. Ltd.