The year was 2008. Assam’s Kanika Talukdar was abound with happiness as her daughter was born after three years of her marriage. But this happiness could not last long because soon after, she lost her husband to a disease.

“My husband was down with a fever for a few days. We found out that he had malaria. The local doctor referred him to a Guwahati hospital for treatment. Along with my father, he left for the city for his treatment, but soon we got the news that he was no more,” the Borjhar village resident tells The Better India.

“My daughter was very small. While we were grieving the death of my husband, her entire future’s responsibility was in front of me. My parents brought me back home from my in-laws’. I thought of working as I did not want to be an unwanted bojh (burden) for my elderly parents,” she adds.

The incident encouraged Kanika to embark on a journey towards self-empowerment. Today, the 45-year-old runs a Vermicompost business that earns her Rs 3.5 lakh monthly.

How She Started

Having studied till class 12, Kanika struggled financially and professionally. To fend for herself and her daughter, she worked low-paying jobs like weaving. For every Assamese saree she weaved, she would only get Rs 1,000. 

“It would take at least eight days to weave a saree. I could barely earn Rs 4,000 in a month. It was a very small amount for us to survive,” she says.

It was only in 2014 that she attended a workshop and came across a way to earn better income. “Through my self-help group, I got to know about a five-day workshop conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK). I participated in it and got to know about several business opportunities like fish farming, poultry, and vermicomposting. I got very interested in vermicomposting as I had easy access to all the raw materials like cow dung and leaves at my home,” she says.

For the first time in all these years, Kanika felt optimistic. With just Rs 500 of her savings and 1 kg of earthworms provided by KVK in Nalbari district, she started the vermicompost business.

She uses bamboo which is locally available to make the structure of the vermicompost beds. To prepare the vermicompost, Kanika says, she uses paddy residue, and stems of water hyacinth, and mixes it along with cow dung to turn this organic debris into worm castings. 

“Farmers use these worm castings over chemical-laden urea to improve the fertility of the soil and thereby their crops. Vermicompost contains high amounts of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium,” she says.

In one year, Kanika was able to produce 800 kilos of vermicompost. Back then, she sold the compost for Rs 10 per kg and utilised all the earnings to expand the business. 

“Earlier, I had two cows but later I bought four more cows to get more cow dung. I also source at least 30 truckloads of cow dung from farmers to boost production,” she says.

She has set up 10 vermicompost beds each of 10×3 feet in size. In addition to this, she has also set up a 85×35 feet vermicompost bed on 1.5 bigha land of her family. Today, she is able to produce up to 35 tonnes of vermicompost in a month.

A distressed mom turned exemplary businesswoman

The major breakthrough in her vermicompost business came when in 2019 she attended a two-month orientation programme organised by the North East Agriculture Technology Entrepreneurs Hub (NEATeHub), an innovation hub under the Assam Agricultural University.

As part of the training, Kanika learnt to make vermiwash – a liquid extract produced from vermicompost as well as enriched vermicompost manure that has higher nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content over regular vermicompost.

“While vermiwash is used as a biopesticide, the enriched vermicompost which is prepared by the joint action of earthworms and microbes like Trichogramma, is used to stop the growth of diseases and improve the overall health of the plants. This added new product categories to my portfolio,” she says.

Under the brand Jay Vermi Compost, she sells vermicompost, vermiwash, and enriched vermicompost priced at Rs 12 per kg, Rs 70 per litre, and Rs 40 per kg, respectively.

Kanika sells the products to Assam’s agriculture department and to at least 25 nurseries across Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal, and Nagaland through Flipkart and Amazon.

A Truly Inspiring Tale of Perseverance And Grit

With no prior business experience, Kanika now earns in lakhs every month. In fact, she is also invited by the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, Assam, every month to train students in business. 

Sharing a few tips, she says, “If somebody wants to start this business, they should ensure that they produce good quality vermicompost. The income in the market depends on the quality of vermicompost they produce.”

On what separates quality vermicompost from others in the market, she says, “A good quality vermicompost should have 40-50 percent moisture content. It should not be too dry. Initially, when you add all the raw materials, you should water it for 20 days. It helps soak the raw materials and makes it easier for earthworms to chew and excrete. It takes about 35 days to prepare vermicompost.”

Kanika was the first in her village to venture into the business. Looking back at her life nine years ago, she says, “When I first attended the workshop, I had to travel 3 km to get there. It would cost me Rs 15-20 for one-way travel. There were days when I would not even have money for the journey home. I would have to walk. I couldn’t even buy water if I got thirsty en route.”

“Today, I am able to teach my daughter in a good school. I wish she either becomes a doctor or gets into an agriculture university. Previously, I did not feel comfortable asking my parents for money. Thankfully, I do not have to ask for money from anyone today. With my earnings, I also got my home renovated and constructed an office for myself,” she says with pride.

In 2021, Kanika was conferred the national-level Padma awards by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi. 

“Just a few years back, I could not have even imagined that I would get recognition from the government. The happiness cannot be expressed in words,” she says.

Edited by Padmashree Pande; All photos: Kanika Talukdar.