Economic analysis of vermicompost production in Turkey

The agricultural sector in Turkey and in the world is under the threat of chemical inputs. The aim of this study is to make economic analysis of vermicompost which is an input to reduce environmental pollution and provide productive and sustainable production. In this research, a questionnaire was applied to 98 agricultural enterprises that engaged with crop production in the South Marmara Basin and 15 vermicomposting companies. At the same time, investment and operating costs and incomes of a company that will operate with 1.000.000 worms were calculated and financial analysis of the investment was made.7% of the surveyed crop production enterprises use worm manure. Worm manure is generally applied as the 4th fertilizer after 3 different fertilizer types. There is a significant relationship between the agricultural system and knowledge levels of the farmers and the use of worm manure of farmers. Worm manure is used the most by the farmers who implement organic farming. Most of the company owners producing worm manure are university graduates who have a profession outside the agricultural sector. Although the production capacity in the sector varies in a wide range, it is concentrated between 1 and 100 tons/year vermicompost production capacity. Inadequate legislation, the provision of qualified personnel, unregistered production companies and biased attitudes of producers against worm manure are the most important problems of the companies. In the calculation of whether the a medium-sized worm manure enterprise is a profitable investment the internal rate of return is found as 62%, cost/benefit ratio is found to be 1,12 and positive results are obtained. The profitability of the investment is 43%, the repayment period is 2,05 years, in other words, approximately 3 years. For the development of the sector, it is necessary to carry out more applied research, to encourage proper use, to prevent unregistered production and to regulate legislation.