Vermicompost production
Making compost from cow dung and earthworms beside the cattle shed. Compost sells at Tk 10-13/kg against a cost of Tk 6-7, but the real income is selling breeding worms at Tk 2,000/kg.
- Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
- Version 1
- Starting capital
- ৳5,000 – ৳60,000 Editorial estimate
- Manpower
- 1 – 2 people
- First sale
- 30 – 50 days Market quote
- Break-even
- 3.5 – 10 months Editorial estimate
- Kind of work
- Farm · Easy
What the business is
Vermicompost is made from two things: cow dung and earthworms. Dung goes into cement rings or earthen troughs beside the cattle shed, worms are released into it, and what the worms excrete is the fertiliser. One trough finishes in a month to six weeks. Maidul Islam of Taraganj in Rangpur started with 20 cement rings and got about 1,000 kg in the first month; he puts his cost at about Tk 6 a kg and sells at Tk 13. Mursheda Begum of Nabinagar in Brahmanbaria sells around 300 kg a month at Tk 10 a kg. But the money is not in the compost — it is in the worms. She also sells 8-10 kg of earthworms a month at Tk 2,000 a kg, and that is what makes her monthly income Tk 18,000-20,000; the compost itself brings only about three thousand. Understand that before you start: the producer who can sell breeding worms to new entrants earns; the one who only sells compost earns little. Costs are close to nothing. If the dung is your own the cost per kg drops to about Tk 4. The upazila agriculture office trains producers and supplies inputs, which the Department of Agricultural Extension is doing in Nabinagar and Kurigram. The one real risk is saturation: when everyone in a village makes compost there is nobody left to buy it. The Rangpur region was producing about 55,000 tonnes against 75,000 tonnes of demand, so the room is real, but it has to be counted village by village.
Unit economics
| Item | Range | Evidence | Suggest a correction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly working capital | ৳2,000 – ৳7,500 | Editorial estimate | |
| Selling price | ৳10 – ৳13 / kg | Market quote | |
| Variable cost | ৳6 – ৳7 / kg | Market quote | |
| Gross margin | 30% – 54% | Editorial estimate | |
| Time to first revenue | 30 – 50 days | Market quote | |
| Break-even time | 3.5 – 10 months | Editorial estimate | |
| Cash cycle | 35 – 60 days | Editorial estimate | |
| Waste / loss | 5% – 12% | Editorial estimate | |
| Daily capacity | 30 – 35 | Editorial estimate |
What you need to start
- Cement rings or earthen troughs, a sieve, a spade and something to sprinkle water with. Brick beds work for a cheaper start.Equipment
- Earthworms: Tk 2,000-2,500 per kg in Kurigram on 14 June 2026. One kg processes five to six maunds of dung.Starting stock
- Trade licence from the union parishad or municipality: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type. Many small home producers skip it, but it is needed to sell branded bagged compost in the market.Licence
- Judging how far the dung must rot before the worms go in, and how damp to keep the bed. Both are taught at the upazila agriculture office training.Skill
- A steady source of cow dung. With your own cattle the cost drops to about Tk 4 a kg; buying dung raises it.Supplier
- A shaded, roofed patch beside the cattle shed where neither sun nor rain falls directly and water does not collect.Workspace
How the work runs
- 1Pick a shaded patch next to the cattle shed. Direct sun or rain kills the worms, so it needs a roof over it.
- 2Go to the upazila agriculture office and ask about training. The Department of Agricultural Extension runs training and gives some inputs in Nabinagar and Kurigram.
- 3Get cement rings or earthen troughs. To start cheaper, a brick-walled bed works just as well.
- 4Buy worms from a producer you know. The Kurigram rate was Tk 2,000-2,500 a kg, and one kg of worms works through five to six maunds of dung.
- 5Fill the ring with rotted dung and release the worms. Fresh dung is hot and kills them, so it must be left to rot for some days first.
- 6Sprinkle water to keep it damp but never waterlogged. If it dries the worms go deep and the bed stops working.
- 7After 30-50 days sieve out the compost and move the worms and their eggs into the next bed.
- 8Dry it and bag it. Writing the weight on the sack makes retail buyers trust it.
- 9Line up buyers before you start: nearby vegetable growers, nurseries and the local fertiliser shop. Selling is harder than making.
- 10Sell the worms separately as well. New entrants are the buyers, and this is where most of the money is.
Seasons
- JanNormal
- FebNormal
- MarNormal
- AprHigh
- MayNormal
- JunHigh
- JulHigh
- AugNormal
- SepNormal
- OctHigh
- NovHigh
- DecNormal
Where it fits
- Strong fitBrahmanbaria · The Nabinagar agriculture office provides training and inputs; a producer there sells 300 kg of compost and 8-10 kg of worms a month.
- Strong fitKurigram · Rajarhat has commercial units to buy worms from, and about 600 marginal farmers do this in Chilmari alone.
- Strong fitLalmonirhat · Producers here make up to 400 kg in three weeks, and Rangpur-region traders buy from them.
- Strong fitRangpur · A Taraganj producer who started with 20 rings now makes 7-8 tonnes a month, and cattle density means dung is never short.
- PossibleDinajpur · A rice and vegetable district with cattle, so the buyers are close by.
- PossibleGaibandha · Inside the Rangpur region, where the trader network already exists.
- PossibleNilphamari · Heavy cattle rearing makes dung cheap, and vegetable plots create demand.
- PossiblePabna · Both cattle farms and vegetable plots, with the option of sending to Dhaka nurseries.
- PossibleSirajganj · Many dairy farms mean plenty of dung, though the compost market is still small.
- PossibleThakurgaon · A northern district with many marginal farmers and agriculture office training running.
Risks and cautions
- HighDemand: When many households in the same village start, sales stall. Roughly 10,000 farmers across five Rangpur-region districts have taken it up, some 600 in Chilmari upazila alone, against regional demand of 75,000 tonnes a year and production of 55,000. The room is real but filling fast. Making the compost is easy; selling it is not.
- HighDependency: Most of the income comes from selling worms, not compost. Of the Nabinagar producer's Tk 18,000-20,000 a month, only about Tk 3,000 comes from 300 kg of compost and the rest from 8-10 kg of worms. If new entrants stop coming there is no worm buyer, and income can fall to a fifth.
- MediumSpoilage: The worms die if the bed dries out or stays waterlogged, and fresh hot dung kills them outright. At Tk 2,000-2,500 a kg for worms, losing one bed means several thousand taka gone and six weeks lost.
- MediumWorking capital: Money is tied up for six weeks. You buy dung and worms and wait, with no income until the first batch is out. And compost sells in the planting season, not evenly through the year.
Sources
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