Nurse quits high-paying govt. job to make vermicompost; clocks Rs24 lakh annual turnover

From a young age, Kavya Dhobale-Datkhile was drawn towards helping others. After her diploma in General Nursing and Midwifery, she began working at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital (Sion Hospital) in Mumbai. She then worked with the Tata Cancer Hospital for two years. Alongside, Kavya completed her BSc in Nursing in 2017 and after teaching in a private college for a year, she moved back to Sion Hospital in Mumbai as a staff nurse.

It was during her stint at Sion Hospital (2019 to 2022) that COVID struck. After working for months amid COVID patients and seeing multiple deaths in a day, her perspective on life changed. 

“I was also infected with Coronavirus and was almost on death bed. My immunity saved me. I had seen deaths closely at the cancer hospital and during COVID. It made me realise that our bodies were becoming weaker due to the chemical-laden food we were growing and eating,” says the 30-year-old.

“After seeing so much pain and so many deaths, I made up my mind to address the root cause of the problem. The base of food is farming and I decided to promote residue-free crops which don’t have any trace of chemicals,” she says.

However, people around her discouraged her from giving up a government job with a monthly salary of Rs75,000. “But my husband (Rajesh Datkhile) supported me and in 2022, I quit my job and moved to my husband’s village,” she recollects.

Also Read: How this Assam woman earns Rs3.5 lakh per month through vermicompost

Today, Kavya prepares vermicompost at the Datkhilewadi village in Junnar, Pune in Maharashtra. She had a turnover of Rs24 lakh in the first year in FY24 and is planning to touch Rs50 lakh this fiscal.

India is the world’s largest exporter of vermicompost followed by Turkey, Indonesia and Vietnam, according to data from Volza.  

From nursing to zero investment entrepreneurship

At the Datkhilewadi village, Rajesh’s family owned an acre of land out of which 5 guntha (0.02 acre) was lying vacant. Kavya began interacting with local farmers about the benefits of giving up chemicals in agriculture and using organic inputs like vermicompost. She also started a YouTube channel on agriculture best practices where she interviewed farmers.

“Whenever I would meet farmers and discuss making a change, the constant reply would be ‘You do it and show us’. Since nobody was willing to do anything, I decided to be the change maker,” says Kavya, who has won many awards for her work.

In August 2022, she got one kg of earthworms from a farmer. 

“My initial investment was zero. I started with one small bed (1ft x 4ft x 2 ft), adding earthworms to cow dung. The vermicompost was ready in October 2022,” she says.

Happy with the result, Kavya multiplied the earthworms and expanded the number of beds to ten. “In another 2.5 months, ten beds were ready and yielded five tonnes (5,000 kg) of vermicompost. Local farmers who tried the compost saw good results and I decided to expand further,” Kavya says.

In March 2023, Kavya began commercial sales of vermicompost under the Krushi Kavya brand. “I started using it and people began to see the results. I shared the product on my YouTube channel and a farmer connected with me to procure five tonnes for Rs50,000 (at Rs10 per kg),” she says.

Also Read: This Kashmir farmer earns Rs 50,000 daily through vermicompost

Soon after that, the word spread and a foundation purchased 2000 kg of earthworms to be given to 2,000 farmers. “I sold at Rs400 per kg,” Kavya adds.

Now, she has 70 beds, each with a 30 ft length, 4 ft width, and 2 ft height. Each bed yields 500 to 600 kg of vermicompost every 1.5 to two months. She also sells 200 kg of earthworms for Rs400 per kg every two months. 

“In FY24, my total turnover was Rs 24 lakh,” she says. 

“We sell directly to farmers and work on a pre-booking basis. So there’s a market before our production begins,” the woman agripreneur adds.

The business of vermicomposting

Vermicompost provides nutrition to plants while maintaining soil health and fertility. The global vermicompost export market is rapidly growing due to a rising demand for sustainable agriculture products. 

Vermicomposting is a low-cost business and can be started with an investment of just Rs500 towards buying earthworms and cow dung. 

The compost can be prepared on raised beds, in crates, wooden bins, cemented tanks or pits, bamboo structures, plastic containers or even earthen pots.

Also Read: Jayant Barve: Maharashtra’s organic farmer who became manure millionaire

The main components needed for vermicompost include cow or sheep and goat dung, which can be supplemented with other organic materials such as tree leaves, crop residues, vegetable waste, biogas plant slurry, or any available organic residue. 

Earthworms are added to this mixture of dung and organic waste, which they transform into manure. Although around 2,500 species of earthworms exist worldwide, using local species is ideal as they are readily available and better suited to the local climate. In India, the most commonly used earthworm species are Perionyx excavatus, Eisenia foetida, and Lampito mauritii.

Kavya also runs a training centre where she offers a one-day course on vermicomposting as a business. 

She takes 40 to 50 people in one batch and charges Rs1500 per person for guidance on setting up a vermicomposting unit and marketing the product. 

“Around 200 people across Maharashtra are preparing vermicompost after our training. It gladdens my heart that I am able to bring about change,” says Kavya.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai-based journalist specialising in business, financial, and socio-economic reporting)

Also Read: Assam’s MBA farmer clocks Rs30 lakh annual turnover from just 1.5 acre

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