“Earthworm Can Provide Life To Soil And Eradicating Use Of Chemical Fertiliser"
Main Article Content
Abstract
Earth worms are nature’s way of recycling organic nutrients from dead tissues back to living organisms. Many have recognized the value of these worms. Ancient civilizations, valued the role earthworms played in soil. Earthworms are sacred and recognized the important role the worms played in fertilizing. The earthworm is a natural resource of fertility and life. Earthworms live in the soil and feed on decaying organic material. After digestion, the undigested material moves through the alimentary canal of the earthworm, a thin layer of oil is deposited on the castings. This layer erodes over a period of 2 months. So although the plant nutrients are immediately available, they are slowly released to last longer. The process in the alimentary canal of the earthworm transforms organic waste to natural fertilizer. The chemical changes that organic wastes undergo include deodorizing and neutralizing. This means that the pH of the castings is 7 (neutral) and the castings are odorless. The worm castings also contain bacteria, so the process is continued in the soil, and microbiological activity is promoted.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Acevedo IC and Pire R. 2004. Effect of vermicompost as substrate amendment on the growth of papaya (Carica papaya L.). Interciencia, 29: 274–279.
Adhikary S. 2012. Vermicompost, the story of organic gold: A review. Agricultural Sciences 3(7): 905-917 http: //dx.doi.org/10.4236/as.2012.37110.
Appelhof M. 1997. Worms eat my garbage, 2nd Edition, Flower Press, Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S. (http: //www.wormwoman.com).
Bogdanov P. 1996. Commercial Vermiculture: How to Build a Thriving Business in Redworms. VermiCo Press, Oregon. pp 83.
Businelli M, Perucci P, Patumi M and Giusquiani PL. 1984. Chemical composition and enzymatic activity of worm casts. Plant and Soil, 80: 417-422.
Cabanas-Echevarría M, Torres–García A, Díaz-Rodríguez B, Ardisana EFH and Creme-Ramos Y. 2005. Influence of three bioproducts of organic origin on the production of two banana clones (Musa spp. AAB.) obtained by tissue cultures. Alimentaria, 369: 111–116.
Cooper E. 2009. New enzymes isolated from earthworms is potent fibrinolytic; ACAMIntegrative Medicine Blog; Oxford University Press Journal (UK).(http:
//acam.typepad.com/blog/2009/04/index.html
Edwards CA and Arancon N. 2004. Vermicomposts suppress plant pest and disease attacks. In: REDNOVA NEWS, http: //www.rednova.com/display/?id=55938.
FAO, 2003. World Agriculture – Towards 2015/2030 – An FAO perspective. Available online http//www.fao.org documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/ docrep/005/y4252e/y4252e00.htm
Follet R, Donahue R and Murphy L. 1981. Soil and soil amendments. Prentice hall, Inc., New Jersey.
Gandhi M, Sangwan V, Kapoor KK and Dilbaghi N. 1997. Composting of household wastes with and withoutearthworms. Environment and Ecology, 15(2): 432–434.
Gangaiah B, Ahlawat IPS, Shivakumar BG and Prasad Babu MBB. 2013. Impact of organic mode of production on performance of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan l.) during conversion from conventional to organic production. Indian Journal of Dryland Agricultural Research and Development, 28(2): 27-31.
Gopinath KA, Saha S, Mina BL, Kundu S, Pande H, Gupta HS. 2008. Influence of organic amendments on growth, yield and quality of wheat and soil properties during transition to organic production. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 82: 51-60.
George WD. 1994. Vermicomposting, Guide H-164, College of Agriculture and Glenn Munroe. Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture, Organic Agriculture.
Gunadi B, Charles B and Clive AE. 2002. The growth and fecundity of Eisenia fetida
in cattle solids pre-composted for different periods. Pedobiologia, 46: 15-23.
Lazcano C, Revilla P, Malvar RA, Dominguez J. 2011. Yield and fruit quality of four sweet corn hybrids (Zea mays) under conventional and integrated fertilization with vermicompost. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 91: 1244–53.
Latifah Abd Manaf, Latifah Abd Manaf, Mohd Lokman Che Jusoh, Mohd Kamil Yusoff Tengku Hanidza Tengku Ismail, Rosta Harun and Hafizan Juahir. 2009. Influence of Bedding Material in Vermicomposting Process. International Journal of Biology, 1(1): 81-91.
Lee KE. 1985. Earthwoerms, their Ecology and relationships with land use, Academic Press, Sydney, p. 411.
Munroe G. 2007. Manual of On-farm vermicomposting and vermiculture - A Publication of Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada, p. 39.
Nagavallemma KP, Wani SP, Lacroix S, Padmaja VV, Vineela C, Babu Rao M and Sahrawat KL. 2004. Vermicomposting - Recycling wastes into valuable organic fertilizer. Global theme on Agricosystems, A report No. 8, ICRISAT, Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India, p. 20.
Padmavathiamma KP, Li YL and Kumari UR. 2008. An experimental study of vermin-biowaste composting for agricultural soil improvement. Bioresource Technology, 99: 1672-1681.
Parthasarathi K, Balamurugan M and Ranganathan LS. 2008.Influence of vermicompost on physic-chemical and biological properties in different types of soil along with yield and quality of the pulse crop-blackgram. Iranian Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering, 5: 51-58.
Rajkhowa DJ, Gogoi AK, Kandali R, Rajkhowa KM. 2000. Effect of vermicompost on greengram nutrition. Journal of Indian Society of Soil Science, 48: 207-208.
Reddy R, Reddy MAN, Reddy YTN, Reddy NS, Anjanappa N and Reddy R. 1998. Effect of organic and inorganic sources of NPK on growth and yield of pea (Pisum sativum L). Legume Research, 21(1): 57–60.
Rakesh Joshi and Adarsh Pal V. 2010. Effect of vermicompost on growth, yield andquality of Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum L.). African Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 2 (3-4): 117-123.
Reddy MV and Ohkura K. 2004. Vermicomposting of rice-straw and its effects onsorghum growth. Tropical Ecology, 45(2): 327-331.
Tara Crescent 2003. Vermicomposting. Development Alternatives (DA) Sustainable Livelihoods. (http: //www.dainet.org/livelihoods/default.htm).
Vasanthi D and Kumaraswamy K. 1995. Efficacy of vermicompost on the yield of rice and on soil fertility. National Seminar on Organic Farming and Sustainable Agriculture, October 9-11, UAS, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Vermi Co 2001. Vermicomposting technology for waste management and agriculture: an executive summary. (http: //www.vermico.com/summary. htm) PO Box 2334, Grants Pass, OR 97528, USA: Vermi Co. 9. Appelhof, Mary, 1997. Worms Eat My Garbage; 2nd (Ed.). Flower Press, Kalamazoo, Michigan,
U.S. (http: //www.wormwoman.com).
Vijaya Sankara Babu M, Adinarayana G, Rama Subbaiah K, Balaguruvaiah D, Yellamanda Reddy T. 2008. Vermicompost with different farm wastes and problematic weeds. Indian Journal of Agricultural Research, 42(1): 52-56.
Visvanathan C, Trankler J, Jospeh K and Nagendran R. 2005. Vermicomposting as an Eco-tool in sustainable solid waste management. Asian Institute of Technology, Anna University, India.
Webster KA. 2005. Vermicompost increases yield of cherries for three years after a single application, EcoResearch, South Australia, (www.ecoresearch.com.au).
Wang ZW. 2000. Research advances in earthworms bioengineering technology.
Medica, 31(5): 386-389.