Vermiculture

Vermiculture is the deliberate use of earthworms to break down organic food waste into a nutrient-dense material that sustains plant growth, with the aim of continuously multiplying the worm population for a sustainable harvest. The end product, vermicompost, differs subtly from pure worm castings: castings are strictly the worms' own waste, fine and nutrient-rich, while vermicompost also includes bedding fragments and other organic matter that got mixed in — the two terms are often used loosely, but both count as valuable worm manure for soil health. Earthworms earn the nickname 'farmer's friend' because they sustain soil fertility for an entire community of bacteria, fungi and protozoans, which is why they also double as a biological indicator of how fertile a soil actually is. The species used for vermiculture split into two functional groups: humus formers, generally darker-coloured worms that live near the surface, feed on organic matter, and are the group actually used for vermicomposting; and humus feeders, deeper-burrowing worms whose tunnelling keeps the soil porous and mixes humus through its depth. India's own vermiculture units draw on native (endemic) species such as Periyonyx excavatus, Lampito mauritii and Octo …