Earthworms for Eco-friendly Resource Efficient Agriculture

Abstract

Waste production became the main concern in the era of the increasing world population. Millions of tons of waste are being generated everyday worldwide, and now, it is a big challenge for managing the financial and ecological expense of these wastes. An additional significant problem is arising from the disposal of municipal solid wastes, which cause emission of greenhouse gases. For sustainable development, a chief part of municipal wastes has biological garbage which can be converted into eco-friendly material like vermicompost (VCM) by using earthworm. Earthworm's activities increase the soil fertility by improving soil formation, soil porosity, water infiltration, decomposition of organic material, humus formation, suppression of soil-borne diseases & pests, and by promoting nutrient cycles which ultimately help in plant growth. Due to their beneficial activities, they cause the main change in soil properties; therefore, they are known as “Ecological engineer.” Earthworms also act as a bioindicator. Earthworm forms a significant portion of soil invertebrate's biomass about 40-90% in different soil condition. The earthworm species have great diversity across the globe, which is the deciding factor to earthworm's potent towards soil improvement. Indian earthworms are dominant by indigenous species that contribute approximately 89% of total earthworm diversity and are represented by nine families, 67-69 genera, and 418-509 species of earthworms out of them, approximately 51 are exotic species. The present chapter highlights in depth the role of earthworm in efficient and sustainable agriculture. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020