Biological and physiological role of earthworms in agriculture
agrovision
Published: 28 Dec 2022 › Updated: 28 Dec 2022
Biological and physiological role of earthworms in agriculture
When environmental conditions allow it, and earthworms are present, the chemical, physical and biological fertility of the soil is (but not always) greatly improved for agricultural production. However, they are neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition, as it is usually read in the scientific literature of the area.
▶ The earthworm is classified in the animal kingdom, group annelids, order oligochaetes, family lumbricidae. The most commonly used species are: Eisenia andrei or tiger earthworm, Eisenia foetida or Californian red earthworm and Eudrilus eugeniae or African red earthworm. However, other species have also been used for waste transformation, such as: Peryonix excavatus, Lumbricus rubellus, Amynthas gracilis, Dichogaster sp. and Bimastus sp. among others.
Earthworms can be used to manufacture products for agriculture such as worm humus, which is the product resulting from the digestive transformation in the form of excreta that this small annelid exerts on the organic matter it consumes.
Although as an organic fertilizer it can be said that it has an excellent value in macro nutrients, it should also be mentioned the range of organic compounds present in it, its availability in consumption by plants, its resistance to fixation and washing.
The effect of earthworms on soil structure results from the net action of their feeding and burrow activity. They ingest soil particles and organic matter, the mixture of the waste of these two fractions constitute the excreta or what is called coprolites.
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