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Dynamic Soil, Dynamic Plant ©2009 Global Science Books

Earthworms and Vermitechnology – A Review

Satyawati Sharma* • Ashwani Kumar • Anil Pratap Singh • Padma Vasudevan

Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110 016, India
Corresponding author: * satyawatis@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT
Vermicomposting is a suitable means for waste remediation and organic manure (vermicompost) production. Earthworms occur in diverse
habitats, vary greatly in size and feed upon a variety of organic materials. Most earthworms are terrestrial but may be estuarine. They are
omnivorous but mostly feed on dead organic matter, living bacteria, rotifers, nematodes, fungi, and other microorganisms. Out of about
3000 species of earthworms found worldwide, in India about 500 species have been reported. Earthworms eject humus-rich castings and
form water-stable aggregates, which improve soil physical and chemical properties. Casting also contains enzymes like protease, amylase,
lipase, cellulase and chitinase to decompose organic matter. Vermiculture is feasible in suitable containers and can be done indoors or
outdoors depending on local climatic conditions. A tremendous amount of work has been done worldwide on solid waste management
employing different epigeic and anecic earthworm species. Use of earthworms as a source of human protein has also been advocated.
They can also be utilized to feed fish, pigs and poultry. The action of earthworms in vermicomposting is by physical and biochemical
processes. Physical processes include substrate aeration, mixing and grinding while biochemical processes involve decomposition of
waste by various enzymes present in the gut of earthworms and is influenced by microbes present in their intestine. Earthworms have
several medicinal properties and are also known to accumulate toxic residues from soil/substrates. The role of earthworms in sustainable
farming is immense. The present paper reviews the information on various aspects of earthworms and vermitechnology.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Keywords: flyash, vermiculturing, vermicompost, vermiwash, vermiremediation

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
BIOLOGY OF EARTHWORMS................................................................................................................................................................... 2
ECOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTION OF EARTHWORMS............................................................................................................................ 3
VERMICULTURING .................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF EARTHWORMS ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Role of earthworms in vermicomposting................................................................................................................................................... 5
Role of earthworm in improving soil fertility............................................................................................................................................ 7
Role of earthworms in bioremediation ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Earthworm as a source of protein for poultry and fish feed ....................................................................................................................... 8
Medicinal importance of earthworms ........................................................................................................................................................ 8
EARTHWORMS’ INTERACTION WITH MICRO FLORA ........................................................................................................................ 9
CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................................................................................................ 9
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................................................................. 10
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INTRODUCTION rader and biologically a stimulator in the decomposition

system. In recent years the farmers are again realizing the
Over the last few years, the problem of efficient disposal worth of highly beneficial animals like earthworms and are
and management of organic solid wastes has become more making all possible efforts to culture and subsequently
rigorous due to rapidly increasing population, intensive release them in field and garden. The beneficial role of
agriculture, and industrialization (Garg et al. 2006). Pro- earthworms in increasing the soil fertility has been docu-
duction of large quantities of organic wastes all over the mented since ancient times.
world poses major environmental (offensive odors, con- The combination of composting and vermicomposting
tamination of ground water and soil) and disposal problems has recently been considered as a way of achieving stabi-
(Edwards and Bater 1992). Appropriate disposal of waste is lized substrates (Tognetti et al. 2007) for improving soil
most essential and beneficial from ecological and economi- fertility. Composting enables sanitization of the waste and
cal point of view. Although, there are many ways of organic elimination of toxic compounds, and the subsequent vermi-
waste treatment, composting is one of the best acceptable composting reduces particle size and increases nutrient
ways for quality environment and organic farming. Organic availability. In addition, inoculation of microbial cultures
farming involves the use of natural organic inputs like farm along with earthworms reduces the duration of the treat-
yard manure, compost, green manure, oil cakes, press mud, ment process (Ndegwa and Thompson 2001; Lazcano et al.
etc. (Purohit and Gehlot 2006). Decomposers like earth- 2008). Earthworms have been used in the vermiconversion
worms stimulate composting and are useful both in enhan- of urban, industrial and agro-industrial wastes to produce
cing manurial value and decreasing time. Earthworm is biofertilizers (Elvira et al. 1998; Suthar 2006; Gupta and
physically an aerator, crusher and mixer, chemically a deg- Garg 2008). It is well established that a large number of

Received: 22 April, 2009. Accepted: 14 December, 2009.

Invited Review
 Dynamic Soil, Dynamic Plant 3 (Special Issue 2), 1-12 ©2009 Global Science Books

Substrates for vermicomposting

Cattle dung Plant products City refuse Horticultural waste,

e.g. cow dung e.g. sawdust, leaf litter or agricultural residue.
buffalo dung, garbage e.g. vegetable waste,
etc. sugarcane trash, etc.

Industrial Kitchen Biogas slurry

wastes waste

Fig. 1 Different kinds of substrates utilized in vermicomposting.

organic wastes can be ingested by earthworms and egested methods (Tripathi and Bhardwaj 2004). Certain epigeic
as peat like material termed as the vermicast. The vermicast earthworm species such as Eisenia foetida, Perionyx exca-
is much more fragmented, porous and microbially active vatus and Eudrilus eugeniae are voracious feeders of orga-
than parent material (Edwards and Bohlen 1996a; Edwards nic wastes (Kale and Bano 1985). All aspects of the worm
et al. 1998) due to humification and increased decomposi- biology such as feeding habits, reproduction and biomass
tion. production potential must be known (Senapati et al. 1980;
Vermicomposting involves the bio-oxidation and stabi- Bouche and Ferriere 1986) in order to utilize the earth-
lization of organic material by the joint action of earth- worms successfully in vermiculture. Since the diversity of
worms and microorganisms. Although it is the microorga- earthworm species varies with different soil types and dif-
nisms that biochemically degrade the organic matter, earth- ferent agro climatic conditions, the species suited to a parti-
worms are the crucial drivers of the process, as they aerate, cular region must be identified. The present paper reviews
condition and fragment the substrate, thereby drastically al- the current status of knowledge on biology, ecology, distri-
tering the microbial activity (Lazcano et al. 2008). Earth- bution and enemies of earthworms, vermiculture and use of
worms act as mechanical blenders and by commuting the earthworms for various applications such as vermicompost
organic matter they modify its physical and chemical status production (with and without inoculation of efficient micro
by gradually reducing the ratio of C: N and increasing the flora), bioremediation (heavy metal and agrochemical ac-
surface area exposed to microorganisms thus making it cumulation), medicinal importance and earthworm interac-
much more favourable for microbial activity and further tions with micro flora.
decomposition (Domínguez et al. 1997). Vermicompost is a
mixture of worm castings, organic material, humus, living BIOLOGY OF EARTHWORMS
earthworms, cocoons and other organisms. Vermicompost
is homogenous with desirable aesthetics plant growth hor- The earthworms are simple, cylindrical, coelomate and seg-
mones and high levels of soil enzymes and tends to hold mented animals. They have a long, rounded body with a
more nutrients over longer periods without adverse impacts pointed head and slightly flattened posterior. They are cha-
on the environment (Ndegwa and Thompson 2001). Consi- racterized by lacking bones or cartilage. They lack any
derable amount of work has been carried out on vermicom- appendages but have a few hooks like chaetae for gaining
posting of various organic materials such as animal dung, hold on the substratum. Rings that surround the moist, soft
agricultural waste, forestry wastes, city waste, leaf litter and body allow the earthworm to twist and turn. With no true
food wastes (Hand et al. 1988; Logsdon 1994; Singh and legs, bristles (setae) on the body move back and forth,
Sharma 2002). Similarly, industrial wastes such as guar allowing the earthworm to crawl. The cavity between the
gum, paper pulp and distillery wastes have been vermicom- internal organs and dermal layer is filled with the coelomic
posted and turned into nutrient rich manure (Sundaravadivel fluid. The pressure of this fluid against the dermal layer
and Ismail 1995; Suthar 2006, 2007a). Different kinds of gives the worm its shape (Ravindran et al. 2008).
substrate which can be utilized for vermicomposting pro- Earthworms vary greatly in size though not in shape. In
cess are summarized in Fig. 1. Vermicomposting is not India some peregrine species like Microscolex phosphoreus
fully adopted on the industrial scale (Domínguez et al. (Duges), Dichogester saliens (Beddard) and Bimastos par-
1997) since the temperature is always in the mesophilic vus (Eisen) are even less than 20 mm long (Bano et al.
range, pathogen removal is not ensured, although some 1987) while some endemic geophagous forms such as Dra-
studies have provided evidence of suppression of pathogens wida nilamburensis (Bourne) and D. grandis may reach up
(Monroy et al. 2008). to 1 m in length. The world’s largest known worm Micro-
Vermicomposting is defined as a low cost technology chaetus microchaetus (Rapp), found in South Africa, has
system for processing or treatment of organic waste (Hand length of about 7 m. Earthworm occurs in diverse habitats.
et al. 1988b). Vermicomposting decomposes organic mate- Organic materials are highly attractive for some species.
rials through the joint action of earthworms and microor- They all are also found in very hydrophilic environments
ganisms that inhabit gut or composting substrates. The rapid close to both fresh and brackish waters. Some species can
transformation in physicochemical and biochemical proper- survive under snow and few are arboreal inhabiting ac-
ties makes vermicomposting suitable for management of in- cumulated detritus in the axils of banana, palm and bamboo
dustrial wastes (Garg et al. 2006; Vivas et al. 2009). Epi- trees.
geic form of earthworms can hasten the composting process Earthworms are hermaphrodites, which mean they have
to a significant extent (Kale et al. 1982; Tomati et al. 1983; both male and female sex organs, but they require another
Senapati 1988), with the production of better quality of worm to mate. The sexually mature worms have a distinc-
compost, compared with those prepared through traditional tive epidermal ring shaped area called clitellum which has

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 Earthworms and vermitechnology. Sharma et al.

gland cells that secrete material to form cocoons. The wide centipedes, nematodes, fly larvae, termites, springtails,
band (clitellum) that surrounds a mature breeding earth- snails, slugs, millipedes, spiders, birds, rats, mice, moles,
worm secretes mucus (albumin) after mating. Sperm from gophers, toads and snakes (Edwards and Lofty 1977; Ed-
another worm is stored in sacs. As the mucus slides over the wards 2004). A wide variety of parasitic and pathogenic or-
worm, it encases the sperm and eggs inside. After slipping ganisms have been reported from earthworms. These in-
free from the worm, both ends seal, forming a lemon-shape clude bacteria, fungi, protozoa, platyhelmenthes, nematodes
cocoon approximately 31 cm long. The three layered wall and diptera larvae. Birds, moles, shrew are major consu-
of cocoons is secreted by a type of cliteller gland cell con- mers of earthworm. Moles feed largely on worms, the latter
taining large granules. It contains protein and a chitinoid constitute of 100% of their diet in winter and 50% in sum-
material (Needham 1969). Because of presence of chitin, mer. They store worms in their burrows in paralysed condi-
initially formed colourless cocoon darkens with exposure to tions by cutting off their few anterior segments (Macdonald
air. Two or more baby worms will hatch from one end of 1976). Mites, beetles, centipede feed on and destroy deve-
the cocoon. Cocoon production starts at the age of 6 weeks loping earthworm and their cocoons (Edwards and Bohlen
and continues till the end of 6 months, the incubation period 1996). A carnivorous earthworm Agastrodrilus sp. repor-
of a cocoon is roughly about 3-5 weeks and in temperate tedly feeds upon other earthworms. Bengston et al. (1976)
worms it ranges between 3-30 weeks and in tropical worms recorded that the predations of golden plover (Pluvialus
1-8 weeks. The incubation period varies from species to apricaria) on worms in a hay field in Iceland brought down
species. It may be 14-30 days for some Indian species as the prey population to less than 50% when grass cover was
compared to 8-30 days in European species. Baby worms short.
are 1.27 to 2.54 cm long and whitish to almost transparent
in color. The red worms take 4 to 6 weeks to become sexu- ECOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTION OF
ally mature. Reproduction and cocoon production is pos- EARTHWORMS
sible throughout the year, although maximum cocoon
production by Indian species of worms in pasture soils has Earthworms are burrowing animals and form tunnels by
been recorded in late October and early November (Sena- literally eating their way through the soil. The distribution
pati and Julka 1993). The gut of the earthworm is inhabited of earthworms in soil depends on factors like soil texture
by millions of microbial decomposers. A wide range of and aeration, temperature, moisture, availability of organic
microorganisms including bacteria, algae, fungi, protozoa, matter, pH of the soil, dung and litter. The reproductive
actinomycetes, fungi and even nematodes are found com- potential and dispersive power of the species are important.
monly throughout the length of earthworm gut. Doube and Organic materials like humus, cattle dung and kitchen
Brown (1998) reported more than 50 species of bacteria wastes are highly attractive sites for some species. Earth-
from the earthworm gut. The species of microbes in the gut worms are generally absent or rare in soil with a very coarse
are usually very similar to those in surrounding soil or or- texture, and high clay content, or soil with pH < 4 (Gunathi-
ganic matter upon which the earthworms feed (Edwards et lagaraj 1996). They are very sensitive to touch, light and
al. 1985). The digestive system of earthworm consists of a dryness. Water-logging in the soil can cause them to come
pharynx, oesophagus and gizzard followed by intestine. The to the surface. Worms can tolerate a temperature range be-
anterior intestine secretes enzymes and posterior intestine tween 5 to 29°C. A temperature of 20 to 25°C and moisture
absorbs nutrients during progress through digestive system. of 50–60% is optimum for earthworm function (Hand 1988).
There is a dramatic increase in number of microorganisms Earthworms are very sensitive to hydrogen ion concentra-
of up to 1000 times (Edwards and Fletcher 1988). Earth- tion. Many species of earthworms prefer soils with a pH of
worms have ‘chemoreceptor’ which aid in search of food. about 7. However, some like Lumbricus terrestris occurs in
The main activity of earthworm involves the ingestion of soil with a pH of 5.4 whereas Megascolex thrives well in
soil, mixing of different soil components and production of soils with a pH ranging from 4.5 to 4.7. E. foetida domi-
surface or subsurface castings. Within 24 hrs they can pass nates in the soils of pH 7 to 8. Some genera like Dendro-
soil/organic material almost equivalent to their own weight baena exatedra and D. rutrida are acid tolerant species and
through alimentary canal. The annual worm cast production Allolobophora caliginosa, A. nocturna, A. longa and A.
has been estimated to be between 1.4 and 77.8 tonnes/ha at rosea are acid intolerant species. The temperate soils have
some Indian sites (Garg and Kaushik 2005). The largest higher percentage of earthworms which feed directly on
quantities of 2100-2600 tonnes/ha have been reported in organic matter and lower percentage of humus feeders. The
Africa (Edwards and Lofty 1977). The style and shape of Lumbricids and P. posthuma distributed all over the world
the released cast vary with species to species; however, it are called peregrine.
can not be taken as criteria for identifying the worms. Lam- Earthworms are invertebrates. There are nearly 3600
pito mauritii deposits granular casts on the soil surface types of earthworms in the world and they are mainly div-
whereas the cast released by Pontoscolex corethrurus and ided into two types: (1) burrowing (2) non-burrowing. The
Polyphretima elongata are thick and sticky mounds. The burrowing types are P. elongata and P. asiatica live deep in
largest cast of Pheretima species in northern Thailand was the soil. On the other hand, the non-burrowing types E. foe-
reported to be 35 cm in height, 5 cm in diameter and tida and E. eugeniae live in the upper layer of soil surface.
weighed 975 g (Masciandaro and Garcia 2002). Surface The burrowing types are pale, 20 to 30 cm long and live for
castings released by P. excavatus and E. eugeniae are thin 15 years. The non-burrowing types are red or purple and 10
and loose granular on soil surface. to 15 cm long but their life span is only 28 months. The
Earthworm’s body contains 65% protein (70–80% non-burrowing earthworms eat 10% soil and 90% organic
high quality ‘lysine-rich protein’ on a dry weight basis), waste materials. They convert the organic waste into vermi-
14% fats, 14% carbohydrates and 3% ash (Graff 1981). compost faster than the burrowing earthworms. They can
They weigh over 1400–1500 mg after 8–10 weeks. On an tolerate temperature ranging from 0 to 40°C but the regene-
average, 2000 worms weigh 1 kg and 1-2 million worms ration capacity is more at 25 to 30°C and 40–45% moisture
weigh approximately 1 tonnes (Visvanathan et al. 2005). level in the pile.
Studies on the life cycle i.e. cocoon production, morphology, According to Card et al. (2004) earthworms are clas-
hatching pattern and fecundity of several tropical species sified into anecic, endogeic and epigeic categories.
have been done by Bansal and Kapoor (2002). Earthworms Anecic (Greek for “out of the earth”) – These are bur-
form a major component of soil biota and they together rowing worms that come to the surface at night to drag food
with a large number of other organisms constitute the soil down into their permanent burrows deep within the mineral
community. The type and amount of organic substrate avail- layers of the soil. They have long life cycle and are large in
able influence the size of earthworms, population, species, body size slightly pigmented at anterior and posterior ends.
diversity, growth rate and cocoon production. They are phytophagous in nature, e.g. L. terrestris.
The earthworm has many enemies, including mites, ants, Endogeic (Greek for “within the earth”) – These are

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 Dynamic Soil, Dynamic Plant 3 (Special Issue 2), 1-12 ©2009 Global Science Books

also burrowing worms but their burrows are typically more own activity influence their growth and fecundity (Neuhau-
shallow and they feed on the organic matter already in the ser et al. 1989).
soil, so they come to the surface only rarely. They have Culturing of earthworms is done indoors in humid
intermediate life cycles with limited regenerative capacity places with proper shelter to avoid direct sunlight or heavy
and small to large in body size. They are geophagous, e.g. down pour (Kale and Bano 1985). Earthworms can be cul-
Metaphire posthuma and Octochaetona thurstoni. tured in wooden boxes, cement tanks, plastic trays or ear-
Epigeic (Greek for “upon the earth”) – These worms then pots with small holes at the bottom for discharge of ex-
live in the surface litter and feed on decaying organic matter. cessive water to prevent water-logging and with a capacity
They do not have permanent burrows. They are phytopha- to accommodate from 100 to 500 worms over a period of 6
gous, very small in size, very active and have high regene- to 8 weeks. At the bottom of the bed about 3–4 cm of moist
rative capacity within a short period of time. Normally they coconut coir waste or saw dust is placed. Above that about
are richly pigmented worms. These “decomposers” are the 5–6 cm of cattle dung or poultry droppings or any other
type of worm used in vermicomposting. The commonly organic material is placed as feed material. The worms feed
employed species in vermicomposting are E. foetida, E. on partially degraded cattle dung and this allows a smooth
eugeniae and P. excavatus. transition to other organic waste subsequently placed on top.
Water is regularly sprinkled to maintain the moisture con-
VERMICULTURING tent. The container is kept covered, preferably with a moist
jute bag. This provides darkness for the worms and protects
It is not very difficult to raise and maintain earthworms. them from predators. It also retains moisture, maintains sta-
They can be successfully raised in small containers filled bility of temperature of the immediate environment, and
with the suitable food material (organic material). The rainy also allows sufficient aeration. After the waste is degraded
season seems to be best for culturing them. Sufficient mois- and converted into a loose, black, granular mass, the worms
ture and adequate organic residues are considered ideal for start aggregating at the base of the container. The upper
growth and multiplication. Within a period of about twelve layer of odourless compost is then removed and dried in the
months, under suitable conditions the multiplication may be shade.
50 times greater. Vermiculture (derived from the Latin ver- Earthworms feed on nitrogen rich organic wastes. They
mis meaning worm) involves the mass production of earth- feed easily on partially degraded materials like cattle dung,
worms for waste degradation, and composting with ‘vermi- primarily acted upon by microbes. The various categories of
cast’ production. Earthworms feed on organic matter and wastes are very effectively degraded and managed by the
utilize only a small amount for their body synthesis and ex- earthworms. These include kitchen wastes, garden waste,
crete a large part of the consumed materials in a partially dairy farm wastes, sugar mill residues (pressed mud-cake,
digested form as worm casts. The process involves physi- spoiled bagasse and trash), slaughterhouse wastes (residues
cal/mechanical and biochemical activities. The physical and such as the flesh, feathers and blood), distillery and hat-
mechanical process includes mixing and grinding, whereas chery wastes, municipal waste (all organic residues in
biochemical process includes microbial decomposition in municipal wastes including garbage and sewage sludge), etc.
the intestines of the earthworms. Feeding is required every
3–5 days in vigorously growing worm beds, with an opti- VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF EARTHWORMS
mal daily feeding rate of 0.75 kg feed/kg worm/day. Over-
feeding must be avoided as it can lead to excessive fermen- Organic manure and other agriculture organic wastes are
tation in the bed and cause the worms to shrink and eventu- important sources for maintenance of soil organic matter
ally die. In addition, overfeeding can attract mites, which and to sustain soil productivity. In intensive livestock far-
compete with worms for food (Ndegwa et al. 1999). In ming, there is a huge amount of animal excreta being gene-
vermiculturing and vermicomposting processes a leachate rated. Proper utilization of these wastes can improve soil
commonly known as vermiwash is obtained as a result of physical condition and environmental quality besides provi-
the constant application of water to maintain the substrate ding the nutrients for the plants (Mishra et al. 1989; Bhard-
moisture in the range of 65–70%. The chemical composi- waj 1995; Sharma et al. 2005). Earthworms have been
tion of this leachate depends mainly on the chemical com- extensively used in the stabilization of urban, industrial and
position of the substrates used in vermiculturing and this agricultural wastes. They can also be used in soil detoxifi-
can be used for agriculture purposes. Earthworms could be cation and vermicompost production (Gupta and Garg
raised commercially for recycling biodegradable organic 2008). Different types of earthworms such as E. foetida, E.
wastes, production of biofertilizers and animal protein for andrei, L. terrestris, P. excavatus and E. eugeniae have been
poultry and fish feed. The technology involved, in raising of used for the vermicomposting of different types of organic
earthworm is simple. It is possible to culture worms both and industrial wastes. Earthworms accelerate the transfor-
indoor and outdoor depending upon local climatic condi- mation of organic waste material into more stabilized form
tions. Vermiculturing is feasible in suitable containers. A by aeration and bioturvation, by their excreta and qualita-
mixture of 1/3 soil and 2/3 organic matter is considered to tive or quantitative influence upon the telluric microflora
be more useful in culture containers (Reynolds 1977). Kale (Suthar 2007b). The utility of epigeic earthworms for suc-
(1986) carried out trials of various mixtures of organic cessful degradation of organic wastes is well documented
matters to study the dietary influence on biomass and size for different industries such as paper and pulp (Elvira et al.
of population E. eugeniae. Young worms fed upon a feed 1997, 1998), dairy (Gratelly et al. 1996), sugar processing
combination of cow dung and gram gained maximum popu- (Kale 1998; Reddy and Shantaram 2005), winery and dis-
lation and dry weight bran. Various combinations of soil tillery (Nogales et al. 2005), wood and wood chips (Ma-
and organic matter have been tried for raising worms. The boeta and Van Rensburg 2003), textile mills (Kaushik and
common organic substrates are decayed leaves, hay, straw, Garg 2004; Garg and Kaushik 2005), oil (Benitez et al.
rice, wheat bran, cow dung, vegetable waste, poultry drop- 2004) and power (fly ash) (Gupta et al. 2005). Muthukuma-
pings, biogas, sludge etc. Indoors cultures are kept prefer- ravel et al. (2008) studied the role of Megascolex mauritii
ably in cool building at temperature between 10 to 15°C for in composting of vegetable waste along with cow dung and
E. foetida and 20°C for tropical species i.e. E. eugeniae and found encouraging results. However, compared to thermal
P. excavatus. Within a period of one year, if the cultures are composting, vermicomposting with earthworms often pro-
properly maintained, the multiplication may be more than duces a product with a lower mass, lower processing time,
fifty times. First step in vermiculture is to select suitable humus content and more N content greater fertilizer value.
feed material for earthworms. The nature of food and its Moreover vermicomposting also generates additional earth-
availability and other physical parameters like temperature, worms which can have other uses.
light and moisture content, biological parameters like den- Therefore, vermicomposting seems to be more appro-
sity, pressure, environmental conditions created by their priate and an efficient technology to convert different types

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 Earthworms and vermitechnology. Sharma et al.

Organic waste Vermibed Earthworms Use in

bioremediation

Vermicompst i.e. decomposed

Vermiwash
organic matter, castings

Wasteland remediation
Foliar spray

Plant growth

Protein for pigs, fish Aquaculture Medicinal use Poultry

Fig. 2 Recycling of organic waste through vermitechnology.

of organic waste in to a valuable community resource at low biomass to body proteins so that their growth rates are high.
input basis. Vermicompost application also suppresses the They should have wide adaptability to environmental fac-
growth of many fungi, like Pythium, Rhizoctonia and Verti- tors (varying temperature conditions) and tolerance to dis-
cillium, etc. causing many diseases in plants (Hoitink and ease, produce large number of cocoons, also cocoons should
Fahy 1986). Sometimes it also controls the population of not have long hatching time so that multiplication and
plant parasitic nematodes (Johnston et al. 1995; Arancon et organic matter conversion is fast (Purohit and Gehlot 2006).
al. 2006). Muscolo et al. (1999) have reported that vermi- The rate of decomposition depends on the type of the
compost exhibits similar effects on growth and yield of waste material. If physical conditions are suitable then the
plants as shown by soil-applied inorganic fertilizers or plant number of earthworm’s increase until the food becomes a
growth regulators or hormones. limiting factor. It is generally known that the epigeic spe-
cies E. eugeniae, P. excavatus and E. foetida have a poten-
Role of earthworms in vermicomposting tial as waste decomposers (Kale et al. 1982). Presently,
California red hybrid E. foetida with a high production
During vermicomposting, earthworms eat, grind, and digest capacity and efficient processing of a wide range of organic
organic wastes with the help of aerobic and some anaerobic materials is the main source for industrial vermicultural
micro flora, converting them into a much finer, humified, forms. At the same time, several other species apart from E.
and microbially active material (Fig. 2). The generated pro- foetida (Dendrobaena veneta Rosa, E. eugeniae Kinberg,
duct is stable and homogeneous, having desirable aesthetics Drawida willsi Michaelsen, L. mauritii Kinberg, and P.
such as reduced levels of contaminants (Ndegwa and excavatus Perrier) applicable for vermiculture have been
Thompson 2001). found. Extending the range of species and search for new
Environmental pollution problems originating from earthworm forms with valuable technological properties is
municipal solid waste (MSW) call for more sustainable substantiated by a relatively narrow temperature and humi-
waste management systems (Nass et al 1993). Solid waste dity limits where E. foetida and other industrial species can
is defined as the organic and inorganic waste materials pro- maintain high activity (Barne and Striganova 2004). Earth-
duced by different sources and have lost value in the eye of worms of different species and ecological categories differ
their owner (Aalok et al. 2008). It has been estimated that greatly in their ability to digest various organic residues.
India, as a whole, generates as much as 25 million tones of Several epigeic (E. foetida, E. andrei, E. eugeniae, P. exca-
urban solid waste of diverse composition per year but per vatus and P. sansibaricus) and few anecic earthworms (L.
capita waste production in India is minisculous compared to mauritii and L. terrestris) have been identified as potential
the per capita production of wastes in the industrialized candidates to decompose organic waste materials (Garg and
countries. It is estimated that the per capita waste generated Kaushik 2005; Suthar 2007). As compared to epigeics, ane-
in India is about 0.4 kg/day with the compostable matter cic (those that build semi-permanent vertical burrows in the
approximately 50-60%. Management of solid waste has substrate) earthworms show somewhat different patterns of
become one of the biggest problems we are facing today. biological activity in substrates, mainly due to their burrow-
The rapid increase in the volume of waste is one aspect of ing activity.
the environmental crisis, accompanying recent global deve-
lopment. Most common practices of waste processing are 2. Genetic diversity of microbes in vermicomposting
uncontrolled dumping which causes mainly water and soil
pollution. Besides dumping or sanitary land filling, the final In composting process, the importance of microbial com-
disposal of solid waste can be carried out by other methods munities is well established (Ryckeboer et al. 2003). The
like incineration and composting. Earthworm farming (ver- contribution of different microorganisms to various com-
miculture) is another bio-technique for converting the solid post production phases have recently confirmed by using
organic waste into compost (Ranganathan and Vinotha novel cultivation-independent techniques based on the
1998). direct analyses of phospholipids fatty acids (Vinceslas and
Loquest 1997), quinolines (Tang et al. 2004), or the analy-
1. Characteristics of earthworm species suitable for ses of rRNA genes encoding for the small subunit ribosomal
vermicomposting RNA (for bacteria, 16S rRNA) (Dees and Ghiorse 2001;
Tebbe 2002). The vermicompost has been found to be
The worm species to be utilized for vermicomposting mainly colonized by bacteria from the phyla Chloroflexi,
should have high consumption, digestion, and assimilation Bacteroidetes and Gemmatimonadetes. In addition bacteria
rate. They should be efficient converter of plant or animal from the subclass Alphaproteobacteria and the phylum

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 Dynamic Soil, Dynamic Plant 3 (Special Issue 2), 1-12 ©2009 Global Science Books

Table 1 Earthworm species used for variety of substrate stabilization.

Earthworm species Substrate Reported by
Eudrilus eugeniae Sago sludge Banu et al. 2008
Lumbricus terrestris Solid paper mill sludge Butt 1990
Eisenia andrei Paper-pulp mill sludge + primary sewage sludge Elvira et al. 1996
Eisenia foetida Textile mill sludge + cow dung and agricultural residues Kaushik and Garg 2004
E. foetida Aquaculture effluent sludge Marsh et al. 2004
E. foetida Livestock excreta Garg et al. 2006
Perionyx excavatus, Perionyx sansibaricus Cattle waste solids Suthar 2008
E. foetida Woodchip and sewage sludge Maboeta and Rensburg 2003
Eudrilus eugeniae Sago-sludge Banu et al. 2008
E. foetida Sugar mill sludge (press mud) Sangwan et al. 2008
E. foetida Sewage sludge Vigueros et al. 2002
E. foetida Fly ash Gupta et al. 2005
E. foetida Solid Waste (leather industries) Ravindran et al. 2008
E. foetida, E. andrei Spent mushroom compost Tajbakhsh et al. 2006
Lumbricus rubellus Coffee waste and kitchen waste Adi and Noor 2009
E. foetida Coffee pulp Orozco et al. 2004
E. foetida Biosolids (textile industries) Contreras et al. 2005

Table 2 Composition of nutrient elements of vermicompost (Arancon et al. 2005).

Type of compost N P K B Ca Fe Mg Mn Na S Zn
(%) (%) (%) (μg/g) (μg/g) (μg/g) (μg/g) (μg/g) (μg/g) (μg/g) (μg/g)
Food waste vermicompost 1.3 2.7 9.2 23 18614 23264 4364 610 842 2587 279
Cow manure vermicompost 1.9 4.7 1.4 58 23245 3454 5802 160 3360 5524 516
Paper waste vermicompost 1.0 1.4 6.2 31 9214 17811 7661 447 613 1929 127
Biosolids compost 1.7 1.8 6.4 33 27965 7714 7185 364 930.0 6291 1281
Yard waste compost 0.5 1.8 6.6 50 89207 9031 21229 324 121 2860 120

Acidobacteria have been detected in vermicompost. The tion of Salmonella spp., faecal coliform, Shigella spp. and
most striking difference between compost and vermicom- helminthes eggs. Bacterial communities and chitinase gene
post was that the 16S rRNA sequences from vermicompost diversity of vermicompost were investigated by Yasir et al.
were mainly related to yet-uncultured bacteria (83% of 23 (2009) to clarify the influence of earthworms on the inhib-
sequences), whereas for the compost, this percentage was ition of plant pathogenic fungi in vermicompost. The spore
much lower (24%). Quantitatively higher diversity of mic- germination of Fusarium moniliforme was reduced in ver-
robes detected in vermicompost probably correlates well micompost aqueous extracts prepared from paper sludge
with a higher functional diversity that is caused by earth- and dairy sludge.
worm activities, i.e. digging and feeding. These perturba-
tions modify the physico-chemical conditions and increase 4. Characteristics of vermicompost
the number of microhabitats during the vermicompost pro-
cess (Dominguez et al. 1997). Bacterial diversity measure- The quality of composts depends on several factors viz. type
ments can only be acceptable indicators for a product qua- of substrate (organic residues), aeration, humidity, pH, tem-
lity in the future if the bacterial communities developing in perature, and the earthworm species used during vermicom-
the same products are consistent and stable during subse- posting. Some workers have reported higher content of
quent storage of the materials until use (Fracchia and Dohr- NPK and micronutrients in vermicompost (Jambhekar 1992;
mann 2006). Ramanathan and Parthasarthi 1999; Bansal and Kapoor
2000), while some have reported similar nutrient content in
3. Vermicomposting of various types of substrates the vermicompost and ordinary compost (Nedgwa and
Thompson 2001). The vermicompost has been reported
Disposal of industrial sludge by environmentally acceptable with a higher base exchange capacity and is rich in total
means poses a very great challenge worldwide. Vermistabi- organic matter, phosphorus, potassium and other nutrients.
lization of different types of solid wastes including sludge It is also known to enhance the degree of polymerisation of
can be achieved by using epigeic earthworms in the com- humic substances along with a decrease of ammonium N
posting process with production of a better quality of com- and increase of nitric N and total nitrogen (Bansal and
post as compared with those prepared through traditional Kapoor 2000).
composting methods (Neuhauser et al. 1988; Elvira et al. Table 2 shows the composition of nutrient elements of
1998; Masciandaro et al. 2002; Adi and Noor 2009). Suthar vermicomposts generated from different substrates. Liming
and Sushma (2008) stabilized the distillery industry sludge in vermicompost generally enhance microbial population as
by mixing it with cow dung in different proportions which well as earthworm activities.
resulted in decrease in pH, organic C contents, and an in- Earthworms consume various organic wastes and
crease in total N, available P, exchangeable K, Ca and Mg reduce the volume by 40–60%. The castings produced by
contents. Suthar (2009) amended vegetable solid waste with the earthworms have been analyzed for chemical and biolo-
wheat straw, cow dung and biogas slurry converted them in gical properties. The moisture content of castings ranges
to vermicompost using earthworm E. foetida. The vermi- between 32 and 66% and the pH is around 7.0. The worm
composting caused a decrease in organic C and C: N ratio, castings have been reported to contain higher percentage
while increase in total N, available P, and exchangeable K (nearly two fold) of both macro and micronutrients than the
contents. Different types of organic waste vermicomposted garden compost. Nutrient composition of vermicompost and
by various species of earthworm are given in Table 1. Mit- garden compost are shown in Table 3.
chell (1978) demonstrated that aerobic sewage sludge can The greater nitrate availability in casts than the soil may
be ingested by E. foetida and the sludge is decomposed and be due to the mineralization of relatively nitrogen rich
stabilized about 3 times faster than non-ingested sludge. lucerne mixed in to the casts followed by the subsequent
Contreras-Ramos et al. (2005) reported that vermicom- nitrification of the released ammonia (Hoitink and Fay
posting of sewage sludge with E. foetida resulted in reduc- 1986). The vermicompost contains humified organic matter

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 Earthworms and vermitechnology. Sharma et al.

Table 3 Nutrient composition of vermicompost and garden compost earthworms also reduces ‘soil salinity’ and neutralizes pH
(Nagavallemma et al. 2004). of soil (Sinha et al. 2008). Application of vermicompost
Nutrient element Vermicompost (%) Garden compost (%) increases the total microbial population of N-fixing bacteria
Organic carbon 9.8-13.4 12.2 and actinomycetes (Alam et al. 2007)
Nitrogen 0.51-1.61 0.8 Vermi-castings of earthworms containing enzymes like
Phosphorus 0.19-1.02 0.35 amylase, lipase, cellulase and chitinase etc which continue
Potassium 0.15-0.73 0.48 to break down organic matter in the soil to release the nut-
Calcium 1.18-7.61 2.27 rients and make it available to the plant roots, even after
Magnesium 0.093-0.568 0.57 they have been excreted (Sinha et al. 2002). Benitez et al.
Sodium 0.058-0.158 <0.01 (2004) reported the presence of -glucosidase, phosphatase
Zinc 0.0042-0.110 0.0012 and urease from lignocellulytic vermicompost. Several ex-
Copper 0.0026-0.0048 0.0017 periments have demonstrated that vermicompost contains
Iron 0.2050-1.3313 1.1690 plant growth regulating materials including plant growth
Manganese 0.0105-0.2038 0.0414 hormones and humic acids which are probably responsible
for the increased germination, growth and yields of plants
Table 4 Physio-chemical characteristics of vermiwash (Purohit and Geh- (Atiyeh et al. 2002, 2006b, 2005, 2008). Vermicomposting
lot 2006). increases humic acids content and acid phosphatase activity
Parameter Conc. (ppm) in organic substrates and microbial inoculation further en-
pH 6.90
hances the rate of humification and enzyme activity (Pra-
Dissolved oxygen 1.14
manik et al. 2009). Bachman and Metzger (2008) reported
Chloride 110.00
enhanced shoot and root weight, leaf area, and shoot:root
Alkalinity 70.00
ratios of both tomato and marigold when they incorporated
Sulphates 177.00
of vermicompost of pig manure into germination media.
Inorganic phosphate 50.9
Ammonical nitrogen Below detectable limit
Role of earthworms in bioremediation
Potassium 69.00
Sodium 122.00
Modern agricultural practices have resulted in an increasing
Total hardness 375.00
impact on environment, causing a serious decline in the
Calcium hardness 175.00
natural resources. The land bioreclamation deals with pro-
Magnesium hardness 200.00
cesses related to the action of living organisms. The bio-
BOD 4.60
logical methods in land reclamation improve fertility on a
COD 97.00
sustainable basis.
Earthworms in general are tolerant to many chemical
contaminants including heavy metals and organic pollutants
in soil and can bio-accumulate them in their tissues. Earth-
characterized by high molecular weight and an enzyme worms species like E. foetida, E. tetraedra, L. terrestris, L.
catalysed humic fraction which stimulates plant germina- rubellus and A. chlorotica have been found to remove heavy
tion and growth (Macay and Gregg 1986). The fertilizer metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Hg, etc.) pesticides and lipophilic
value of earthworm castings and beneficial effects on crops organic micropollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocar-
have been attributed to the presence of active mineral nut- bons (PAH) from the soil (Sinha et al. 2008). Vermireme-
rients (Edwards 1988) and plant growth regulators with diation may prove to be a very cost-effective and environ-
phytohormonal action. Humic substances have been found mentally acceptable way to treat polluted soils and sites
to possess phytohormonal properties which influence both contaminated with different types of pollutants.
growth of roots and shoots (Suthar 2007c).
1. Heavy metal
5. Vermiwash
Heavy metal in the sewage sludge is of great concern to the
Vermiwash is a transparent pale yellow liquid biofertilizer. public health. Heavy metals are those metals that have den-
It is a mixture of excretory products and mucous secretion sity > 5-6 g/cm3 (Wild 1993). The heavy metal content in
of earthworms (e.g. L. mauritii and E. foetida) and plant the sewage sludge depends greatly on the type of industry.
micronutrients. It may be promoted as a potent biofertilizer In general municipal sludge is high in Al, Fe, Zn, Cu and Cr
for better growth and yield of plants. Vermiwash is found to content. Certain species of earthworms such as E. foetida,
contain a number of enzymes viz. proteases, amylase, ure- Aporrectodea tuberculata, L. terrestris, L. rubellus, Dendr-
ase and phosphatase (Zambare et al. 2008), soluble plant obaena rubida, D. veneta, Eiseniella tetraedra and A. chlo-
nutrients (Table 4), organic acids and mucus of earthworms rotica have been found to remove heavy metals, pesticides
and microbes (Shivsubramanian and Ganeshkumar 2004). It and lipophilic organic micro pollutants like polycyclic aro-
has been found to be very effective on several plant species matic hydrocarbons (PAH) from the soil (Contreras-Ramos
such as spinach (Spinacia oleracea), onion (Allium cepa) et al. 2005). Malley et al. (2006) measured bioaccumulation
and potato (Solanum tuberosum) (Ansari 2008), and hence of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in E. foetida after 10 weeks of
can be used as foliar spray, biofertilizer and biopesticide. If experiment.
need be vermiwash may be mixed with cow’s urine and It is well known that earthworm can raise the level of
diluted (1 l of vermiwash, 1 l of cow’s urine and 8 l of plant nutrient availability (Tripathi and Bhardwaj 2004) as
water) and sprayed on plants to function as an effective well as pH in the soil (Salmon 2001; Cheng and Wong
foliar spray and pesticide. It has also been found to develop 2002) which may lead to less availability of heavy metals.
resistance in crops. Gulsar and IIyer (2006) have found As a consequence, earthworm community is important in
nematicidal effect of vermiwash on plants. reducing soluble and mobile forms of heavy metals in soils.
Some species of earthworms are known to be potential
Role of earthworm in improving soil fertility accumulators of heavy metals and therefore they have been
successfully demonstrated in mitigating the toxicity of in-
Earthworms play an important role in improving soil ferti- dustrial and municipal waste by vermicomposting techno-
lity. They promote soil fragmentation and aeration and bring logy (Saxena et al. 1998). Native species are also well
about soil turning and dispersion. Earthworms host millions adapted to local conditions (Goswami and Kalita 2000). L.
of beneficial microbes (including the nitrogen fixers) in mauritii is well equipped to metabolize electrophilic xeno-
their gut and excrete them in soil along with nutrients N and biotics and thus get easily adapted to metal (Pb and Zn)
P in their excreta (Singleton et al. 2003). The presence of stressed environment. Elvira et al. (1996) studied the effici-

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 Dynamic Soil, Dynamic Plant 3 (Special Issue 2), 1-12 ©2009 Global Science Books

ency of E. andrei in bio-converting paper–pulp mill sludge 4. Press mud

mixed with primary sewage sludge. Earthworms L. terres-
tris and E. foetida were shown to induce higher microbial Press mud has significant fertilizer value as it is a rich
activity and oil degradation (Schaefer et al. 2005). In ad- source of organic matter, organic carbon, sugar, protein, en-
dition, the earthworm E. foetida has been used as a test or- zymes, macronutrients (N, P and K), micronutrients (Zn, Fe,
ganism for different contaminants. Several reports indicate Cu, Mn, etc.) and microbes (Ranganathan and Parthasarathi
that E. foetida tolerates 1.5% crude oil while L. terrestris 1999; Sangwan et al. 2008). Although press mud has signi-
did not survive 0.5% of it (Safwat et al. 2002).The use of E ficant fertilizer value but due to prohibitive cost of sludge
foetida increases the PAH removal (Contreras-Ramos et al. disposal, it is dumped in open where it adversely affects
2006). Vermifiltration of wastewater using waste eater earth- environment. The management and nutrient recovery from
worms is a newly conceived novel technology. Earthworms’ press mud has been attempted by vermicomposting after
bodies work as a ‘biofilter’ and they have been found to mixing it with biogas plant slurry in appropriate quantities.
remove the 5 days’ BOD (BOD5) by 90%, COD by 80– Moisture plays a crucial role in vermicomposting of press
90%, total dissolved solids (TDS) by 90–92%, and total mud. More and better worm biomass, cocoon production,
suspended solids (TSS) by 90–95% from wastewater by the hatchling number and rate of compost recovery were found
general mechanism of ‘ingestion’ and biodegradation of in the 65-67% moisture (Parthasarathi 2007). The final
organic wastes, heavy metals, and solids from wastewater product was nutrient rich, odour free, more mature and sta-
and also by their ‘absorption’ through body walls (Sinha et bilized. The results showed that carbon content was de-
al. 2008). Earthworms collected from the roadsides and creased during the process and nitrogen content was en-
mining sites show higher amounts of heavy metals than hanced (Parthasarathi 1999).
those from the other sites and hence can be a ‘bioindicator’
of heavy metal contamination in soil. 5. Bioaccumulation of pesticides

2. Distillery waste Earthworms in general are highly resistant to many pesti-

cides and have been reported to concentrate the pesticides
Distillery is an important sub-unit of sugar production in- and heavy metals in their tissues. They also inhibit the soil
dustry. Studies have revealed that vermicomposting could borne pathogens and work as a detoxifying agent for pol-
be an appropriate technology to convert energy rich organic luted soil (Davis 1971; Ireland 1983). Earthworms can re-
wastes to value-added products. It has been demonstrated move hydrocarbons and many other chemicals from conta-
that E. eugeniae can breakdown the waste generated from minated soil, even benzo(a)pyrene, which is a PAH very
distilleries when mixed with other potting materials (Elvira resistant to degradation (Contreras-Ramos et al. 2006). A
et al. 1998; Kale 1998; Suthar 2006). Appreciable results study showed that after only one application of the rela-
during vermicomposting of distillery sludge mixed with tively persistent pesticide aldrin to soil, more than 34% was
press mud, water hyacinth, plant litter, and cow dung in dif- found to be present in the soil 5 years later. Several studies
ferent proportions have been reported (Suthar 2006). have revealed that earthworms can either accumulate or
degrade ‘organochlorine pesticide’ and ‘polycyclic aromatic
3. Fly ash hydrocarbons’ (PAHs) residues in the medium in which
they feed (Ireland 1983). Sinha et al. (2008a) showed that,
Fly ash is the fine residue captured from flue exhausts when nearly 80% (60–65% if the dilution factor is taken into ac-
coal is burnt in power stations. With the consistently increa- count) of seven important PAHs were removed in just 12
sing number of coal-fired plants, the large-scale generation weeks with a loading rate of about 50 worms per kg of soil.
of fly ash is creating acute waste disposal problems in dif- Vermiremediation leads to significant improvement in the
ferent parts of the world. To overcome this, various possible quality of soil and land where they inhabit. During the ver-
methods for the safe disposal and reuse of fly ash have been miremediation process of soil, the population of earth-
envisaged by different researchers, of which the composting worms increases significantly benefiting the soil in several
process has received a particular interest (Bhattacharya and ways.
Chattopadhyay 2002; Venkatesh and Eevera 2008). More-
over, co-composting of sewage sludge and coal fly ash has Earthworm as a source of protein for poultry and
been an effective way to transform the fly ash into nutrient- fish feed
rich product (Fang et al. 1999). However, as the availability
of many nutrients is very low in fly ash, available ranges of Earthworms rich in protein can be used to feed chickens,
such nutrients must be improved to increase the effective- pigs, rabbits, and as a dietary supplement for aquarium fish
ness of fly ash as a soil amendment. Bhattacharya and Poecilia reticulata. Vermicompost is hazard free organic
Chattopadhyay (2002) used fly ash with organic matter in manure, which improves quality of pond base and overlying
the form of cow dung at 1: 3, 1: 1 and 3: 1 ratios and incu- water (Chakrabarty 2008) as well as provides organically
bated it with epigeic earthworm (E. foetida) for 50 d. Ven- produced aqua crops. Common nutrient analysis showed
katesh and Eevera (2008) mixed fly ash with cow dung at 1: that E. foetida meal has high protein content in the range of
3, 1: 1, and 3: 1 ratios and incubated with E. eugeniae for 54.6 to 71.0% dry matter. Casts of E. foetida had a protein
60 days. The concentration of macro and micronutrient was content of 7.9% dry matter, which is similar to that of corn
found to increase in the earthworm-treated series of fly ash meal and hence worm casts could be used for partial rep-
and cow dung combinations compared with the fly ash lacement of corn meal or wheat bran in animal diets. Worm
alone. The concentration of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria body fluid has been reported to be rich in protein (9.4%),
(PSB) was found to increase many fold and organic matter vitamins and minerals, particularly iron. With proper man-
transformed considerable amounts of insoluble P from fly agement of vermiculture, the worm protein can supplement
ash into more soluble forms. Also easily mineralizable fish meal and the demand for animal protein can be studied
NH4+ and NO3- tended to increase considerably in the treat- (Gurrero 1983; Kale 1986; Nandeesha et al. 1988). There
ment with earthworms (Bhattacharya 2004). Adoption of are also reports of worms being eaten by Maoris of New
vermicomposting technology, which involves the degrada- Zealand and native of New Guinea (Edwards and Lofty
tion of organic materials with the help of earthworms, has 1977).
been found to enhance the solubility of different major nut-
rients in fly ash. In addition the increased activities of dif- Medicinal importance of earthworms
ferent microorganisms in earthworm intestines increase the
more solubility of nutrients (Bhattacharya and Chattopad- Earthworms have been used in Chinese medicine as an
hyay 2002). aphrodisiac and fertility treatment. Research is being done
on earthworms’ anti-inflammatory properties for treating

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 Earthworms and vermitechnology. Sharma et al.

arthritis and other joint ailments. Chen et al. (2007) isolated inoculation of consortium of microorganisms Aspergillus
G-90 (a glycolipoprotein mixture) and fibrinolytic enzyme niger, P. sajor-caju, Azotobacter chroococum, Trichoderma
from the tissue homogenate of earthworm E. foetida (An- harzianum not only accelerated vermicomposting of crop
nelida, Lumbricidae) which exhibited pleiotropic biological residues and farm yard manure but also enriched the quality
functions and anti-tumor activity, respectively. Earthworms of product (Singh and Sharma 2002). During the incubation
have been used as anticoagulant and N fibrinolytic medi- period the inoculated bacterial strains proliferated rapidly,
cines in East Asia for several thousands of years (Mihara et fixed nitrogen and solubilised added and native phosphate
al. 1991). According to the concepts of traditional Chinese (Kumar and Singh 2000). E fetida appears to be able to des-
medicine, earthworm is associated with the bladder, liver, troy human pathogens as well as non pathogenic microflora
lung and spleen meridians, and has salty and cold properties. (Flack and Hartenstein 1984). Preliminary studies showed
It drains liver heat and clears lung heat, and can also clear that human pathogens do not survive during vermicompos-
heat in the collateral channels (Zhang et al. 2000). Typically ting (Domínguez 1997).
earthworm is used with other herbs to treat a wide range of Vermicomposting is thus an enhanced form of compos-
conditions, ranging from spasms and convulsions to pain ting (i.e. bioaugumented composting) which is cheaper as it
relief, treatment of fevers and certain types of arthritis. It is does not require expensive physical /mechanical unit pro-
also used to treat some types of asthma and bronchitis. cess associated with traditional microbial composting pro-
Earthworm protein and its coelomic fluid were reported to cess (Hand et al. 1988a). Combining vermicomposting with
exhibit cytolytic, agglutinating, proteolytic, haemolytic, existing composting operations can also accelerate stabili-
mitogenic, tumor static and antibacterial activities (Edwards zation compared to composting alone (Ndegwa and Thomp-
and Bohlen 1996; Popovi et al. 2001; Cooper 2005). Fur- son 2001). A combination of aerobic composting and vermi-
ther extracts from the earthworm in different solvents were composting has been proved to enhance the value of final
studied in carrageenin-induced oedema and cotton pellet product (Graziano and Casalicchio 1987) and the product
granuloma in rats and showed anti-inflammatory property also met the pathogen reduction requirements (Ndegwa and
(Yegnanarayan et al. 1988). Very recently Prakash et al. Thompson 2001). Frederickson and Knight (1988) have
(2007) and Balamurugan et al. (2007) have reported the demonstrated that vermiculture and anaerobic system can
anti-ulceral, anti-oxidative and antipyretic properties of be combined to enhance organic matter stabilization. Re-
earthworm L. mauritii. Traditional medicine practitioners in cently, Frederickson et al. (1997) showed that the vermi-
Tamilnadu (India) use the earthworm, in its decoction form, composting of 2 week pre-decomposed yard waste reduced
to treat fever, stomach pain, neck pain, neural disorders and the volatile solid content significantly in 8 weeks, over the
digestive disorders (Balamurugan et al. 2007). However waste, which were not subjected to vermicompsting. To
there are no scientific data available to prove the claim of ensure that vermicomposting system operates at maximum
the traditional medicine practitioners about the medicinal efficiency, pre decomposition should be kept to minimum
effectiveness of earthworms. (Frederickson et al. 1997). Few studies have tested the in-
fluence of vermicomposts on arbuscular mycorrhiza. Kale
EARTHWORMS’ INTERACTION WITH MICRO et al. (1987) reported an increase in AMF colonization in
FLORA Salvia and Aster roots growing in a garden soil mixture
amended with vermicompost. Domínguez et al. (2002) stu-
Vermicomposting is an effective biological process for con- died the effect of the earthworm, E. andrei, on the nematode
version of agro-industry residues into a stable end product, community and on the microbial activity during the vermi-
wherein microbial activity plays an essential role. Earth- composting of two organic wastes, cow manure and sewage
worms are mainly responsible for fragmentation and condi- sludge. Nematode abundance was dramatically affected by
tioning of the substrate, increasing surface area for micro- earthworm activity.
bial activity and significantly altering biological activity of Singh and Sharma (2002) reported that earthworm
the process (Domínguez et al. 2002). However, the role of growth rate was greatest in treatment with A. flavus. Doube
earthworms in influencing the microbial community at and Brown (1992) concluded that the capability of earth-
functional and genetic level is still not well understood. worms to digest organic residues is minimal. They obtain
Researchers have evaluated the effect of gut transit on the their nutrients from the microorganisms associated with the
microbial population, biomass and enzyme activities of ingested substrate. Further it has been demonstrated that the
different organic residues (Zhang et al. 2000; Scheu et al. earthworm L. terrestris is able to alter the composition of
2002; Aira et al. 2006) and Albanell et al. (1988) showed the ingested microbiota, modifying both the bacterial and
that earthworms can modify physiology of microbial com- fungal communities of soils via casting (Egert et al. 2004).
munity and trigger enzyme activities during vermicompos- However on the other hand, there are reports stating that the
ting of pig slurry. types of microorganisms found in the castings are similar to
Earthworms are considered ecosystem engineers (La- those found in surrounding soil.
velle et al. 1997) because they affect the physicochemical
and biological properties of the soils that they inhabit CONCLUSIONS
through their activities such as casting and burrowing
(Lavelle et al. 1997). Microbial biomass and respiration are Management of solid waste has become one of the biggest
greater in earthworm casts than in the parent soil (Zhang problems we are facing today. Vermicomposting provides
and Hendrix 1995). However, microorganisms may consti- an alternative approach in waste management. A variety of
tute an important part of the diet of earthworms, which can organic solid wastes viz. domestic, animal, agro-industrial,
feed on them selectively (Edwards 2004). Some microorga- human wastes, etc. can be vermicomposted and converted
nisms are digested in their gut while others proliferate. An in to useful products, like earthworm biomass and vermi-
increase in culturable microorganisms in the gut of L. ter- compost. Earthworm biomass generated could also be of
restris and L. rubellus has been reported (Fisher et al. 1995). great importance for various applications. Mass culturing
The efficiency of vermicomposting may therefore, depend and maintaining worm cultures and trapping of wastes not
on number and types of microorganisms in the substrate only for their maintenance but also getting quality product
(Hand et al. 1988). The increase in dehydrogenase activity in form of vermicompost has a good scope as cottage in-
at the 15 day sampling indicated increased microbial acti- dustries for developing countries. Considering the potential
vity during vermicomposting of crop residue and cattle of this technology for various applications beside enriching
dung (Abbasi and Ramasamy 1999). Inoculation of nitrogen the soils and in turn increase of crop yield, there is much
fixing bacteria namely Azotobacter, Azospirillum in vermi- scope to expand vermiculture and vermicomposting in third
compost increased the contents of N and P. Enriching ver- world countries which still sustain on traditional organic
micompost with rock phosphate improved significantly the farming. Overall, the widespread use of vermitechnology
available P when inoculated with Penicillum striata. The could result in increased employment opportunity and rapid

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 Dynamic Soil, Dynamic Plant 3 (Special Issue 2), 1-12 ©2009 Global Science Books

development of the rural areas. BN (2007) Earthworm fibrinolytic enzyme: Anti-tumor activity on human
hepatoma cells in vitro and in vivo. Chinese Medical Journal 120, 898-904
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posting of biosolids with cow manure and oat straw. Biology and Fertility of
Aalok A, Tripathi AK, Soni P (2008) Vermicomposting: A better option for or- Soils 41, 190-198
ganic solid waste management. Journal of Human Ecology 24, 59-64 Contreras-Ramos SM, Contreras R, Alvarez BD (2006) Eisenia foetida in-
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