What Is Vermiculture?
Vermiculture can be defined as culture of earthworms. Earthworms are divided into two groups: humus formers and humus feeders. The first group dwells on the surface and feed on nearly 90% organic materials. They are generally darker in colour, and are also called epigeic or detritivorous earthworms. It is these worms that are generally harnessed for Vermicomposting. The second groups, the humus feeders, are burrowing worms some of which are useful in both compost preparation as well as making the soil porous. Generally the burrowers help in mixing and distributing humus through the soil.It has been proved that earthworms can degrade organic wastes speedily and efficiently. However, to increase the efficiency of Vermicomposting, care should be taken to see that worms thrive well on organic matter, breed faster adapting to moisture and climatic fluctuations. The most beneficial feature of Vermicomposting is that it eliminates foul smell of decaying organic wastes, as it is a fully aerobic system. The concept of Vermiculture became well known in the 50s of this century when facilities were set up in industrialized countries of Western Europe for the mass breeding of earthworms. Subsequently, USA, England and France conducted several experiments related to Vermiculture technology for efficient disposal of organic wastes.
