The Potential Use of Vermicompost in Orchards

Vermiculture is a biological method for processing organic waste using earthworms. It is based onthe capacity of earthworms to use as feed organic waste from various sources such as crop residuesremaining after deforestation, vegetable debris from greenhouses, but also from the field, the wasteleft after cleaning the gardens and parks, damaged fruits and vegetables. All of them are convertedinto organic fertilizer with a high content of macro-elements, micro-elements and humus. Farmers ofthe world must move towards more productive and sustainable systems to enhance the need of foodfor a growing population and to meet the climate change, said Food and Agriculture Organization ofthe United Nations (FAO). Other authors stipulates that conventional industrialized agriculture affectsthe appearance of soil, water, land, biodiversity and the services provided by an intact ecosystem. Oneway of solving this problem is Vermiculture, which transforms very well organic waste into humus andhumus liquid extract. In the process of obtaining vermicompost, the most suitable earthworm speciesare those with a fast rate of breeding and development and not very demanding regarding the nutritionalconditions. From what is known until now, the most suitable species Eisenia foetida (striped wormmanure) and Lumbricus rubellus.