CATDOLL : CATDOLL: What are the benefits of earthworms in farmland to crops?

The benefits of earthworms to crops include:

First, earthworms can loosen the soil and improve the air permeability of the soil. Earthworms live in the fields, digging holes in the soil day and night, looking for humus and crop residues in the soil, and at the same time eating the hard-to-decompose minerals in the soil. In this way, a piece of land with several earthworms will make the soil loose, improve the ventilation capacity of the soil, and benefit the growth of crop roots. Earthworms travel through the soil and dig holes. When passing through the roots of crops, they will cause some damage to the roots, but will avoid the main stem and main root. When earthworms dig holes, they will break some roots and eat when they pass through the roots of crops. But for the entire crop root, the damage is a drop in the bucket, the harm is very small, and basically no harm to crops.

Second, earthworms can increase soil nutrients and improve the fertilizer effect of soil organic matter. Earthworms feed on humus, plant residues, and silicate minerals that are difficult for microorganisms in the soil to dissolve in the deepest part of the soil. The earthworms eat them in their bodies. Through the many chemical-dissolving bacteria and active enzymes in their biological memory, they dissolve humus, animal and plant residues and minerals into a lot of trace elements that can be directly absorbed and used by plants, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium and other mineral trace elements, and metabolize them in the soil or on the ground, becoming a new source of fertilizer in the soil, which plays a great role in increasing soil organic matter.

Third, earthworms can make fertilizers and promote the growth of crop roots. Earthworms can loosen the soil texture in the soil, making the soil softer and improving its air permeability; they digest and absorb microorganisms and unconverted humus and minerals in the soil, promoting the dissolution of humus and minerals; the excrement discharged by earthworms is high-quality fertilizer, which improves the soil texture and increases fertilizer efficiency.

Earthworms are an important indicator of soil health

Earthworm feces are rich in inorganic salts such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which can increase soil organic matter and improve soil structure. They can also neutralize acidic or alkaline soils, increase phosphorus and other quick-acting components, and make the soil suitable for the growth of crops. If the earthworms disappear from the farmland, the soil health index will be very poor. This is because earthworms can not only loosen the soil, increase soil fertility, but also improve soil structure.

Earthworms are soil fertility converters and are organisms that symbolize the quality of soil. The absence of earthworms in farmland means that there is something wrong with the soil! Have you ever noticed that you haven't seen earthworms in the soil for a long time?

Earthworms breathe through their moist body walls. After a heavy rain, the ground is flooded and the rain squeezes out the oxygen in the cracks of the soil. The oxygen in the soil is reduced and the earthworms cannot breathe in the soil. In order to breathe, the earthworms come out of the ground. The activities of earthworms in the soil can loosen the soil, increase the oxygen in the soil, and facilitate the breathing and growth of the root system.

Why can't we see earthworms in farmland now?

Since the 1950s, crop fertilization has mainly relied on chemical fertilizers. As we have long focused on increasing crop yields per unit area, we have used a large amount of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides, which has caused the deterioration of soil physical and chemical properties, the decline of soil fertility, accelerated topsoil erosion, soil compaction, and the deterioration of chemical properties (soil acidification, soil salinization, loss of soil fertility, etc.), which has caused the destruction of the living environment of earthworms in the soil, leading to the reduction or extinction of earthworms. The reduction of earthworms can mean that the soil ecology is destroyed and the soil quality is reduced!

The soil cannot do without it

The roles of earthworms in the ecosystem are: consumers, decomposers and regulators.

Earthworms can break up, decompose and mix organic matter. The feeding activity of earthworms strengthens the biological process of decomposition of plant residues, and the earthworm castings rich in easily hydrolyzed nitrogen accelerate the mineralization process of surrounding litter.

The activities of earthworms can change the spatial distribution of soil organic matter, making it distributed in patches, and can mix the organic matter with mineral soil to form soil particles rich in organic matter.

Earthworms can increase the levels of available nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil. Earthworm activity can increase the concentration of mineralized nitrogen in the soil because earthworms consume a large number of soil microorganisms, accelerating the mineralization and turnover of microbial tissues.

The burrowing behavior and feeding preferences of earthworms are closely related to the characteristics of soil organic phosphorus sources. The activities of earthworms facilitate the downward movement of phosphorus, improve the patchy distribution of phosphorus in the soil, and at the same time can significantly change the state of phosphorus, such as solubility, organic phosphorus pool, and alkaline phosphatase activity, in "hot spot" areas such as earthworm castings or caves.

Effects on soil physical and chemical properties

Earthworms have a significant impact on soil structure, aggregate formation, and the physical conditions required for plant growth and nutrient absorption. Earthworms affect soil structure primarily through their excrement and pores, which promote soil aggregation and make it easier for air and water to reach plant roots.

The activities of earthworms can also affect soil pH, redox state, soil temperature and other soil regulating factors. For example, the pH value of earthworm excrement is significantly higher than that of the surrounding soil, which can play a certain regulatory role.

Effects on plants, microorganisms and other animals

Impact on plants: Earthworms have an important impact on the available nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil, can promote plant growth, and may also cause changes in chemical substances in plants, thereby affecting the interaction between plants and other organisms. They have a significant impact on the dispersal and burial of plant seeds, as well as the recovery and spatial distribution of plant seedlings.

Impact on microorganisms: In the soil with earthworms, the total amount of microorganisms decreases, while the available nutrients increase. Moreover, after passing through the earthworms' intestines, although the total amount of microorganisms decreases, the biomass of active microorganisms increases.

Impacts on other soil organisms: Earthworm activity often benefits other soil animals, for example, it can affect the abundance and diversity of springtails in a variety of ways. Earthworms can change the structure of nematode communities in many ways, such as directly feeding on nematodes in soil and litter, or indirectly through vermicompost. There are almost no plant-parasitic nematodes in vermicompost, but the proportion of bacteria-feeding nematodes is significantly increased.

In addition: earthworm manure contains 1.4%, 1% and 1% nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium respectively, 46% humic acid, 23 kinds of amino acids, rich earthworm protease, and 105×8 beneficial microorganisms per gram of earthworm manure (only 105-106 in aged soil), and has the characteristics of uniform particles, breathable and water-retaining, odorless and hygienic, and lasting fertilizer effect. 20 cm thick earthworm manure with 85% water content can still reach 45% water content after 15 days in the hot summer, greatly enhancing the drought resistance of the soil. The earthworm enzyme in earthworm manure can also kill viruses, harmful bacteria and substances that inhibit plant growth in the soil. Earthworm manure is an ideal natural biofertilizer. In addition, earthworms can also degrade and evacuate pollutants in the soil.

When earthworms wriggle, they can loosen the soil. When the soil is loose, crops can take root more easily. Earthworms can loosen the soil, which has a positive effect on the growth of crops.