Vermiculture in Egypt: - FAO - Regional Office for the Near East and

enclosure could not be ascribed with certainty to either of the latter two species and
are therefore recorded separately.
1.6. Vermiculture and vermicomposting
Vermiculture is the process of breeding worms. Growers usually pay for their
feedstock, and the worm castings are often considered a waste product. Vermiculture
is the culture of earthworms. The goal is to continually increase the number of worms
in order to obtain a sustainable harvest. The worms are either used to expand a
vermicomposting operation or sold to customers who use them for the same or other
purposes.
Vermicomposting, is a simple biotechnological process of composting, "Vermi" is a
Latin word meaning "worm" and thus, vermicomposting is composting with the aid of
worms, in which certain species of earthworms are used to enhance the process of
waste conversion and produce a better end product. Vermicomposting differs from
composting in several ways. It is a mesophilic process, utilizing microorganisms and
earthworms that are active at 10–32°C (not ambient temperature but temperature
within the pile of moist organic material). The process is faster than composting;
because the material passes through the earthworm gut, a significant but not yet fully
understood transformation takes place, whereby the resulting earthworm castings
(worm manure) are rich in microbial activity and plant growth regulators, and fortified
with pest repellence attributes as well (Munroe, 2007). In short, earthworms, through
a type of biological alchemy, are capable of transforming garbage into valuable
material (Nagavallemma et al., 2004). The ultimate goal of vermicomposting is to
produce vermicompost as quickly and efficiently as possible. If the goal is to produce
vermicompost, maximum worm population density needs to be maintained all of the
time. If the goal is to produce worms, population density needs to be kept low enough
that reproductive rates are optimized.
It is known that many extracellular enzymes can become bound to humic matter
during a composting or a vermicomposting process, regardless of the type of organic
matter used, but knowledge of the chemical and biochemical properties of such
extracellular enzymes is very scanty (Benítez et al., 2000).
Vermitechnology has been promoted as an eco-biotechnological tool to manage
organic wastes generated from different sources (Suthar, 2010).
Vermicast, similarly known as worm castings, worm humus or worm manure, is
the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by a species of earthworm.
Vermicast is very important to the fertility of the soil. The castings contain high
amounts of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium. Castings
contain: 5 times the available nitrogen, 7 times the available potash, and 1½ times
more calcium than found in good topsoil. It has excellent aeration, porosity, structure,
drainage, and moisture-holding capacity. Vermicast can hold close to nine times their
weight in water. It is a very good fertilizer, growth promoter and helps inducing
flowering and fruit-bearing in higher plants. This can even help plants to get rid of
pests and diseases (Venkatesh and Eevera, 2008 ).
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