To Study Role Of Earthworm in

increasing soil fertility

Name:- Shweta Chintaman Bhalekar
College:-B.N.N College Bhiwandi
Class:-S.Y.B.Sc
Roll No:-45
Teacher’s Name:-Dr.Suvarna Rawal Mam
 Abstract
• Earthworms mix soil layers and incorporate organic matter into the
soil. This mixing allows the dispersion of the organic matter through
the soil and makes the nutrients held in it available to plants and
improves the fertility of the soil. Earthworms when present improve
the soil physical, chemical and biological properties and acts as soil
conditioner. They do so by fragmentation, aeration, breakdown of
organic matter in soil and release plant available nutrients and also
due to secretion of plant growth hormones, their role in nitrogen
fixation, carbon dynamics, and phosphorous dynamics. But their
population in soil is threatened by a number of soil and
environmental factors. Agricultural practices like heavy tillage
operation and application of chemical fertilizers also contribute in
the reduction of earthworms in soil. Change in land use due to
increase in human population brings change in the system and
make it unsuitable for the growth and development of earthworms.
 Introduction
• Soil is the greatest heritage of mankind and is the most valuable natural resource. Humans
were historically dependent on hunting and gathering of food to sustain life. Our
relationship with soil is based upon cultivation of soil throughout human history and led to
the success of civilizations. This relationship between humans, the earth and the food
sources upholds the soil as the foundation of agriculture (Parikh and James, 2012). But there
is a scenario of declining agricultural productivity due to decrease in soil fertility as a result
of deforestation, overgrazing, burning crop residues, indiscriminate application of
agrochemicals and reduced application of organic manures and other land use changes such
as use of fertile land for non-agricultural purpose, land fragmentation, use of marginalized
areas and slope lands for cultivation. This ultimately causes a decline in SOM, major and
minor nutrients in the soil and soil pH (Alfred et al., 2008). Therefore, our efforts should be
directed in conservation of soil and soil fertility, while increasing agricultural productivity
and food security. Thus, maintenance of soil physicochemical and biological properties and
the socio-economic environment is crucial for production through sustainable use of the
available land and other resources. Earthworms increase nutrient availability due to their
role in organic matter decomposition and mineralization (Brown et al., 2004) and play an
important role in soil fertility enhancement by improving soil physical, chemical and
biological properties (Aina, 1984; Edwards and Bohlen, 1996 and Abdul Rida and Bouché,
1997).
Observations
• Role of earthworms in soil fertility :-Earthworms play an important role to
improve soil fertility in a variety of ways. For example, earthworms bring
up the nutrients from deep in the soil and deposit them on the soil surface
as castings, hence counteract leaching of nutrients. Earthworms mix soil
layers and incorporate organic matter into the soil. This mixing allows the
dispersion of the organic matter through the soil and makes the nutrients
held in it available to plants and improves the fertility of the soil.
Earthworms contribute to soil fertility by improving soil structure, mixing
and tilling the soil, increasing humus formation and increasing the
available plant nutrients (Ramsay and Hill, 1978). Earthworms eat a large
amount of litter but only a small fraction of digested material (5-10%) is
assimilated by the earthworms and the rest are excreted out in the form
of earthworm cast which are rich in NPK, micronutrients and beneficial
soil microbes (Bhawalkar and Bhawalkar, 1993 and Bhat and Khambata,
1994). Bacteria in the earthworm gut destroy harmful chemicals ingested
by worms and also break down organic wastes. Auxin is a plant growth
regulator produced in earthworm castings that stimulate roots to grow
faster and deeper. Nitrogen fixation in casts is comparatively higher than
in soil due to presence of nitrogen fixing bacteria in the earthworm gut
and also in earthworm casts. Nitrogenase activity in casts is also higher
thus contributing to higher nitrogen fixation in casts than surrounding soil
(Edwards and Bohlen, 1996 and Ranch, 2006).
• Earthworms and soil organic matter:-
Earthworms play a major role in initial breakdown and
subsequent decomposition of organic matter and release
and recycling of nutrients contained in organic matter. In
fact, more surface organic matters may be consumed by
earthworms than all other soil animals together.
Earthworms excrete these materials in the form of cast
that is rich in nutrients and more water-soluble and
available to plants. Plant litters and crop residues,
partially decomposed, from the soil surface are
consumed, fragmented and transported by the
earthworms to the subsurface layer. Instead the fecal
material of earthworms, known as its cast, is deposited on
the soil surface in their burrows or in the free space
below the soil surface. Earthworms are key organism in
organic matter breakdown and transformation of major
and minor mineral nutrients (Edwards and Bohlen, 1996).
• Earthworms and soil nitrogen:-
Earthworms increase the mineralization of organic matter in
soil and thus add to the amount of nitrogen in soil from the
mineralization because of enhanced nitrification in earthworm
casts. A significant amount of nitrogen can pass directly
through earthworm biomass in terrestrial ecosystems. Satchell
(1967, quoted in Edwards and Bohlen, 1996) estimated that
about 60-70 kg nitrogen ha-1 yr -1 was return to the soil in the
dead tissue of L. terrestrisin woodland in England. Earthworm
tissues decompose readily and the nitrogen in the earthworm
tissue turn over rapidly and the nitrogen is mineralized readily.
Satchell (1967, quoted in Edwards and Bohlen, 1996) also
reported that in 10-20 days 70 percent of the nitrogen in
earthworm tissue mineralized. Nitrogen fixation in casts is
comparatively greater than that in soil due to the presence of
nitrogenfixing bacteria in the gut of earthworm and in
earthworm casts which increases nitrogenase activity.
• Earthworms and soil phosphorous:-
• Phosphorous is an important plant nutrient responsible for energy storage and
transfer in the metabolic reaction of living cells. It also stimulates the early vegetative
growth and is responsible for early maturity of grain crops. Though P is an essential
element for plant growth, it is the second most limiting nutrient for plant growth
after nitrogen (Vance et al., 2000; Hinsinger, 2001 and Vacance, 2001). P is less
soluble in water and comparatively less mobile and available to the plants than other
major nutrients in the soil, especially nitrogen. Soil pH, ion-antagonism and the
concentration of metals (Ca, Fe, Al) that can co-precipitate with P ions are
responsible for weak availability of P in soil (Hinsinger, 2001). Earthworm casts
contain higher amount of available P than surrounding soil without earthworms.
Nuutinen et al. (1998) observed a positive association between earthworms and soil
P content and this emphasized the importance of earthworm activities in P cycling.
This increase in available P in earthworm casts may be due to increased phosphatase
activity in the casts (Satchell, 1967). But Kuczak et al. (2006) in a review explained
that the increase in P in earthworm casts may be due to: (a) a higher pH in the
intestinal tract of earthworms (6.8 and 6 for anterior and posterior part and 5-5.4 for
the soil respectively) (Barois and Lavelle, 1986), (b) carboxyl groups released from
carbohydrate compounds by mucus secreted in earthworm gut in a huge amount can
block and compete for P sorbing places and in turn increase soluble P, (c) increased
microbial activity during digestion process. Ingestion and thorough mixing of soil in
the intestinal tract of earthworm can modify the chemical form of P along with its
concentration. The rates of release of inorganic phosphorus in the casts were about
four times faster than that in the surface soil (Sharpley and Syers, 1976). Kuczak et al.
(2006) estimated that earthworm casts could constitute 41, 38.2 and 26 kg ha-1 of
total available P stocks in agroforestry system, pasture and secondary forest
respectively.
 Material Methods

• Zoology Book
• Mobile
• Personal Computer Or Laptop
• Internet
 Methodology
• An extensive review was done to collect
information about the role of earthworms in soil
fertility and factors affecting their population
dynamics. The collected information was
arranged systematically for easy understanding
of the subject matter.
The literature was collected from journal articles,
proceedings, reports, books, thesis works,
online internet etc.
 Objectives
• Environmental factors :
Several environmental factors affect activity, population density, abundance and distribution
of earthworms. Soil organic matter content, soil type, soil moisture content, soil
temperature, soil pH are most critical factors that frequently regulate the earthworm
population
• Organic matter :-
Organic matter is the major food source of earthworms. Many researchers found a positive
correlation between soil organic matter content and earthworm number and biomass
• Soil type :-
The soil environments in which earthworms inhabit affect their abundance and distribution.
Soil texture affects earthworm populations since it influences other soil properties like
moisture, nutrients and CEC.
• Moisture :-
Earthworms generally require adequate moisture for their proper growth and development.
Water constitutes about 75-90% body weight of earthworms.
• Soil pH:-
Earthworms are very sensitive to soil pH. Abundance, distribution and species
composition of earthworms are affected by soil pH.
Conclusion
• Earthworms are farmer’s friend because they mix the upper and lower soil
layers and doing so they bring the nutrients from lower soil layer to the
layer of root penetration from where plants can easily absorb the
nutrients. They improve soil fertility in a numbers of ways and thus are
important for higher soil productivity. But there are some environmental
factors that threat their population density and distribution. Faulty
agricultural practices like conventional tillage and indiscriminate use of
chemical fertilizers and pesticides are also responsible for decrease in
earthworm numbers in any system. The decline in soil fertility is thus a
result of decrease in earthworm number due to several factors. These
factors are described systematically in this review. But there are factors
that enhance earthworm numbers and soil fertility. Maintenance of soil
fertility for sustained production needs approaches that increase
earthworm’s activity. Therefore, this review was made to collect ideas
about factors that enhance earthworm activity and soil fertility. Input of
sufficient organic manures instead of chemical fertilizers with minimal
disturbances in soil can be adopted for optimum activity of earthworms in
soil for healthy and fertile soil.
 Result
• Earthworms play an important role in providing soil
fertility and improving soil physical properties,
especially that of soil structure. Earthworms are both a
measure of soil fertility and an indicator of soil
management practices. So the use of earthworms for
our benefit depends not only on the knowledge about
their activities but also on our awareness that how our
activities affect their abundance and distribution.
Cultivation, cropping, fertilizers and chemicals are four
main practices that influence earthworm populations
Aknowledgement

• We would like to thank Dr.Suvarna Rawal

Mam,Former Vice Principal of B.N.N College of
Bhiwandi
Recommendations
• Application of nitrogenous fertilizers may also favor
buildup of a large number of earthworms. Edwards and
Lofty (1977) reported increased earthworm numbers
with application of large amounts of nitro chalk to
many pastures due to increased grass production.
• Organic fertilizers increase earthworm number more
than chemical fertilizers for the same N increment in
arable land. Organic manures favor more build-up of
earthworms because they serve as additional food
source for earthworms and they make the crop
residues having high C:N ratio more palatable to
earthworms.
Refrences
• 1. Abdul Rida A M, Bouché M B (1997), Earthworm toxicology: from acute
to chronic tests, Soil Biol and Biochem., Volume-29, pp. 699–703.
• 2. Aina P Q (1984), Contribution of earthworms to porosity and water
infiltration in a tropical soil under forest and long-term cultivation,
Pedobiol., Volume-26, pp. 131–136.
• 3. Alfred E H and Tom V Z (2008), Land cover change and soil fertility
decline in tropical regions, Turk. J. Agric., Volume- 32, pp. 195-213.
• 4. Baker G H, Barrett V J, Grey-Gardner R and Bucker field J C (1992), The
life history and abundance of the introduced earthworms Aporrectodae
trapezoids and Aporrectodae caliginosain pasture soils in the Mount Lofty
Range, South Australia, Aust. J. Ecol, Volume-17, Issue-2, pp. 177-188.
• 5. Barois I and Lavelle P (1986), Changes in respiration rate and some
physicochemical properties of a tropical soil during transit through
Pontoscolex corethrurus (Glossoscolecidae, Oligochaeta), Soil Biol.Bioch.,
Volume-8, pp. 539-541
THANK- YOU